Bentley Boy!

[Mactech]

Just enjoyed a wonderful waft to Windermere from Norfolk. All 300 miles of it! Not the 3am start I was doing a decade ago when looking after Bentley's GT3 car near Cockermouth, but a rather more leisurely 9am start and mostly avoiding motorways.
We can all enjoy a decent view this evening, with those lumpy bits called hills. A far cry from Norfolk!




...and it's not even raining!

 

[E55BOF]

...and it's not even raining!

It's Cumbria; I was schooled in Cumbria. It will be soon...

 

[HappytalkAgain]

Just enjoyed a wonderful waft to Windermere from Norfolk. All 300 miles of it! Not the 3am start I was doing a decade ago when looking after Bentley's GT3 car near Cockermouth, but a rather more leisurely 9am start and mostly avoiding motorways.
We can all enjoy a decent view this evening, with those lumpy bits called hills. A far cry from Norfolk!

View attachment 160520

View attachment 160521
...and it's not even raining!

I’m working in St. Bees this week. Weather has been stunning today. The views are too.

Enjoy your jollies.

 

[Mactech]

I’m working in St. Bees this week. Weather has been stunning today. The views are too.

Enjoy your jollies.

Ooooh! St Bees, that's only a large catapult ride away from Windermere ......just got to make sure you set the inclination right to clear some very large lumps

 

[HappytalkAgain]

......just got to make sure you set the inclination right to clear some very large lumps

Definitely far more than the crazy 18 degrees of today.

 

[Chrishazle]

just got to make sure you set the inclination right to clear some very large lumps

After life in Norfolk are you sure she's programmed to go over those "lumps"??

 

[Mactech]

After life in Norfolk are you sure she's programmed to go over those "lumps"??

Ahh! If you look in the back of Bentley motorsport garage just a few years ago, you'll see the fastest ever SUV up Pikes Peak. That's over 14000 feet, so the Lake District is positively flat in comparison.
Apparently, it was kept high up on the lift as part of it's altitude training...
I'll have to check on the options list on mine and check if it has got the 'altitude conditioning' It's probably about £15k option new, but as you say, it's never really been an issue in Norfolk

 

[Mactech]

Now 7 weeks and 1300 miles into Bentley ownership and I'm really enjoying it. Yes, the car is a little on the large size for some of the Lake District's back lanes and I'may have to spend £10 on a new rear wiper blade which judders. But then the car hasn't really done rain before this week in the Lakes!
That's really the only niggles that have surfaced, and the rest of the car is as swift, silent and luxurious as one would expect.
The worst fuel consumption I have managed so far is 32mpg rushing up and down the passes of the Lakes with a 2.5 ton vehicle, but registering a laughable 18 mph average speed. That's inner city numbers...without the elevation changes.
The biggest surprise is the car seems to be universally admired. "We really love the car!" and other such comments are commonplace both at home and here on holiday. I really had anticipated more push back for my extravagance, but I even seem to be let out of side roads regularly too
I think I'm still living in the real world, but the car does seem to make it feel like a better place, despite the name of our hotel room....

 

[Mactech]

We had a wonderful glide down from northern parts this morning. The Bentayga really is a tranquil place to be on motorways and makes each journey an event. Arrived back in time to watch the Moto Gp sprint from Misano. That brought back some memories of an enforced stay at the circuit in 1978.
The event before was in Enna in Sicily and a mechanic an I drove up Italy from there. Well almost all the way, as when my lead footed friend was driving the A series Luton van decided to throw a leg out of bed in the horrible York diesel engine. We were towed the last few miles to the paddock on a short chain behind the furniture van of one of the other F2 teams. That was probably the most scary few miles I have ever done. Zero visibility and no assistance for the brakes. Even if you tried to pull the steering column out as hard as you could, the retardation was much the same as dragging your foot on the floor
However, I did survive and was on a plane back to the UK a day later to source a crank, some rods, pistons and shells.
These were the days when you could carry a crank as hand baggage, I've even carried a 2M sports car rear wing as my fellow passenger....
I spent a 'glorious' few days in the paddock at Misano rebuilding the York engine with our team manager Alan Docking. Fortunately I've almost forgotten how black you can get working on old diesel engines.
After the race I started out for the UK alone on a Sunday evening, and all went well for the first few miles until the high pressure oil line to engine exploded. It was probably the first time it had seen real oil pressure in decades!
I was very fortunate that one of the Pirelli trucks stopped to help me, and dribbling copious quanities of racing car oil, he lead me to a local hydraulics shop who made a series of adapters from imperial to metric, a short piece of pipe, more adaptors and finally a secure route to the engine. All this on a Sunday evening!
I was home the next day.
I few things have happened since then. The circuit goes the other way round (!), I've tried to stop doing such stupid things and I now like diesel engines.
Especially when they are as torquey, powerful and unobstrusivly lovely as the one in the Bentley.

 

[ToeKnee]

View attachment 160871

We had a wonderful glide down from northern parts this morning. The Bentayga really is a tranquil place to be on motorways and makes each journey an event. Arrived back in time to watch the Moto Gp sprint from Misano. That brought back some memories of an enforced stay at the circuit in 1978.
The event before was in Enna in Sicily and a mechanic an I drove up Italy from there. Well almost all the way, as when my lead footed friend was driving the A series Luton van decided to throw a leg out of bed in the horrible York diesel engine. We were towed the last few miles to the paddock on a short chain behind the furniture van of one of the other F2 teams. That was probably the most scary few miles I have ever done. Zero visibility and no assistance for the brakes. Even if you tried to pull the steering column out as hard as you could, the retardation was much the same as dragging your foot on the floor
However, I did survive and was on a plane back to the UK a day later to source a crank, some rods, pistons and shells.
These were the days when you could carry a crank as hand baggage, I've even carried a 2M sports car rear wing as my fellow passenger....
I spent a 'glorious' few days in the paddock at Misano rebuilding the York engine with our team manager Alan Docking. Fortunately I've almost forgotten how black you can get working on old diesel engines.
After the race I started out for the UK alone on a Sunday evening, and all went well for the first few miles until the high pressure oil line to engine exploded. It was probably the first time it had seen real oil pressure in decades!
I was very fortunate that one of the Pirelli trucks stopped to help me, and dribbling copious quanities of racing car oil, he lead me to a local hydraulics shop who made a series of adapters from imperial to metric, a short piece of pipe, more adaptors and finally a secure route to the engine. All this on a Sunday evening!
I was home the next day.
I few things have happened since then. The circuit goes the other way round (!), I've tried to stop doing such stupid things and I now like diesel engines.
Especially when they are as torquey, powerful and unobstrusivly lovely as the one in the Bentley.

You have a Bentley Alistair?? Who knew......

 

[Piff]

Just enjoyed a wonderful waft to Windermere from Norfolk. All 300 miles of it! Not the 3am start I was doing a decade ago when looking after Bentley's GT3 car near Cockermouth, but a rather more leisurely 9am start and mostly avoiding motorways.
We can all enjoy a decent view this evening, with those lumpy bits called hills. A far cry from Norfolk!

View attachment 160520

View attachment 160521
...and it's not even raining!

Them there hills spoil the view though

 

[Mactech]

Them there hills spoil the view though

True, the skies are not quite as huge as Norfolk or Suffolk.

 

[Mactech]

2000 miles in the Bentayga now and I've bought my first Bentley spare part.



After running all through the holidays without the luggage cover in place due to the dogs being on board, I discovered one of 4 small buffers which separate the tailgate from the rear edge of the luggage cover was missing. Ordered and sent from Bentley Cambridge for the grand sum of £8....well it is flock covered rubber of a very specific compound....
I was so pleased with the Bentley B1 spec Pirelli tyres that I figured I should try to source some for the future without paying almost £400 each.
Even Camskill could only manage £372 plus postage
However, a little searching around the web and I have managed to source a couple of new tyres (date codes of 23) for 60% of that cost....one from Italy!
They are now in stock in my own garage until the car needs any more new boots.
Bentley ownership can be expensive, but it doesn't need to be outrageous!

 

[Chrishazle]

It's the initial cost, even second hand, that is the biggest put-off for me and means we will continue running our C220 S204 for many more years despite the NS paintwork (failing lacquer again!) and the drool over a Porsche Macan when we saw one! In a way I am jealous, but at the same time I applaud your work ethic and career that means you can do these things in "later" life - that Gordon Brown screwed for us!!

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

View attachment 160871

We had a wonderful glide down from northern parts this morning. The Bentayga really is a tranquil place to be on motorways and makes each journey an event. Arrived back in time to watch the Moto Gp sprint from Misano. That brought back some memories of an enforced stay at the circuit in 1978.
The event before was in Enna in Sicily and a mechanic an I drove up Italy from there. Well almost all the way, as when my lead footed friend was driving the A series Luton van decided to throw a leg out of bed in the horrible York diesel engine. We were towed the last few miles to the paddock on a short chain behind the furniture van of one of the other F2 teams. That was probably the most scary few miles I have ever done. Zero visibility and no assistance for the brakes. Even if you tried to pull the steering column out as hard as you could, the retardation was much the same as dragging your foot on the floor
However, I did survive and was on a plane back to the UK a day later to source a crank, some rods, pistons and shells.
These were the days when you could carry a crank as hand baggage, I've even carried a 2M sports car rear wing as my fellow passenger....
I spent a 'glorious' few days in the paddock at Misano rebuilding the York engine with our team manager Alan Docking. Fortunately I've almost forgotten how black you can get working on old diesel engines.
After the race I started out for the UK alone on a Sunday evening, and all went well for the first few miles until the high pressure oil line to engine exploded. It was probably the first time it had seen real oil pressure in decades!
I was very fortunate that one of the Pirelli trucks stopped to help me, and dribbling copious quanities of racing car oil, he lead me to a local hydraulics shop who made a series of adapters from imperial to metric, a short piece of pipe, more adaptors and finally a secure route to the engine. All this on a Sunday evening!
I was home the next day.
I few things have happened since then. The circuit goes the other way round (!), I've tried to stop doing such stupid things and I now like diesel engines.
Especially when they are as torquey, powerful and unobstrusivly lovely as the one in the Bentley.

You can’t park The Bentley under a tree !!

 

[Mactech]

You can’t park The Bentley under a tree !!

Oh no! I did!
But it's ok in the Lake District as the trees are all extremely well washed, rinsed and (almost!) sap free
You are right. Its normal habitat is under a Mercedes S class soft cover (!), in a Norfolk garage....but I haven't got around to reading it bedtime stories... yet

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Oh no! I did!
But it's ok in the Lake District as the trees are all extremely well washed, rinsed and (almost!) sap free
You are right. Its normal habitat is under a Mercedes S class soft cover (!), in a Norfolk garage....but I haven't got around to reading it bedtime stories... yet

 

[SpikyMikey]

Oh no! I did!
But it's ok in the Lake District as the trees are all extremely well washed, rinsed and (almost!) sap free
You are right. Its normal habitat is under a Mercedes S class soft cover (!), in a Norfolk garage....but I haven't got around to reading it bedtime stories... yet

Poor Bentley.
Forced to suffer the utter humiliation of being made to sleep under a Mercedes cover.
Someone, please contact the RSPCB pronto.

 

[Mactech]

Poor Bentley.
Forced to suffer the utter humiliation of being made to sleep under a Mercedes cover.
Someone, please contact the RSPCB pronto.

It didn't get a choice! I'm strict, but fair for its own good. The car cover dates back to 2007, the dog box was bought for a W211 before that. They have done service with umpteen cars since then. They do tend to out live the cars I have by many years.

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Having been in motorsport, the deadline was always the next race. Right up to the Covidian era, I never remember them re-scheduling any race nor do I remember missing any so I have yet to hear this wonderful whooshing sound....how exactly does it sound ?

 

[TC350]

Having been in motorsport, the deadline was always the next race. Right up to the Covidian era, I never remember them re-scheduling any race nor do I remember missing any so I have yet to hear this wonderful whooshing sound....how exactly does it sound ?

Perhaps they sound like the targets that I'm regularly told are essential to get through life.