Category Archives: News

News

Bentley’s New Paint Shop Is So Advanced It Needed Its Own Show Car

If you’ve ever wondered why a Bentley’s paint seems to possess a depth and richness that lesser luxury cars can only imitate, the answer increasingly lies not in the color itself, but in the factory that applies it. And now, Bentley has unveiled what may be its most important manufacturing investment since the company began preparing for an electric future: a massive new paint facility in Crewe that’s as sophisticated as the cars rolling through it.

The occasion isn’t just another ribbon-cutting ceremony. Bentley’s new 12,500-square-meter Paint Shop has officially entered service, becoming the tallest building on the company’s historic campus and a cornerstone of the brand’s ongoing “Dream Factory” transformation. More importantly, it signals how Bentley intends to maintain its reputation for craftsmanship while embracing the digital manufacturing technologies required for the next generation of vehicles—including the company’s first fully electric model arriving later this year.

And because Bentley rarely misses an opportunity to celebrate in style, the opening was marked with a one-off Continental GT S wearing a spectacular new finish called Spectral Verdant.

The Most Important Building You Never See

Paint shops rarely get enthusiasts excited. Engines do. Design studios do. Paint facilities generally don’t.

But they should.

For ultra-luxury manufacturers like Bentley, paint quality is one of the most visible indicators of craftsmanship. Customers spending six-figure sums expect flawless finishes, and increasingly, they expect something unique. That’s where Bentley’s new facility comes in.

The new Paint Shop has been designed around flexibility as much as efficiency. Every current Bentley model—the Continental GT, Continental GTC, Flying Spur, and the upcoming electric vehicle—will immediately benefit from the facility’s capabilities. The Bentayga will join the operation later as integration continues.

According to Bentley, the building has been engineered with future bespoke paint processes in mind, ensuring room for increasingly ambitious customer requests. Given the explosive growth of Bentley’s Mulliner personalization division, that’s a smart investment.

As Andreas Lehe, Bentley’s Board Member for Manufacturing, put it, the facility will help establish the company as a leader in paint quality for decades to come while expanding the range of finishes available to customers.

Luxury Meets Industry 4.0

Inside, the operation spreads across two meticulously planned floors that blend traditional hand craftsmanship with advanced automation.

The human element remains central. Bentley’s highly skilled paint specialists still perform much of the detailed work that gives the brand’s finishes their renowned quality. But behind the scenes, technology is doing much of the heavy lifting.

One of the most intriguing innovations is a fleet of ten Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) that shuttle vehicle bodies between workstations. Bentley claims this is the first automotive paint shop in the world to use self-propelled carriers in this way, allowing production stations to be reconfigured with remarkable flexibility.

That may sound like factory-floor trivia, but it matters. Bentley customers increasingly demand highly individualized finishes, and a production system capable of adapting quickly to bespoke requests becomes a competitive advantage.

The same AGV technology will also appear in Bentley’s future EV assembly operations, helping improve production tracking and workplace ergonomics as the company prepares for an electric era.

Cleaner, Smarter, and Far More Efficient

While luxury brands often focus on craftsmanship, Bentley’s new facility also reflects a growing emphasis on sustainability.

The building incorporates an advanced thermal management system that captures heat generated by paint application processes and redistributes it throughout the facility. The result is impressive: Bentley says the building requires no additional heating for roughly two-thirds of the year.

Environmental improvements extend beyond energy efficiency.

A new water-based primer replaces the previous solvent-based system, while more precise paint application and improved filtration technologies significantly reduce material consumption. Bentley estimates overall waste reduction of up to 45 percent compared with the outgoing facility.

Perhaps the most dramatic statistic comes from the Paint Shop’s Residual Thermal Oxidiser system. Operating at temperatures of around 1,000 degrees Celsius, the unit burns and purifies paint-process emissions before they’re released, reducing volatile organic compound emissions by as much as 98 percent.

It’s the sort of infrastructure investment customers will never see—but one that increasingly matters as luxury manufacturers face growing environmental scrutiny.

Enter Spectral Verdant

Of course, no new paint facility would be complete without a showcase piece.

To celebrate the start of production, Bentley created a one-off Continental GT S featuring an entirely new finish called Spectral Verdant. Developed in-house by Bentley’s artisans, the color builds upon the company’s existing Verdant green while introducing a remarkable color-shifting effect that reveals a spectrum of sparkling hues under natural light.

The result appears almost liquid in its depth, changing character as lighting conditions shift.

Further emphasizing the craftsmanship involved, the car also wears a hand-sprayed Union Flag racing stripe finished in Ghost White Pearlescent. Applying the stripe reportedly took several days and required bespoke painting techniques—a reminder that even in an era of advanced automation, Bentley still relies heavily on skilled human hands.

The new Spectral Verdant finish now joins Bentley’s extended “By Mulliner” paint portfolio, giving customers yet another way to ensure their car remains unlike any other on the road.

The Road to Bentley’s Electric Future

The new Paint Shop is ultimately about far more than paint.

It represents Bentley’s effort to future-proof its manufacturing operations as the company transitions toward electrification while preserving the handcrafted qualities that define the brand. It’s a delicate balancing act: introducing cutting-edge automation without sacrificing the artisanal character customers expect.

Judging by the opening act—a dazzling Continental GT S wearing one of the most striking paint finishes Bentley has ever produced—the company seems determined to prove that technology and craftsmanship aren’t opposing forces.

In Crewe, they’re simply being applied with another coat of paint.

Source: Bentley

News

This 1998 VW Passat TDI Nearly Drove 1,500 Miles on a Single Tank

A German hypermiler set out to prove that the old Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI still has a few lessons to teach modern Europe.

In today’s Europe, diesel engines have become automotive outcasts. Once celebrated for their ability to cover enormous distances on a sip of fuel, they’re now largely viewed as relics from a bygone era. Electrification dominates headlines, regulators have moved on, and diesel’s reputation never fully recovered from the scandals and emissions debates of the past decade.

Yet every now and then, an old oil-burner reminds us why it became so popular in the first place.

That’s exactly what happened when a German hypermiler climbed behind the wheel of a 1998 Volkswagen Passat B5 equipped with the legendary 1.9-liter TDI engine and attempted something most modern cars—electric or otherwise—would struggle to match: driving nearly 2,400 kilometers on a single tank of fuel.

The mission was personal. A year earlier, he had managed 1,913 kilometers on one tank and narrowly missed his goal of reaching the 2,000-kilometer mark. Rather than settling for the achievement, he returned with a far more ambitious target. This time, the route stretched from Hildesheim in central Germany all the way to Juoksengi in northern Sweden, near the Arctic Circle—a journey measuring roughly 2,359 kilometers.

To make the impossible seem plausible, every detail mattered.

The Passat underwent a thorough efficiency-focused makeover. Roof racks disappeared. Unnecessary items were removed from the cabin. A fresh fuel filter was installed. LED lighting replaced conventional bulbs to reduce electrical load. Going a step further, the owner even removed the accessory drive belt, disabling both the air-conditioning compressor and power steering in the pursuit of every possible drop of fuel savings.

The modifications didn’t stop there. Low-viscosity 0W-30 oil reduced internal friction. Low rolling-resistance “eco” tires were fitted and pumped up to an eyebrow-raising 4.0 bar. Aerodynamic wheel covers were added, and fuel additives found their way into the tank.

Speaking of the tank, Volkswagen originally gave the Passat a 62-liter fuel capacity. Through careful filling techniques and a few hypermiling tricks, the driver reportedly managed to squeeze approximately 67 liters aboard before departure.

The driving strategy was equally meticulous. Cruising speeds hovered around 50 mph (80 km/h), and the route was carefully selected to maximize efficiency. Whenever conditions allowed, the Passat tucked in behind trucks at a safe distance to reduce aerodynamic drag. Progress was measured not in minutes saved, but in milliliters consumed.

The results bordered on the absurd.

After 345 kilometers, the fuel gauge had barely budged. At the 1,000-kilometer mark, the needle still sat above half a tank. At one point during the journey, the driver simply slept inside the Passat to minimize downtime and keep the challenge moving.

Kilometer after kilometer, the old TDI continued to defy expectations.

Eventually, the trip came to an end at 2,398 kilometers—just two agonizing kilometers short of the original 2,400-kilometer goal. Average fuel consumption remained below 3.0 liters per 100 kilometers throughout the run, a figure that would embarrass many modern hybrids.

While the achievement surpassed a well-known 2010 effort by British drivers who covered 2,463 kilometers in a newer Passat B6 between England and France, it still fell short of the remarkable 2,545-kilometer benchmark established by Croatian journalists in 2011 using a Passat B7 1.6 TDI.

Even so, context matters.

The Croatian and British attempts relied on considerably newer machinery. The German’s weapon of choice was a nearly three-decade-old family sedan powered by one of Volkswagen’s most revered diesel engines. In an era when manufacturers are investing billions to move beyond internal combustion altogether, a 28-year-old Passat quietly demonstrated why the 1.9 TDI remains legendary among diesel enthusiasts.

No, it won’t change the future of the automobile. But as long-distance feats go, it’s a reminder that before batteries, before plug-in hybrids, and before range anxiety became part of the automotive vocabulary, there was a different kind of engineering challenge: squeezing every last mile from a tank of fuel.

And few engines ever did it better than Volkswagen’s old 1.9 TDI.

Source: Offroadventure via YouTube

News

Subaru Doubles Down on Three Pedals: WRX, BRZ, and a Mystery Hatchback Get Manual Transmissions by 2027

In an era where dual-clutch gearboxes shift faster than any human ever could and electrification continues its relentless march, Subaru has decided to throw enthusiasts a lifeline. Better yet, it’s a lifeline with three pedals attached.

During a media roundtable at Japan’s Fuji 24 Hours race, Subaru confirmed that three new manual-transmission models are headed for showrooms by 2027. The lineup includes a WRX sedan, a hotter BRZ coupe, and perhaps most intriguingly, an all-new five-door hatchback that promises to carve out its own identity within Subaru’s performance family.

It’s the clearest signal yet that Subaru still sees value in driver engagement, even as much of the industry moves in the opposite direction.

The Return of the Manual WRX

For many enthusiasts, the biggest news is the WRX.

While Subaru recently offered a manual-equipped WRX STI Sport♯ in Japan, that model was limited to just 600 examples distributed through a lottery system. Now the manual is set to return permanently to the WRX range, and Subaru isn’t taking shortcuts.

Rather than using the TY75 gearbox found in the current WRX tS and STI Sport♯, the company is resurrecting the tougher TY85 six-speed manual from the previous-generation WRX STI. Subaru says the transmission was chosen specifically for its durability and reliability, suggesting the engineers expect drivers to use it exactly as intended.

The teaser image accompanying the announcement also reveals a familiar hood scoop, strongly hinting that the WRX will continue to rely on Subaru’s turbocharged 2.4-liter boxer four without any form of electrification. For purists worried about hybrid assistance diluting the WRX formula, that’s welcome news.

A New Hot Hatch Emerges

The most fascinating member of the trio isn’t the WRX or the BRZ—it’s the mysterious five-door hatchback.

Subaru confirmed the newcomer will evolve from the Performance-B STI Concept shown at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, but company executives suggest it won’t simply be a hatchback version of the WRX.

Chief Technology Officer Tetsuro Fujinuki described the project as an “affordable base car” designed to give Subaru’s enthusiast-minded engineers room to experiment while leveraging existing components and technology. Reading between the lines, that sounds like a recipe for something enthusiasts have been requesting for years: an Impreza-sized hatch infused with WRX hardware.

The concept’s proportions, along with the closely related High Performance X Version II race car, point toward a vehicle that could eventually spawn a full-fledged WRX STI flagship. A turbocharged boxer engine, all-wheel drive, sharper suspension tuning, and more aggressive aerodynamics all seem likely ingredients.

Interestingly, the latest teaser image shows a more restrained body shape than the original concept, lacking its exaggerated wide fenders. That could indicate Subaru is positioning the hatchback as a more accessible enthusiast model before potentially expanding the lineup with even hotter variants.

Whatever form it takes, the company insists the hatchback will bring a personality distinct from both the WRX and BRZ.

The BRZ Gets Sharper

The third manual model may be the least surprising, but it could end up being the most rewarding to drive.

Subaru says a new BRZ “Complete Car” is in development, based on the BRZ STI Sport Type RA that debuted in late 2025. The company promises a lighter, more engaging driving experience, which is exactly what BRZ fans want to hear.

The limited-run Type RA already came equipped with aerodynamic enhancements, ZF dampers, and Brembo brakes, creating one of the most focused versions of Subaru’s rear-drive sports coupe. Unlike that 300-unit special edition, however, the new model appears destined to become a permanent member of the lineup.

Don’t expect a dramatic power increase. Subaru has offered no indication that the turbocharged boxer engine from its BRZ race car will make the leap to the street. Instead, the emphasis appears to be on reducing weight, sharpening chassis responses, and enhancing the connection between driver and machine.

Frankly, that’s probably the right approach.

Subaru’s Enthusiast Revival

All three vehicles will be developed under Subaru’s newly created Sports Vehicle Planning Office, a division tasked with translating lessons learned from the company’s motorsports activities into road-going products.

That mission statement may sound familiar, but Subaru’s actions are speaking louder than its press releases. At a time when manual transmissions are disappearing across the industry, the company is investing resources into not one, but three enthusiast-focused models built around driver involvement.

Whether these cars remain exclusive to Japan is the million-dollar question. Subaru has yet to confirm any export plans, leaving enthusiasts in North America and Europe cautiously optimistic.

Still, the message coming from Fuji Speedway is difficult to ignore: Subaru believes there’s still a place for manual gearboxes, turbocharged boxer engines, and cars designed primarily for people who enjoy driving.

And in 2026, that’s becoming an increasingly rare thing.

Source: Subaru