- The new Bentley Torcal SUV will be unveiled this fall, and Bentley is offering an early listen to what it'll sound like.
- Taking inspiration from previous six-, eight-, and twelve-cylinder engines, engineers have produced a drum-forward soundtrack to accompany acceleration.
- It's part of a broader trend of automakers trying to manufacture an emotional connection in an age of silent electric propulsion.
Precisely because they sound like nothing, a modern EV can sound like anything. This presents both potential and a problem for any modern manufacturer, and especially one like Bentley, which is aiming to deliver a premium experience. It's all very well for the loudest thing in the Rolls-Royce Spectre to be the digital clock on the dashboard, but a Bentley needs to tap into a bit more of a sporting heritage. It needs, in effect, to march to the beat of a different drummer. So that's what it's doing.
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The company's new Torcal EV crossover is slated to debut in September of this year, and we're now getting a hint of what it might sound like on the road. Unlike the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which synthesizes the pops and bangs of a tuned-up hot-hatchback turbo four-cylinder, Bentley has chosen to take inspiration from its past combustion engine offerings, but not replicate their sounds digitally.
Instead, the new Torcal is going to offer up a drum solo when you hit what used to be colloquially known as the loud pedal. Bentley took the thunder of its 1930s inline-sixes, rumbling six-and-three-quarters V-8s, and the sonically complex W-12 and picked apart the sounds to find a commonality. What engineers found is a similarity between the thump of a four-cycle pulse expelling exhaust and the strike of a drumstick hitting the skins of a bass drum.
You can see their point. After all, what does a Chevrolet Camaro small-block V-8 with a lumpy cam sound like at idle if not the kick-drum intro to Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher." Or stand next to a Top Fuel dragster before it launches down the track, and it's like Neil Peart has added your sternum to his touring kit.
Bentley is looking to take the rock 'n' roll rhythm a little more upscale by blending in a frisson of stringed instruments to go with the thump and bass line, hoping to offer its clients a more orchestral experience. The general idea is also to introduce a slight, nearly imperceptible stumble to the sound, in the same way that a human drummer is neither a metronome nor a Roland TR-808. Emotion from imperfection.
There are doubtless plenty of Bentley customers who would prefer their vehicles to leave the soundtrack off and instead just offer a whisper-quiet cabin that doesn't impinge on listening to Yo-Yo Ma's mastery of Bach's Cello Suites. However, obsessing over how their products sound is going to be a large part of how all luxury automakers differentiate themselves going forward. There's only so much pontificating you can do about wood trim and leather upholstery. Obsessing over the details is how you stand out.
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Besides which, you could certainly do worse than a thumping drumline as an accompaniment for ferocious acceleration. One noted collector of vintage Bentleys is none other than AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson, who owns a 1928 4.5L Vanden Plas. Imagine goosing the throttle and having a man with a Geordie accent yell “Thunderstruck!” at you through the speakers of your Bentley.