Bentley Arnage Hybrid in 2010

AutoCar reports that Bentley is well under way with a plan to replace the mighty Arnage in 2010. It’s a project that will require the Volkswagen-owned company to address green issues, but will also provide the basis for a new generation of Bentley models for the next decade.

The new car is likely to be built around an aluminium spaceframe chassis made by Audi, skinned with aluminium panels. A major reworking of the factory — in preparation for other future models — could also be part of the Arnage project.

In a recent interview, Audi engineering boss Michael Dick said all the new Bentleys would use a version of Audi’s spaceframe, cutting around 150kg from the bare bodyshell.

The Bentleys will use the core of the Audi structure, which will be available in three different sizes, but with new metal from the waistline upwards. For the Arnage the base of the windscreen will be mounted higher and the pillars reshaped.

Although the 2010 Arnage should be powered by Bentley’s venerable 6.75-litre V8, this is likely to be hooked up to a hybrid drivetrain, using either major components from Audi’s new-generation quattro hybrid running gear, or the hybrid transmission already being developed for the Q7 .

Bentley could choose to adapt the hybrid system being developed for the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 . That system is basically a rear-drive format, with a power take-off and propshaft to drive the front wheels.

A simplified rear-drive version of this system could underpin the next-generation Arnage.

Adoption of a hybrid transmission could make it much easier for the firm’s classic 6.75-litre V8 to meet Euro 6 emissions regulations, as well as offering very rapid acceleration.

Bentley says the first evidence of its new, more environmentally friendly thinking will be seen at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.

[source: AutoCar]