Thanks to their ability to provide a smooth ride and quiet powertrain with ease, electric vehicles are a true shoo-in for the high-end luxury automotive segment. Rolls-Royce has the Spectre, Cadillac’s Celestiq is taking bespoke to a whole new level, and Mercedes has given the EQS the full Maybach treatment.
From Volkswagen Auto Group, Bentley is just about to debut its 2027 Torcal, a spacious SUV that shares a platform with the electrified Porsche Cayenne. I recently got a quick ride in a heavily camouflaged preproduction Torcal as a way to experience it before its official debut toward the end of this month.
Between this brute’s spacious interior, supple ride quality, and focus on craftsmanship in the digital age, all signs point to it not just being a viable competitor in the segment, but also characteristically Bentley. When I say heavily camouflaged, this not only covers (pun intended) the Torcal’s exterior, but the interior as well.
Thick black cloth was draped over most of it, to the point of the engineers punching holes in the cloth for proper seatbelt usage. The exterior was rather deceiving, too; apparently they affixed false body paneling under the wrap so as not to fully spoil its overall shape and profile.
1/6However, this enabled me to zero in closer on what I could feel and hear. Whether up front or in back, the Torcal is amply spacious, even though it’s noticeably smaller in size and shape than Bentley’s current Bentayga.
Page explained the great lengths that engineers reached to ensure it had an isolating and tremendously smooth ride. Running off-the-shelf two-chamber air suspension — common in the rest of the brand’s lineup — would seemingly suffice with an EV’s inherently good chassis balance, but engineers took it a step further by carefully altering the flow of oil through its adaptive dampers.
This means that the jump in ride and handling between Comfort and Sport modes is much more discernible. No matter the mode, it rode incredibly smoothly.
Heavy focus was paid to the Torcal’s alignment, too, with steering that returns to and maintains center as confidently as possible. Diving deeper into signature Bentley characteristics, developing the best simulated engine note was high on the list of priorities.
”— Martin Page, Torcal’s product line directorThe reasoning behind this lies in hearing subtle imperfections, much like one would from an analogue internal combustion powertrain. Going one step further, the Torcal’s throttle tuning seemed to mimic a torquey V8 with progressive power delivery.
