Bentley sets new speed record on ice

Bentley Continental Supersports, driven by multiple-time world rally champion Juha Kankkunen, just shattered the speed record for driving on sheet ice, clocking an incredible 330.695km/h

Ever since 1924, when John Duff set a speed record at Brooklands of 93 miles an hour (149.3km/h) driving a 3-litre, the name Bentley has been forever associated with speed and breaking records. So carrying on this tradition of speed, four-time world rally champion Juha Kankkunen drove a Bentley Continental Supersports convertible on the frozen waters of the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Finland, at a stunning 205.48 mph (330.695 km/h) to set a new world speed record on ice. The previous speed record for driving on sheet ice was set by Kankkunen himself at the same location in 2007 whilst behind the wheel of the Bentley Continental GT and stood at 199.83 mph (321.6km/h).

However, the most surprising thing about the world’s fastest convertible, the Bentley Continental Supersports, is not the massive 6-litre V12 engine under the hood making over 600hp of power or its extremely potent four-wheel drive system, but the fact that the car didn’t run on petrol. Instead what powered the car was environmentally friendly E85 Bioethanol. What’s more interesting that the Supersports which was used to set this record was absolutely in stock condition barring a few modifications for safety and better control of the car on the slippery ice. The modifications included a fully-welded, heavy-duty safety roll-cage, along with Pirelli winter tyres (Pirelli SottoZero II 275/40R20) and a rear bumper-mounted parachute provided reassurance in case of an emergency. Front and rear spoilers provided optimum high speed stability on the treacherous surface.

Upon breaking the speed record on sheet ice, Wolfgang Dürheimer, Bentley’s new Chairman and Chief Executive, commented “The ice speed record is an amazing feat by Juha Kankkunen, whose skill and courage in extreme conditions truly make him one of the modern-day Bentley Boys. We will be celebrating this achievement with a very special ‘extreme’ Bentley, which will be the most powerful model ever to bear the famed Winged B emblem.”

A limited edition of just 100 examples of this most extreme Bentley will be made and the car will make its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show on 1st March.

Audi Foreign Luxury car makers such as Audi, Mercedes and BMW

Foreign Luxury car makers such as Audi, Mercedes and BMW, batting for lower tariffs

The proposed India-EU trade agreement has divided car makers with Pawan Goenka, the president of industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), opposing any move to cut duty on imported cars while several members, including foreign luxury car makers such as Audi, Mercedes and BMW, batting for lower tariffs.

SIAM has struck a protectionist note, opposing any move to remove car imports from the negative list, that will see a gradual lowering of duty from the current level of 60%, which finally bulges to around 110% after the addition of counter-vailing duty (CVD), VAT and other local levies.

The industry lobby has made a strong pitch to the commerce department against the lowering of duty (something sought by the EU), saying it could see a flight of manufacturing investments from India and will negatively affect the domestic players and hurt employment.

"We are not being protectionist. Every country should ensure that opening up of trade does not hurt its local industry," Goenka told TOI. Goenka said Indian companies did not have the scale to protect them from an onslaught of imported products if they came in cheaply.

But the split within SIAM comes out in the open when you speak to companies such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Even Japanese player Honda feels that the stiff import duty should be lowered, at least for green technology vehicles like hybrid cars.

"It is a misconception that the Indian industry will suffer if duty is lowered. While we support the argument that duty should remain high where competitive volume products are there, there is no argument to support talk of maintaining higher duty for the luxury-end," said Debashish Mitra , director, sales and marketing at Mercedes-Benz India.

"There are no competitive products from India in the luxury end, and thus nobody will be hit. In fact, lower duty will help companies like ours to bring in the latest technology products at cheaper prices, something that will spur their demand and push us to gradually manufacture them here," Mitra added.

Michael Perschke, MD of Audi India, also sought lower duty, especially for cars above 2000cc. "This way there is no fear of the domestic industry being cannibalised as about 80-90% of Indian car market is below 2000cc."