I think RR suffered the same quality problems that any product manufactured in Britain between 1970 and 1985 suffered. Lazy, good-for-nothing union workers who felt they need not bother produced crap products.

RR for a long time has not been held up as manufacturer of the best car in the world. In 1977 Car magazine proclaimed that in a contest between the Shadow II, Jaguar XJ12 and MB 450 SEL 6.9 the Jag was the winner. And so it was until the W140 came along 15 years later.

Until recently RR mechanicals have been pretty robust. They are American, after all. The motor was a 6.75 litre V8. It was normally aspirated in nearly all RRs and fitted with a turbo in the Bentley. It is still in use in the Bentley Arnage, with twin turbos. The Arnage was originally fitted with a twin turbo BMW V8, but this was quickly replaced with the old stager. It develops mammoth torque, up to 650 lb/ft depending on the state of tune (that would be an Arnage T).

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190