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| Road Test: Bristol Blenheim 3S (2001-) |
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| Exotic Sports |
by: Martin Buckley |
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| COMFORT AND EQUIPMENT RATING: |
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If you can't get comfortable in a Blenheim, then you're a lost cause. The seats are man-sized, electrically adjustable and give a commanding view of the car's extremities. The vertical pleating on the seats of the S gives more sideways support in cornering. At cruising speeds, the V8 engine is a remote whisper but the exhaust note is a little strident for our taste under acceleration. The suppression of wind noise around the door seals is well up to modern luxury-car standards and road noise doesn't intrude, either. The air-conditioning system is effective but slightly on the noisy side. Bristol has always claimed that its cars will accommodate four 6 ft men and their luggage comfortably. Certainly, rear passengers are not treated like second-class citizens in the Blenheim, which has a flat, unobstructed floor area, plenty of headroom and a roomy, regularly-shaped luggage bay. Despite being relatively narrow, it has no shortage of shoulder room, either. Other than the large glove compartment, there is little oddments stowage space. Sat-nav? Er... no. But as most Bristols don't venture outside London, that's probably not a problem. MD Tony Crook will probably throw in an 'A-Z' if you ask him nicely. The head unit of the CD player is mounted unusually - but conveniently - on top of the dash, with the CD-changer mounted in the passenger compartment rather than taking up boot space.
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