Bentley Continental GT Speed

Bentley1 When porsche launched the boxster back in 1996, sports car purists and dare i admit it now, some of us motoring hacks, thought of this little upstart as a low-rent and desperate attempt to boost the company’s fortunes. The ’poor man’s 911’ as the sceptics dubbed it however, turned out to be utterly brilliant. Within a few years it had single-handedly stimulated a commercial turnaround for porsche, after several years of falling sales, as well as creating a new breed of ‘entry-level’ supercars. They had the badge and cache but not the price tag of their older brothers. A t around the same time, the quintessentially british marque, bentley, found itself in a similar position. Since the 1960’s bentley had fallen off the luxury car pace for various reasons. Then in 1998, volkswagen came to the rescue and set about giving the manufacturer a makeover gok wan would be proud of, not least because they took a leaf out of porsche’s book. Five years later, in 2003, the car that turned bentley’s fortunes around arrived; the continental gt or ‘baby bentley‘. And just as porsche had come under fire for their entry-level model, so did bentley. But once again, the critics were silenced. Not just because within weeks, half of the country’s premiership footballers were driving one and the other half were on the waiting list. But because it was clear, right from the start, that the continental gt would form the cornerstone for the modernisation of bentley. Volkswagen had been inordinately clever. They had designed the gt with plenty of sympathy for the marque’s values. The interior, for example, even though most of it had been raided from the vw phaeton’s parts bin still shouted ‘old money’, yet it was sufficiently new-age to appeal to the new breed of uber-rich. Within a matter of weeks, the v-12 powered continental gt had become a storming success and the crewe-based factory was unable to cope with demand. By 2005, three continental-based models were on the books; the coupe, the flying spur saloon and the gtc convertible. And they were being snapped up as fast as bentley could produce them; mostly by people who got their tracksuits from juicy couture and could fill their family photo albums from the pages of ‘ok‘ magazine. But thanks to the fact that nearly every celeb was being papped in or with one, the ‘baby bentley’ phenomenon had well and truly taken hold. The latest model in the continental stable is this, the gt speed. Visually the speed is defined by a lower and wider front air intake, a squarer, more upright grille, larger tailpipes and 20-inch wheels. But it’s under the skin where the most important changes have been made; changes that have given the speed supercar performance and handling. This is without doubt, the most driver-focused continental to date. The twin-turbo, 600bhp 12-cylinder 6.0-litre engine posts ferrari-like acceleration figures. 0-60mph is dispatched in just 4.3 seconds and it goes onto a top speed of 202mph, making it the fastest road-going bentley ever and the first to ever top 200mph. But it’s not the speed’s top speed or the raw power that gets it there that impresses the most; it’s the sheer amount of torque or pulling power the car has. When you press the throttle, it’s torque that surges you forward and the speed has more torque when the engine’s at idle than most cars do at full throttle. And it’s this amount of pulling power that gives the gt speed a real sense of urgency. Other differences between the speed and the standard car are the uprated and lowered suspension, which has undoubtedly made the ride firmer. It’s not uncomfortable by any means though. And although the speed is immensely heavy – nearly 3 tonnes – it feels unbelievably agile. There’s masses of grip and the gargantuan brakes are fabulously powerful and fade-free. The whole driving experience is quite different to that of the standard car’s. Where the old gt would float and wallow, the speed attacks each and every corner and inspires the driver with full confidence in its abilities. Yet while it might be supercar fast, with an altogether tighter and tauter set up than the standard car, the gt is by no means a raw sports car. You get the reassurance of four-wheel drive, the paddle shift gearbox is fabulously smooth and the whole driving experience is very refined. In fact, the speed is unbelievably quiet. People who claim in court that they were driving a really fast car without realising just how fast they were going are either lying or they were driving one of these. You floor the throttle, the engine revs into life then it’s almost as if the car Bentley3 itself remembers its heritage and regains its composure, emitting nothing more than a muted burble. You really have no idea how fast you are going until you look at the speedo. Some supercar buyers will not like the fact the bentley’s engine has been heavily silenced. They love the fact they can pull up in their ferrari having just damaged the ears of any child they’ve just passed en route. But some will appreciate how much more impressive it makes the whole process seem. While ferraris and lamborghinis scream their way to the red line, the bentley gets there majestically, yet at the same time effortlessly keeping up with its more ‘uncouth’ rivals. This is a car that has nothing to prove. My only criticism is how big the gt feels around town. On the open road, going at the rate of knots, it totally belies its size but enter a city centre and you suddenly feel as if you’re driving a tank. Kerbs become the enemy and you can forget inner city multi-storey car parks. It’s even more galling that because the gt speed is the size of an ocean liner, there’s not more space inside. As far as practicality goes, you do get more space than your average supercar. There’s 4 seats for a start. However, the rear ones are cramped to the point of claustrophobia. Even children will struggle for legroom. The boot is a good size though; perfect for a set of golf clubs or weekend luggage. And as one would expect from a vehicle carrying a £141,300 price tag, the cabin is the automotive equivalent of a seven-star hotel. There’s the bespoke leather lined hand-stitched mulliner-trimmed interior (which will cost almost seven grand if you’ve bought a non- speed gt), the supremely comfortable seats and the dash, which is styled to echo the wings of the bentley badge. The speed’s cabin is a beautiful place to be. So the gt speed is luxurious, as practical as a supercar can be, blisteringly quick, handles brilliantly and is ‘the’ ultimate ‘baby bentley’. So why, when the man from bentley came to pick it up, did i shut the door without a backwards glance? Why did i get back into my three-year-old subaru impreza sti, which costs 1/8th of the price of the speed and smile for the first time all week? Because while the bentley is undoubtedly a marvel of engineering and one of the most all-round, competent supercars money can buy, there’s just something missing. It’s not even that it is a luxury car so has to compromise on its sports car credentials. It does everything almost faultlessly yet it’s simply not as exciting as it should be. But then who cares? There’s something about the whole continental range that is just so appealing. And the gt speed is a superb addition to the continental series, extending the appeal of the series to driving enthusiasts and sports car fans who place high value on outright performance. I honestly believe the next one could handle like a moose on rollerblades and it wouldn’t matter a jot though. They’d still fly out of bentley showrooms as quickly as the money footballers make to buy them. Bentley2