CO2 emissions (or ‘CO2s’ as Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson calls them) are likely not the first thing on the potential Bentley buyer’s checklist. Nonetheless the word ’emissions’ was used no fewer than eight times in a press announcement of the new engine ahead of one of its many 2012 motor show appearances.
For the record, the four litre, twin turbo, bent eight in the coupe (there is also a GTC convertible) emits 246g of ‘carbon’ compared to the six litre, 567bhp, 700Nm W12’s 338. With the new eight-speed automatic transmission that accompanied the 500bhp, 600Nm V8 to market, it does the 0-62mph (100km/h) sprint in 4.8 seconds and bowls on to 303km/h (188mph) if you fancy risking life and licence.
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For a peasant who normally makes do with an ancient-of-days 1.6 with jurassic four-speed automatic, the Bentley’s acceleration feels akin to jet propelled take-off. The car simply squats on its haunches and hurls itself at the horizon while startling first-time passengers and other road users. Which means lots of fun, even within legal speed limits, and pure magic should one happen to live handy to an unrestricted autobahn or private race track. The engine note ranges from discreet, slightly-off-balance V8 burble to F1 racer snarl.
Despite the test car sitting on 21 inch (!) wheels shod with low-profile tyres, ride is firmish but not uncomfortable. Four damper settings ranging from ‘a bit marshmallow’ to ‘loosen fillings’ are available but, as is so often the case with such systems, the recommended default, in this case second from the left on the touch screen, provided the best compromise. Handling, perhaps tested to 5% of the car’s ability, was excellent and there is a meaty feel to the steering so often absent from today’s emissions-friendly electric systems.
The automaker claims: “Exceptional power-to-emissions ratio combined with classic Bentley power and torque.” I’d borrow the old Rolls-Royce answer to how much horsepower: “Adequate.” As in more than. Technology includes direct injection, variable displacement, close-ratio eight-speed transmission and all wheel drive with a Torsen diff working around a 60:40 rear-front balance.
After emptying your wallet into the 90-litre (20 imperial gallons) tank, you’re good for over 800km (500 miles).
Despite its obvious sports tourer abilities, the big Bentley also proved more practical than expected as a family conveyance, noting that daughter major is five and daughter minor, two. The Conti’s sheer bulk is the biggest challenge on narrow British roads and in carparks with spaces apparently painted around a Suzuki Swift. In charge of GBP160k’s worth of automobile (GBP36,390 of that options), I chose parking locations very carefully to avoid door dings.
In good company with models from rival – and onetime sibling – Rolls-Royce and Jaguar in particular, the Continental GT has a wow-inducing, hand-finished interior that never failed to please the senses every time we climbed into it. There is a smell from new, hand-worked leather someone should bottle, materials quality and fit and finish were flawless, everything worked as it should, and everything expected was in there, somewhere, even if it occasionally took some time with the thick, leather-bound handbook to find.
The view out the back is the usual coupe compromise but a rear camera helps. The Beluga leather trimmed front seats – standard electrically multi-adjustable and heated; optionally massaged and cooled – purr forward to make loading car seats and junior occupants easier and purr back again at the prod of a switch. Seat thyself and close the door and electromechanical arms whir forward to present the seatbelt. Cool. The boot is small but better finished inside than some B-segment supermini cabins and you can have an optional space saver spare wheel if you like. The (GBP690 optional) electric lid is another neighbour-impressing toy.
Therein lies a challenge for top drawer automakers. In the 1950s, when the R-type Continental was new, items such as electric windows or ‘refrigeration’ (air conditioning) were unheard of in something like a Ford Prefect. Today, even the aforementioned Swift has those and much more, such as steering wheel audio controls. Items on the Conti GT such as radar cruise control, top audio (GBP5,365 optional Naim in this case), the electric climate controlled seats, Bluetooth, satnav, DAB digital radio and so on are often standard or optional on much less prestigous brands these days. Pretend to kick your new Ford Kuga in the tail and the liftgate opens. And the performance and handling can be matched by others, too. So the brand image, materials quality plus fit and finish are even more important for buyer satisfaction these days, I reckon.
Option costs are eye watering. How about GBP10,200 for carbon ceramic brakes with black brake calipers? Or contrast upholstery stitching for GBP1,395? But you get what you pay for. Visit the Bentley factory – or similar purveyors of bespoke machinery like Rolls-Royce or Aston Martin – and you’ll find craftspeople not let loose on something the customer looks at every drive – like a leather trimmed steering wheel – until perhaps five years’ training on less important components has passed. Look at the test car and every stitch was perfect.
Bentley said the V8 models fulfilled its environmental commitment to produce a new powertrain that delivered a 40% improvement in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions. After trying one for a long weekend, I’d suggest it’d also fulfil many a dream financed by sheer hard work, a lotto cheque, footballer’s pay cheque or celebrity endorsement fees.
The success of the Continental GT in the decade since it was launched, in company with new cars from Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and Land Rover, shows that foreign ownership has not hurt. Being part of Volkswagen, BMW and Tata groups, respectively, has brought in much needed and previously unaffordable capital expenditure on new models and factories with more easily amortised sharing of major components like engines, or manufacturing facilities such as press and body shops. Painting, trimming and handcrafting, of the tactile items that swing the deal in the showroom, are still carried out in time-honoured fashion in British factories. Bentley remains in Crewe where it’s been for decades since absorbed by the ‘original’ Rolls-Royce.
Bentley sold over 50,000 W12-engined Continentals before launching the V8 models a year ago; the car proved popular with the likes of footballers, some who live virually within free-kick distance of the factory, and celebrities such as Paris Hilton who ordered hers in bespoke pink. Factoid: Crewe is the world’s largest producer of 12 cylinder engines.
That original 2003 coupe was followed by a four door sedan alternative but, since a 2010 ‘second generation’ update (look for the larger headlights), the coupe and sedan have been separated with the four door now called the Flying Spur and marketed as a separate model.
Finally, the hypothetical question. If I could, would I? Definitely yes, lotto or unexpected inheritance cheque safely banked. And not in the lurid purple (officially ‘Magenta’) of the test car. But probably the sedan in a more muted metallic and with black upholstery (kids). Given the choice between Bentley or (pricier) Rolls-Royce, and the ability to buy either, in this case a Ghost, I think, the Bentley would get the nod simply because, to my eyes, it looks nicer, its modern day interpretation being more in keeping with the classic coachbuilt models of the 1950s and 1960s I drool over in museums or at classic car shows. Simple as that.
