Ah, the palmy days apparently have returned to some who own big bits of the recovering global economy.
Bentley has released details of its Continental GT Speed, a revised 205 mph, all-wheel drive performance coupe ahead of its official international debut at the Moscow Motor Show on 29 August. The Continental GT Speed is the fastest road-car Bentley has ever produced with deliveries scheduled to start in October 2012.
The 12 mpg, 5,500 pound car actually has what’s claimed to be as much as a 12% improvement in fuel economy and CO2 emissions for GT W12 engine, a 12-cylinder 616 horsepower monster motor with its twin turbocharged, 48-valve configuration mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. Torque is 590 lb. ft. at 2000 rpm.
Performance, at a stated zero-to-sixty mph time in 4.0 seconds (0-100 km/h in 4.2s), while reaching 100 mph (160 km/h) from a standing start in 9.0 seconds is, well, formidable. The all-wheel-drive system, set up 60:40% in favor of the rear, offers the potential to access the prodigious and at times highly illegal performance all year round in virtually any weather conditions or on any road surface.
The “if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it” Speed is set off from lesser powered versions – the Continental GT coupe and GTC convertible (only 567 bhp) – by 21-inch, ten-spoke alloy wheels, a dark-tint matrix to the radiator shell and lower bumper grilles and ‘rifled’ exhaust tailpipes.
Inside, Speed models come with the so called Mulliner Driving Specification, including quilted, perforated leather and bright metal detailing, plus a broader choice of optional technical finishes. This now includes the exclusive-to-Speed dark tint aluminum as well as carbon fiber.
There are 17 exterior paints available as standard on all Continental models, and almost 100 additional options are available, including solid, metallic, pearlescent (maybe it should be called opalescent?) and satin finishes. Bentley can also create custom exterior colors for a price, if a punter so desires.
In a shocking nod to the times form a company steeped in the past, there is now an 8-inch touch screen with 30GB on-board “Infotainment system. Yes, this includes satellite navigation and “Personal Points of Interest.” This allows the user to save places of their choosing such as a specific restaurant or casino or lobbyist office. The touch screen displays the car’s audio system, telephone, ride and comfort settings and navigation information, which uses both a hard-disc drive and a DVD player to access route data.
An eight-speaker sound system is standard with compact, flat-panel speakers that are said to provide exceptional clarity across the audible spectrum and a wide frequency range. The 11-speaker Naim for Bentley system – created by British Naim – is available across the Continental range.
Music can be played and controlled directly from an iPod, as well as from a six-disc CD changer, SD card reader or directly from the car’s hard-disc drive, which can store up to 15GB of George Frederick Handel or Ralph Vaughan Williams. Presumably Brahms and “it’s not as bad as Wagner’s heirs political leanings now sound are also acceptable from system set up by Volkswagen Group, now the German owner of Bentley. DAB digital radio is also available in regions where the infrastructure supports it.
