2019 Bentley Continental GT Convertible revealed

British luxury car brand Bentley has pulled the covers, and the roof, off its current generation Continental GTC.

The 2019 Bentley Continental GT Convertible (or GTC for short) retains the 6.0-litre W12 powerplant with two turbos, but no more power than it had before. Torque is up 80Nm however, giving this generation GTC a total 467kW and 900Nm. An eight-speed dual-clutch replaces its predecessor's torque-converter gearbox.

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The W12 has got a rather substantial 2414kg to haul, but Bentley claims 100km/h comes along in just 3.8 seconds, a time which follows the coupe by a tenth for pace. It’ll then go on to top out at 333km/h, Bentley adds.

This could come down, in part, to Bentley’s new drop-top being 20 per cent lighter in ‘body-in-white’ form (no doors, running gear, interior trim, etc.) than the predecessor, as well as being five per cent stiffer. Bentley puts this down to its use of aluminium and high-tensile steel.

Also new is the variable torque split between front and rear wheels, which was previously a set 40:60 respectively.

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As a Bentley, quiet and comfort are to be expected – so Bentley has made this GT Convertible as quiet as the previous generation’s Coupe. Its roof (which can now be had in tweed if one wishes) features new insulation, better seals, and an updated movement mechanism which can close or open the roof in 19 seconds at up to 50km/h.

Bentley even says the Pirelli P Zero tyres on the Continental feature Pirelli’s ‘Noise Cancelling System’ to reduce road noise and rolling resistance.

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For the comfort aspect, Bentley’s new GTC features constantly-adjusting dampers which run on the latest version of what Bentley calls ‘Continuous Damping Control’, which essentially monitors the vehicle and its relation to the road and its suspension to decide how much air is present in the airbags.

Nearby, as the 2.4-tonne GTC will need to stop on occasion (and sometimes rather quickly), the brakes all round total 28 pistons at the calipers, ten each at the front which clamp to 420mm two-piece discs and four each at the rear on 380mm discs.

Australian pricing and availability are yet to be announced, but given the current coupe starts at $422,600, chances are pricing for the GTC will be in the ‘if-you-have-to ask…’ region.