First Drive: 2021 Bentley Continental GT Speed

GT. It’s shorthand for the Italian gran turismo, and long before they became cynically bastardised as a trim level on tarted-up sedans and warmed-over hatches, those two letters usually meant you were about to strap yourself into something sleek, powerful and expensive for an epic cross-country drive. GT and Speed? Well, that’s a combination that promises to make the journey even more memorable. And the 2021 Bentley Continental GT Speed delivers on that promise.

The Speed specification is now the only way you can order a 12-cylinder engine in the third-generation Continental GT, a car that shares its platform architecture, triple-chamber air suspension, 48V anti-roll system and eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with the Porsche Panamera.

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Bentley has built more than 100,000 of the 6.0-litre, twin-turbo W12 engines since the launch of the original Continental GT back in 2003, but other than the 522kW, 1016Nm monster created for the limited-edition Continental Supersports a few years back, the new GT Speed’s version is the most powerful yet. While the regular W12 makes 467kW at 6000rpm, the Speed engine makes 485kW from 5000rpm to 6000rpm. Peak torque of 900Nm is identical to that of the regular W12, though it now occurs from 1500rpm through to 5000rpm rather than 1350rpm to 4500rpm.

The Continental GT Speed is big – both the coupe and convertible are 4850mm long, 1954mm wide and roll on a 2851mm wheelbase. It’s also heavy, the coupe weighing 2273kg and the convertible 2436kg thanks to the frame and the motors required for the powered soft-top, the mechanicals for the pop-up rollover protection system behind the rear seats, and extra bracing required to stiffen a roofless body structure. And it’s fast, the factory claiming a 0-100km/h time of 3.6 seconds for the coupe and 3.7 seconds for the convertible, as well as an autobahn-scorching 335km/h top speed for both.

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So far, so Bentley. But the moment you turn the steering wheel, this new GT Speed feels different from every other Continental GT ever built. New chassis hardware and software have endowed the bulky Brit with impressive agility.

The hardware changes are surprisingly few, and mainly focused on the rear axle, which has been fitted with the rear-steer system first seen on the Flying Spur sedan as well as the first electronic limited-slip differential ever fitted to a road-going Bentley. The steering ratio has been quickened, and a new carbon-ceramic brake system, with monstrous 440mm front rotors – the largest ever fitted to a road car, says Bentley – is available as an option.

Meanwhile, the software for the stability control, the spring, shock and roll rates, and the active all-wheel-drive system has been revised to work with the rear-steering and the e-diff to ensure the GT Speed reacts more rapidly to driver inputs.

The moment you turn the steering wheel, this new GT Speed feels different from every other Continental GT ever built.

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The original Conti GT, built on a platform optimised for front-drive and shared with the Volkswagen Phaeton, was blisteringly quick between corners. But with 58 per cent of its mass over the front axle, it was also a car that demanded absolute precision on corner entry and patience with the throttle. Though the Porsche-developed MSB platform gives the third-gen Conti GT a longer dash-to-axle, the architecture of the all-wheel-drive system, which places the W12’s block ahead of the front axle, means it still carries 55 per cent of its mass on the front wheels.

As a result, the GT Speed still likes to be slowed and steadied before you turn in to a corner. But it dives towards the apex with an alacrity that belies its size and weight, rotating confidently and allowing you to get back on the power earlier than any previous 12-cylinder Conti GT.

You can feel the weight transfer to the rear and the traction punching you out of the corner. The rear-steer system, the e-diff, the torque vectoring by brake, the 48V anti-roll system and the active all-wheel-drive system all work together, adjusting everything from turning radius to roll rates to front and rear and cross-car torque splits in real time, to deliver agility and balance that feels reassuringly natural.

And with the ESC set to Dynamic Mode (one quick press of the button on the centre console) or switched all the way off (a longer press) the big W12’s titanic swell of torque will push the tail as wide as you want, and you can use the power to keep it there. Yes, this Bentley will drift.

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The GT Speed coupe is the driver’s choice. It’s not just that the convertible is heavier, it also rolls on suspension that is approximately 10 per cent softer, partly to reduce impacts through the less rigid body structure and partly because Bentley has found convertible customers prefer a slightly softer ride than coupe buyers.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice a slight hesitation the moment you pull the steering wheel off-centre as the chassis works through the increased compliance and takes a set. But once you’re through the transitions, the convertible feels quite composed, though there’s slightly more patter from the big 22-inch alloy wheels and low-profile Pirelli tires – 275/355 up front and 315/30 at the rear – than in the coupe, a touch more laxity in the body motions, and an occasional mild shudder through the steering column.

A proper GT is a car in which you’ll want to spend a lot of time behind the wheel, and in the case of the Continental GT Speed, that’s indeed a wonderful place to be. Nobody does an interior like Bentley, awash with flawless chrome, highly polished veneers and sumptuous leather.

You can mix and match colours and veneers in an almost uncountable number of ways. Bentley offers 15 different leather colours that can be arranged across six different colour splits, including a unique Speed configuration that includes grippy Alcantara inserts on the seats and around the steering wheel rim, paired with 12 different veneers.

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The Continental GT Speed might be the range-topping two-door Bentley, but Crewe doesn’t make a show of it. Subtle Speed badging on the front guards, a discreet number 12 in the vent behind the front wheels, a unique multi-spoke wheel design and oval tailpipes are the only clues to the fact you have rear wheels that steer and 50 per cent more cylinders under the hood than the regular Continental GT.

As a coupe, the Continental GT Speed is arguably the ultimate modern gran turismo. It is everything you expect of a two-door Bentley – it’s big and fast and luxurious and lush (the ride characteristics in Comfort and Bentley modes are identical to those of the non-Speed Conti GT), a car that can effortlessly devour 1000km in a day and leave you feeling calm and relaxed at the end of it. But, uniquely, it’s a Bentley that’s also ready, willing, and able to play when the mood takes you.

A proper GT is a car in which you’ll want to spend a lot of time behind the wheel, and the Continental GT Speed is a wonderful place to be.

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The GT Speed convertible is a little more complicated. Its less-rigid body and softer suspension mean it’s not quite as accomplished as its hardtop sibling – less of driver’s 12-cylinder Bentley, for more money – and although prices are yet to be confirmed, the convertible is expected to cost about 10 per cent more than the coupe.

The regular V8-powered GT Convertible, more than 440kg lighter, significantly less expensive, only four-tenths of a second slower to 100km/h than the GT Speed soft top and still capable of coming within a whisker of 320km/h, is arguably the rational choice for those who simply want to enjoy wafting around in one of the most charismatic and beautifully built luxury convertibles money can buy.

But Bentley expects half the GT Speeds sold will be convertibles, confirmation, perhaps, that buying a Bentley is the antithesis of a rational car purchase. It’s an indulgence, pure and simple, and Bentleys don’t come much more indulgent than the Continental GT Speed – with or without a roof.

2021 Bentley Continental GT Speed specifications