Regular readers of crankandpiston will know that we’ve done the Bentley Continental to death as of late, be it the new V8 powerplant (twice), the Continental GTC, or the casual glances of said luxury coupe during our tour of the Bentley factory.
So why are we bringing the British marque to your respective attentions yet again? And the Continental coupe to boot? Well, we figured the fastest road-going model Bentley has ever built – the new Continental GT Speed – was at least worth a passing mention.
Though the traditional 6.0l W12 remains bolted down under the bonnet, the boys and girls in the technical department at Crewe have worked wonders with the spanners to ease 616bhp out of the powerplant. That’s 50bhp more than the standard Continental GT, by the by.
This tweaked engine, when combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission, means the new Speed will hit 100kph from standstill in 4.2s and power to 160kph in just 9s. For a piece of kit weighing a portly 2750kg, that’s pretty impressive, as is the 330kph top speed.
You may not find too many hints towards this fairly awesome power on the outside of the Speed though, since it shares the same ‘classic Bentley DNA’ as its predecessors. Still, for a bit of unexpected lunacy, you can have the front grille, front splitter and rear bumper diffuser kitted out in carbon fibre.
