Blimey, strewth! That nearly blew the corks of my hat, Bruce.
Pardon?
Stone the wallabies, that'll make even a salt water croc run away. Cricket. Lager. Barbecues.
Are you making reference to the fact that Bentley has used a Continental GT to legally hit 200mph on public roads in Australia?
Strewth. I mean yes.
Well, you're right - Bentley used the 1,661-mile long Stuart Highway in Australia's Northern Territory to really show off what the recently updated Continental GT can do. Legendary six-time Australian Touring Car champ, Bathurst 1000 winner and Conti GT3 racer, John Bowe, took a stock, showroom standard GT Speed to a top whack of 206mph on the two-lane road that runs from Darwin to Port Augusta. With 120 miles of derestricted road between Alice Springs and Barrow Creek, it's one of the longest stretches of speed-limit-free tarmac in the world.
John Bowe said: "This isn't a modified racecar; it's a luxurious grand touring road car fresh off the production line. It took us a little over a minute to go from a standstill to 206mph. That's extraordinary. Even when you break through the 200mph barrier, the GT Speed just keeps accelerating."
The GT was using the massive 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 engine, with 635hp and 820Nm of torque. The car hit its maximum speed just 76 seconds after setting off, covering 92 metres per second as it did so.
At v-max (the technical term for maximum speed) the Continental GT Speed is circulating 216 litres of coolant through its engine and radiator per minute; drawing over 4,700 litres of air through its radiator each second; and using 80 per cent of its engine power just to overcome aerodynamic loads.
Why did Bentley do this? Because it could...
Neil Briscoe - 10 Nov 2015