What's all this about?
We keep banging on about how the distinguished Bentley Continental is getting on a bit, but the British firm seems to think there's plenty of life in the old GT hound yet. As evinced by the incredible new Supersports versions... which just happen to be the most powerful and fastest Bentley production cars ever built.
Versions? Plural?
Yes, you can have the Supersports as either a Coupe or a Convertible, the latter being the quickest four-door open-top in the world, according to Bentley. That's because it will do 205mph flat out and thunder from 0-62mph in just 3.9 seconds. Of course, the lighter Coupe trounces that with data of 209mph and 3.4 seconds.
How does the Supersports achieve such epic pace?
Bentley has taken the W12 6.0-litre biturbo unit and given it a thorough going over. New turbos and a change to the intercooler allow for more boost and output - 80hp and 217Nm more, incidentally, than the 2009 Continental Supersports predecessor. Which leaves us with mammoth overall numbers of 710hp and... wait for it... 1,017Nm. Goodness us.
Surely Bentley has done more than just turn up the wick on the W12?
Of course it has. Mighty carbon ceramic brakes (with the biggest discs of their type in the world) are fitted to haul two-tonnes-plus of hard-charging British GT swiftly to a halt, the 21-inch alloys are forged and therefore trim 20kg from the unsprung mass of the Supersports and you can upgrade the already-naughty-sounding standard exhaust system to a titanium set-up that shaves another 5kg from the kerb weight. It has an updated and specifically calibrated version of the torque-vectoring system first seen on the GT3-R, a rear-biased 40:60 four-wheel drive torque split and lowered, stiffened adaptive suspension that is claimed to preserve the Conti's legendarily smooth ride quality.
Can you just talk me through the styling?
The Supersports can be easily identified by its lower bodywork, which comprises redesigned front and rear bumpers (incorporating a carbon fibre splitter and diffuser, respectively) and extended side sills. There are carbon fibre bonnet vents, gloss-black 'rifled' tailpipes and front wing vents, while the lamp clusters, and the 'brightware' on the front grilles, lights, rear bumper, door handles and window surrounds are all finished in either a dark tint or black finish. Inside, a three-colour paint scheme, chequered Supersports-branded trim panels, loads of Alcantara and quilted leather mark out the ultimate Continental, while further personalisation is offered by either the X Package or the Mulliner coachbuilding department, which will hand-craft unique customer requirements for the two Supersports.
How much does all this cost, in terms of running it and buying it?
The Coupe does 18mpg with 358g/km of CO2 emissions, while the Convertible is a little juicier at 17.8mpg and 362g/km. No word on the pricing yet but if either of them costs less than £200,000 as standard, we'd be mightily surprised.
Matt Robinson - 6 Jan 2017
