Is this the best Bentley ever?
Now even Bentleys are going green, says Ian Adcock in AutoExpress. The luxury car maker’s new Continental has been fitted with a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine that’s 40% more efficient than the current 6.0-litre W12. That makes the car a more practical proposition: it now does an average of 27mpg, “enough to eke 500 miles from each tank of petrol”. But it’s also more characterful.
To look at, the car’s much the same as its predecessor – just a “more aggressive front spoiler and figure-of-eight exhausts”. But “the minute you start the engine”, you’ll know that there have been more than superficial changes. The engine now has its “own unique character”, developing 500bhp at 6,000rpm and an “astonishing” level of torque, and taking the car from standstill to 60mph in under five seconds and on to a top speed of more than 180mph.
The car is also a whole lot better to drive than its predecessor, says Andrew Frankel in Autocar. Bentley has “completely revised all the suspension settings so that, for the first time in its life, the Continental GT no longer feels overweight. You’d not call it agile yet, but it is precise, poised, balanced and, yes, truly good fun to drive.”
It is “stunningly good”, agrees John Simister in Evo. The engine delivers a “new crispness” and “some excellent sound effects”, and the slimmed-down car feels much lighter and more sensitive to drive: “the steering feels properly connected to the road… hooking enthusiastically into turns and proving supple and light-footed over bumps”. This is “the best-driving Bentley in history, no question”.
• Price: £122,000 (estimated). On sale early this year.