Search Car Reviews



See all makes

New Bentley Continental GT

Auto Express hits the road in Bentley's all-new Continental GT as it bids to be crowned world's most luxurious supercar.

New Bentley Continental GT front 1

By Dan Strong

November 2010

  • Rating:

Less is more, so the saying goes… With a lower kerbweight and a slimmed-down design the new Bentley Continental GT is officially described as the world’s most comfortable and luxurious supercar.

And for the first time ever, you will also be able to buy it with a new V8 engine. Though the W12 version will still be available – and is tested here, the smaller unit is predicted to be the bigger seller, thanks to its lower CO2 emissions and improved fuel economy. It arrives a couple of months after the launch of the new car – later next year.

On the road, the 567bhp twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre W12 effortlessly propels the two-plus-two seat coupé from 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds, and on to a top speed of 198mph. Four-wheel drive offers incredible traction particularly out of tight corners.

To improve this further still, power is split with a 40:60 bias to the rear, allowing you to really make the most of the incredible torque on offer.

And from behind the wheel it feels every bit as fast as those figures suggest – something that’s made even more special by the fact that the GT lives up to its promise of comfort and luxury with a leather clad, hand assembled cabin that’s whisper quiet at motorway cruising speeds.

We like the new design – which has helped cement the Continental’s place in the Bentley family by adding a real sense of heritage to its appearance. It carefully preserves its predecessor’s graceful silhouette but improves it with crisper, sharper lines and jewel like detailing for the front and rear lights.

But it’s not just the new look and performance of the powerful W12 engine that mark this car as a step forward. Under the skin there have been significant changes to the chassis and floorpan, as well as the computer controlled air-suspension and six-speed automatic gearbox.

Although the wheelbase remains the same – at 2,746mm – there’s more space inside thanks to redesigned front chairs. Thinner seat backs liberate an extra 46mm of legroom for rear seat passengers. According to Bentley, it’s now more spacious in the rear than Aston Martin’s four-door Rapide…

Likely to cost from £135,760 when it arrives in showrooms in the first quarter of 2011, it even represents a value for money of sorts – particularly when you measure this cars performance against rivals like the Aston Martin DB9.

The weight saving over the previous model is however less impressive. Tipping the scales at 2,320kg, it’s just 65kg lighter than its predecessor, with over 35kgs of that saving delivered by the thinner front seats!

So what’s it like to drive?

The net result of the myriad of changes is not easy to describe in just a few sentences. However, the overriding impression is that this car feels more robustly engineered, and the chassis has a greater feeling of strength and rigidity than the previous model.

It accelerates very smoothly, thanks to the changes made to the gearbox, while upgrades to the suspension deliver greater definition between its four selectable modes – from comfort to sport.

Steering responds immediately to the driver – particularly impressive given this car’s bulk, and there’s very little bodyroll. Large undulations in the roads are well contained by the self-levelling suspension – and the car is not easily ruffled by large, mid-corner bumps.

Brakes are powerful, and our test car’s optional carbon ceramic discs delivered fade free stopping performance across a range of very demanding roads.

But if you are sensing there’s a “but” still to come then you would be right.

There’s no doubt that the new model now feels like a fully fledged member of the Bentley family, but there are still questions that remain unanswered by this early drive.

We drove a car fitted with 21 inch wheels, and on broken surfaces we thought the suspension felt a little too firm even in its softest setting – particularly from the passenger seat. We would like to try a car on smaller, lighter 20 inch wheels to find out if this is still the case.

From the driver’s seat, we would also level criticism at the apparent lack of steering feel on offer. Though the system is very accurate, turning into fast corners at speed can be an intimidating experience such is the level of faith required that the grip you will require is actually there…

In fairness to Bentley, the ultra-smooth roads of our test route are likely to have some impact on this – but an area of the car’s performance we look forward to judging again once the car is in the UK.

For an alternative review of the latest Bentley Motors Continental visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

What Next

For more breaking car news and reviews, subscribe to Auto Express magazine. We'll give you 6 issues for £1 and a free gift!

< Previous   Next >

Sponsored Results

10 Comments

those wheel arches are COPIED from MERCEDES BENZ' coupes

By flamuri on 8 November, 2010, 2:13pm

Flamuri, when did you land on planet earth?

Merc have just started styling their cars with rear haunches, the original Bentley GT had this feature in 2003.

By scoob on 8 November, 2010, 4:44pm

Superb, but...

...but why does the dashboard of a NEW Bentley Continental GT has to look like my Mazda 6 2005 model's?? And that hideous red upholstery?! And the steering wheel very (too) closely resembles that of the latest Cadillacs...! For pete's sake, for all that money and the grand pedigree I think people not only who dream about the Conti GT (like me) but can immediately afford one deserve some better interior design. I mean, come on!!

By DragonWiz on 9 November, 2010, 8:27pm

AE you buy into the Bentley blurb of this being " the world’s most comfortable and luxurious supercar, yet only rate it 4 stars. You then proceed to describe it [ungenerously] as a "2 + 2", when in fact its now bigger in the back than the Rapide. It must surely and unambiguously be a four seater, yeah??
DragonWiz, sadly I cant afford one, and never will, so my comments wont matter too much. Pretty sure you can order any colour interior - at that price. Not sure I'd want red either.
Its a pity Bentley could only take some nominal weight out of the GT, cos it must still be way too heavy! What I'd be curious about is whether there is such a thing as a standard/basic model, or is it an exercise in just adding more and more options?? Guess I'll never know :-((

By barina47 on 10 November, 2010, 12:19am

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====


Wonderful. Share a website with you , ( http://www.clothes6.us ) Believe you will love it. Accept paypal or credit card and free shipping.You can try Oh, give you satisfaction guarantee.

===== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

Air jordan(1-24)shoes

Handbags(Coach l v f e n d i d&g)

Tshirts (Polo ,ed hardy,lacoste)

Jean(True Religion,ed hardy,coogi)

Sunglasses(Oakey,coach,gucci,A r m a i n i)

New era cap

Bikini (Ed hardy,polo)

accept paypal and or credit card free shipping

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====


====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

====== http://www.clothes6.us/ ====

By klfdgdfjklgq on 10 November, 2010, 3:29am

Garish or what!!

It looks like Bentley are still making cars for folk with no taste, the car illustrated looks like a padded cell, with a horrid aluminium dash that looks like a part from from a fire engine, sporty it is not, but cheap and tacky it is.
The only bit of polished wood looks like plastic and is confined to a section of the centre consul.
The body is still very angular and looks like it's been bashed into shape with a butter pat, and the rear lights appear to be an afterthought, and the front end looks unfinished, while rear seat passengers must be sat so low under the sloping roof line that they will struggle to see out of the minuscule rear side windows, perhaps there is a games machine to stop the inevitable claustrophobia.
I thought that the German owners would have given the car a bit of style by now, but they seem to be stuck with square.
This car has been designed to look impressive while driving round sand dunes and Californian boulevards; no it’s not pretty, or sexy, so I’m not having one J

By Bobbybev on 13 November, 2010, 10:11pm

good to see...

...that Crewe still makes the best cars in the world.

By dillinghamp on 10 December, 2010, 10:33am

Same old stuff rehashed

They were supposed to come up with a new model, cut backs set in and they had to rehash the old one. You really have a job to tell them apart if you get an old one and a new one together, even people at Bentley mistake them they are so similar.
There are so many carry over parts on this car it's a shame. The old interior looked good but this new one looks like it's poor cousin.
Don't believe the hash they are putting out.

By dicedown on 20 January, 2011, 9:47pm

They have saved weight

Look closely at the interior...the accelerator pedal has been drilled to save weight. Shades of 'fasted trucks in the World'?

By Blowin on 29 January, 2011, 5:22pm

Would I buy one?

I had a brief affair with the idea of buying a Bentley on 2008, had a test drive at Bentley Essex and paid for a day at Crewe with Bentley Speed. Did I buy one? No. Had a test drive in the New Bentley on Tuesday at the ever professional Bentley Essex. Would I buy one? Like a shot. Forget aluminium dash and red leather. If you don;t like it don't specify it. A fabulous, smooth silky drive and only when the man from Crewe says "oh we are approaching a hundred do you know". Super quality and unlike anything else on the road.

By George_54 on 23 March, 2011, 7:58pm

You need to register to post comments. Existing members can log in below to comment, otherwise click here to join.



Sponsored Results

- Advertisement -

Pictures

New Bentley Continental GT front 1
New Bentley Continental GT static
New Bentley Continental GT panning
New Bentley Continental GT front track
New Bentley Continental GT engine
New Bentley Continental GT interior
New Bentley Continental GT rear seats
New Bentley Continental GT sat-nav

Sponsored Results

Find Used Cars

Find your Bentley Continental GT with our used car search.

Find Used Cars

FIRST OPINION

    The Continental GT has always been a fine car – but the latest generation is better in every way. It oozes class, and provides massive pace and huge road presence.  Beautifully styled, the Continental GT is growing up gracefully. We would caution that we did have minor concerns about the stiffness of the suspension, and the level of steering feel on offer. However there is no doubting the accessibility of the W12 engine’s performance, or the straight-line traction offered by the four-wheel drive system. In all, there can be few better ways of proving you have hit the jackpot! What's more, We can’t wait for the all-new 4.0-litre V8 model, which Bentley’s engineers promise will be something really special.

 

AT A GLANCE

    Price: £135,760
    Engine: 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12
    Transmission: Six-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
    Power: 567bhp
    Torque: 700Nm
    0-60mph: 4.4 seconds
    Top speed: 198mph
    Economy: 17.1mpg
    CO2: 384g/km
    Equipment: Sat-nav, eight-inch touchscreen, eight-speaker audio system with 30GB music hard drive, leather upholstery, 21-inch alloy wheels
    On sale: Spring
     
    - Advertisement -