Equity Magazine November 2017

COLLECTOR'S PIECES
The continental series were, therefore, flagship
statements of Bentley’s engineering and design prowess.
Applied to several cars over the decades, each new
launch is a cause for celebration. The latest addition is the
all-new 2018 Bentley Continental GT, unveiled at the
Frankfurt Motor Show.
The Continental GT is built on the Porsche Panamera
(remember parent Volkswagen owns both brands) platform.
But this is no copy-paste job. Bentley says that 83 per cent of
the parts have been modified to build the Continental GT.
As a grand-tourer, speed is a prerequisite and so it stripped
around 75 kilos off the outgoing model.
The two-door model still has space for two rear seats as
well. This one’s good to take the family along. The glass is
acoustic-laminated which means you can keep the noise of
traffic outside, and the beats coming from your Bang &
Olufsen 16-speaker sound system inside. Acousticdeadening
material has been added to the underbody of
the car to reduce the road noise and the Pirelli P Zero tires
have an additional layer of sound-absorbing material too.
The ride quality borrows from the Bentayga SUV. It’s
called the Bentley Dynamic Ride and uses a complex set of
algorithms and clever engineering to continuously adjust
the ride height, shock damping, stiffness and grip of the car
to ensure that it drives like a track-honed machine even
during your daily commute. There are four driving modes:
Comfort, Sport, Custom and Bentley. The first three are
self-explanatory. But the last one, and we suggest you keep
it in this mode always, is one that has been specifically
designed and customised by the Bentley team.
The beating heart of the machine, a twin-turbo W12
was first implanted into the Bentayga. In the Continental
GT, it has been tuned to deliver 626hp of power and
900Nm of torque. That kind of power-torque ratio means
that despite a gross weight of around 2,700 kilos, the car
will sprint from 0-100kph in 3.7 seconds and has a top
speed of 333kph. Just make sure the kids are buckled in
tight before you start teasing the throttle. With that much
power and speed though, expect a brilliant set of brakes
too. You get 420mm brakes upfront – the largest fitted
into any production car that can easily scrub off speed.
One of the most striking physical appearances of the
car are those brilliant crystal glass headlights. The 82 LEDs
in each one has been programmed such that it can split
the beam and direct it away from blinding occupants in
oncoming cars, and it will do the same when overtaking
another car as well.
The interiors are as blue-blooded as you’d expect from
a car that operates at this level of the social pecking order.
There are eight wood veneer options to choose from to
kit your cabin with and the hides of precisely nine
Northern European bulls are used inside each car. The
centre console metal can be finished with a Cote
d’Geneve pattern that is used to design the movements
of high-end timepieces from Patek Philippe to Vacheron
Constantin. In the centre of the dashboard, mounted on a
rotisserie, is a panel that flips to reveal a 12.3-inch
infotainment screen on one side and three analogue dials
on the other that sits flush in the dashboard and can be
alternated with the flick of a switch.
Deliveries of the new car begin early next year. Bentley
has created a luxury touring machine that can go the
distance. To anthropomorphise the new Continental GT,
it’s all grown up now.
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EQUITY