2017 Bentley Continental Reviews

If you think the car looks good on paper, in reality it absolutely screams luxury, wealth, elegance and style. At $399,500 you wouldn't expect anything less.The gorgeous sky-blue convertible was on hand for the Australian launch last week and you can't help but feel your confidence level rise as you slip into the cream pure leather interior and get comfy in this dream car. Let's cut to the chase, it's definitely a car you can't help but show off in peak-hour traffic.And that I did.With the roof down, my hair flying uncontrollably, and I mean in the Bridget Jones sense, not an attractive shampoo commercial way, I'm reasonably sure I made a lasting impression on Sydney roads.OK, so I didn't do much to raise my cool status, but the Bentley surely did.With its long body, smooth surfaces and stunning looks, it was love at first sight and not just for me behind the wheel. This attention magnet drew glances from all angles.The Continental GTC is Bentley's soft-top 2+2 convertible. And it is so much more than just looks. She has brains, beauty and power as well. With a six-litre, W12 twin-turbocharged engine, you won't be short on excitement. And the goosebumps creeping on the top of your skin prove it. It generates a massive 411kW at 6100rpm and 650Nm at a low 1600rpm and despite the extra 110kg it carries over the Continental GT coupe, the convertible still races from 0-100km in 5.1 seconds. To put it simply, the 2495kg GTC is a lot of fun to drive.There were roads to conquer, and its weight was not a hindrance. With its tight grip, smooth sailing around corners and the new rear suspension giving a refined yet sporty performance, the soft top is pure luxury — heaven on wheels.The three-layer fold-away roof takes just 25 seconds to disappear and it can do the job while travelling at up to 30km per hour. And there's no need to worry, it has plenty of space in the boot for golf clubs or shopping bags or hey, why not splurge on the pricey, but must-have Bentley matching luggage? It's only a couple of grand, or more, extra.The inside complements the exterior, with its handcrafted wood, leather and polished metals and the air ventilation system has old-fashioned push-pull levers. A nice touch.While the GTC may have been the trendy stunner, it was nicely balanced out with a ride in the more conservative, elegant 2007 Arnage T model. Let me get something straight, conservative by no way indicates less, as is evident from the price.It is rather a sophisticated and mature performer. Its 6.75-litre, V8 twin turbo engine pumps out 372kW and, wait for it, an enormous 1000Nm of torque.Effortless is really the best way of describing this $545,000 car. Royalty is the first thing that pops into your mind and this time, I mean the Buckingham Palace kind.The Arnage T has lavish leather seats, a solid, wide stance on the road, a high seating position, and glides with ease. On narrow roads around Kuring-gai Chase National Park, you really notice the grandeur of the vehicle, but mixed in with busy Sydney roads, the excellent driving dynamics take over and you barely notice its large dimensions.Silver and black were the main colours adorning the interior, adding to the classy character of the model.The large, trademark Bentley grille on the front exudes dominance and contributes to the powerful stance of the Arnage. A smaller, similar grille sits on the GTC.Bentley sells about 100 vehicles overall in Australia a year, so there won't be too many of these new models on our roads.The combined cost of the two cars I drove was nearly one million dollars. So you can see why they are so elite.Putting that into perspective, we're talking houses, a yacht, a big holiday ... let's just say I don't see these Bentleys as being a permanent part of my future. But, hey, a girl can dream and for one afternoon, I even got to pretend.

The Diamond Anniversary Tour – to mark 60 years of production of Bentleys at the Crewe plant in west England – has been in Adelaide this week as part of a 15,000km promotion in Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, complete with the Speed 8 that won at the Le Mans circuit in 2003.The first car I slipped into was the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, a stretched and four-door version of the Continental GT. The Spur has a wheelbase 320mm longer than the GT for a body length about 500mm longer at 5307mm.Both models use the mighty W12 engine – a six-litre unit with 12 cylinders and a turbocharger on each bank.It gives a formidable 411kW of power at 6100rpm and 650Nm of torque at 1600rpm.Both cars have four-way adjustable suspension firmness, felt immediately through the steering and on full "sport" setting reducing body roll and understeer.The Spur is a true super-luxury car: plenty of back-seat leg room, leather opulence and all the gadgets you'd want, including power adjustable individual rear seats (a three-seat bench is optional), adjustable ride height, sat-nav and cooled seats.This is a car that can waft along, although the optional 20in rims carrying 275/35 low-profile tyres weren't exactly quiet on sharp-edged lumps and bumps in town.It is otherwise serene, comfortable and, to the driver, confidence-inspiring. Up the freeway at 110km/h at less than 2000rpm, the redline is at 6250rpm. Drop off the passengers and take the twisty road home: put the suspension on firm setting, flick the transmission into manual select and use the paddle shifts to control the six-speed ZF box. Maximum torque might be at just 1600rpm but go through 3000rpm and it feels just so strong and linear in the way it gathers speed. An overtaking move – 80-120km/h, for example, in 3.3 seconds and, not bad for a 2.5-tonne car, 0-100km/h in 5.2 seconds. And the brakes are just superb. Pushed hard on a Hills drive, it used petrol at a rate of 18 litres/100km.SECOND car tried was the Bentley Continental GT, a two-door coupe with a pair of back seats tight on leg room, making it a 2+2. It has the same driveline as the four-door Spur but with an immediately noticed baritone, serious exhaust note. A bit lighter (but still 2385kg) and on a shorter wheelbase, this is the fun car. It's one of the fastest four-seat production cars in the world (318km/h – not me, officer, it's Bentley's claim) and 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds.The Bentley Continental GT is a car that you can drive in city traffic at ease or it's happily pushed along on a twisting Hills road, helped by all-wheel drive and electronic stability controls. It's got a decent-sized boot, making it a true Grand Touring car.BENTLEY Continental GT is priced at $375,000 and the four-door Flying Spur is $353,000 plus on-road costs. A convertible version of the two-door, a GTC, is due early next year.

"We have been assured that the cars for the Australian market will continue to be built at headquarters in Crewe," Bentley spokesman Julian Jenkins says. "Demand has certainly been increasing past the capacity of Crewe and the opportunity to assemble cars in Dresden makes perfect sense, however, those cars will meet demand for markets other than Australia and South-East Asia."Jenkins was in Australia this week for the launch of the latest in Bentley's growing stable, the Continental Flying Spur.The Flying Spur is the four-door sedan version of the Continental GT, the car which has forced Bentley to find extra capacity.Last year in Australia more than 100 buyers drove away in their Continental GTs and Jenkins is quietly confident that at least as many again will put down their $375,000 for the Flying Spur."There is a five-month wait on delivery and we already have more than that in firm orders," Jenkins, Bentley's regional director for South-East Asia and Australasia.A short drive around Sydney this week underscored both the Flying Spur's similarities to its coupe sibling and its vast differences. While the Flying Spur is based on the same chassis and drive train as the GT there is little to link them to the casual observer.The Flying Spur is a grand tourer of the old school. It has presence above its rather small – by Bentley standards – 5.3m length and eye-catching style. There is the same 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged V12 powerplant with 411kW and huge lumps of torque almost from idle. The Flying Spur is no slouch, sprinting to 100km/h in just 5.2 seconds on its way to a claimed top speed of 312km/h.However, where the GT delivers its character with enthusiasm the Flying Spur is more about refinement. The exhaust burble is quieter, the interior a little more understated and hugely more spacious – something the 11 cows that donated their hides to this leather cocoon would be pleased to know – and athleticism is at the driver's discretion.The Flying Spur can certainly hold its own when spirited progression is required with selectable suspension settings from plush to hang-on tight. It is impossible to deny the physics of the Spur's 2475kg mass shifting through the direction changes but once confidence is gained that the mechanical grip of the chassis and the huge 19-inch rims with 275/40R19 rubber are up to the job the car shrinks around you.Owners can choose to have the interior configured as a four-seater or as a five-seater with precious few decisions to make other than colour combinations.Standard equipment levels are as you would expect for a car of this category and the craftsmanship of the interior fitment befits a Bentley.

The takeover by the people's car maker of such an icon of the aristocracy was simply too big a burden for some to bear. There were even letters to The Times expressing concern the nameplate was about to be bastardised.Yet fears for the marque have proved totally unfounded. VW plunged $1.25 billion to create a new car in the true tradition of the British grand tourer – instead of relying on its limousine line-up.A further major investment was made in the former Rolls-Royce/Bentley factory at Crewe in Cheshire and the services of many of its master-craftsman car builders were retained.The result is the fastest four-seat car in the world – a GT with majestic road presence which performs far and away beyond the perception of the raw performance figures. The numbers are impressive enough: 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 318km/h. But it is the manner in which the Continental GT goes through its act that leaves the strongest impression.The car is 4.8m long and weighs in at 2.4 tonnes. Yet it is as nimble as it is quick and gives little clue to its size even when hunted along tight, winding roads through the Adelaide Hills.VW wanted the new car to present a serious challenge to Porsche – in terms of brute power and response. The GT is 0.6 seconds slower than the Porsche 911 Turbo, which is almost one tonne lighter and enjoys a serious power-to-weight edge.Naturally, one has to be pressing hard to notice the difference. But the GT is an incredibly responsive machine for its size and mass, and anyone jumping ship from Porsche to Bentley will not find too great a culture shock.The engineering of Bentley's new car matches anything in the world – and even at $385,000 it is something of a gift compared with the $1 million-plus prices of many supercars.The meticulous fit and finish of the GT and emphasis on detail more than live up to the tradition of the great marque's past when joined at the hip with Rolls-Royce, now owned by BMW.The GT is powered by a twin-turbo, 48-valve six-litre W12 cylinder engine which produces an awesome 411kW at 6100rpm and 650Nm of torque produces at the ultra-low engine speed of 1600rpm.Power is transmitted to all four wheels via a six-speed ZF automatic, with steering wheel paddles offering the driver the choice between fully automatic operation or manually selected change points. Bentley claims it is the most advanced gearbox of its kind in the world, offering the ability to lock up its torque converter in all six gears plus offer the driver sequential operation.Out on test, the auto never showed signs of confusion as it switched gears during acceleration or deceleration, and any kickdown induced amazing acceleration. Its creator points to the fact that the auto has 30 per cent fewer parts than a conventional five-speed auto yet can handle the massive horsepower of the W12 smoothly, reliably and efficiently.In normal conditions, the all-wheel-drive system delivers a 50:50 torque split between the two axles, but this is continuously variable to cope with any loss of grip by any of the wheels.Bentley acknowledges its responsibility in putting a 300km/h-plus car on general sale.As well as all-wheel-drive hardware, the car comes with anti-lock brakes, electric brakeforce distribution, traction control and the latest electronic stability program.In addition, the brand has fitted an intermediate control system which intervenes before a potential loss of control is addressed by ESP or ABS.During deceleration, the so-called drag torque control reads engine braking to ensure deceleration is consistent, swift and helps remove the possibility of a wheel locking when the transmission changes down on a low-grip surface.Bentley produced some stunning sports cars before it went into liquidation in 1931 – eventually to be taken over by Rolls-Royce.And so the new GT had to be better than simply good to avoid widespread criticism.Power was one thing but ride and handling was another prime consideration.During the long development process, Bentley decreed that the car had to offer occupant comfort but offer pin-sharp handling. This has been achieved with self-levelling air suspension, continuously and infinitely variable. The driver can dial up a number of suspension settings from sport to high comfort – but even in the softest setting the large body remains nicely harnessed without any movement which could upset handling characteristics.Massive ventilated brake rotors – 405mm diameter and 36mm thick at the front and 335mm wide and 22mm thick at the rear – ensure the car has stopping power to match its awesome thrust.Finally, the body styling and fit and finish.The Bentleys of old tell their own story of a commitment to sports-car heritage.The GT is a muscular design which continues that tradition but with great style and elegance.Body lines are kept to a minimum but the overall effect is grandness and quality.Now for the all-important build quality. After all, we are reviewing one of the great marques and therefore one is entitled to look that much closer.In the true tradition of cars which have rolled out of Crewe, the GT is an engineering masterpiece – there can be no other conclusion.It is the attention to manufacturing perfection in those places where few people even bother to look which sets this car so far ahead.In sum, Bentley is a wondrous car which reflects the respect Volkswagen has afforded the badge and its tradition.Sales of the car around the world confirm upper-crust buyers just love what has been presented.