There are cars that don’t require rushing or hurrying. Their purpose is to demonstrate your level of wealth and social success. However, if necessary, you can also demonstrate your dynamic driving skills. Today, we’ll tell you about just such a car. The editor of “Southern Automobile” spent the day with the new Bentley Continental GT.
The day has begun, and I’m heading to the village of Ust-Koysug, near Azov, where I’ll be driving a new coupe, priced at around 16 million rubles. In these parts, where cows roam the roads and the locals mostly drive Zhiguli cars, spotting a Bentley is as unlikely as spotting aliens.
Small rural houses give way to forest belts, autumn trees, and signs with funny names of farmsteads like Shmat. But there’s another place here for those who’ve had it all. A luxurious, premium hotel nestled among the fields called “Old House.” This place was built by a local oligarch, the owner of a huge shopping center in Rostov, for himself and his friends. In the fields of the Azov region, this Provencal-style chateau looks as alien as a Bentley in the Shmat farmstead. But let the oligarch mind his own business, I came here to meet the Continental GT.
So, let’s put aside cows, villages, and fields and transport ourselves to an atmosphere of luxury and pathos. Several cars are parked in the hotel parking lot, including a couple of Bentayga SUVs and the star of our test – the wide Bentley Continental GT coupe. At first glance, it truly looks cosmic. Compared to the previous generation, the new Continental seems like a huge monolith carved from gray granite, hanging like a cliff over the asphalt.
The third generation Continental GT has become more aggressive, and this is evident in the flared wheel arches, large radiator grille, and huge bulging eyes-like headlights. The new Continental GT’s very appearance projects superiority over the cars around it, but this superiority is not feigned, but earned over the years, aristocratic and thoroughbred.
This is not surprising, after all, previous generations of the Continental were built on the platform of the premium Phaeton, but still a car of the people’s brand Volkswagen. The current Continental GT shares the same chassis with the new generation Porsche Panamera, so no one will accuse you of being the same Volkswagen, although, of course, many solutions from the parent company are still here.
The MSB platform from the Porsche Panamera allowed engineers to make the new Continental GT more sporty. Thanks to the extended wheelbase, the front axle was moved forward by 13.5 centimeters, which accordingly led to a lengthened hood. This allowed the engineers to move the engine 12 centimeters closer to the center of the car, which has a positive effect on weight distribution and, consequently, on handling. I’m not sure how the Continental GT will perform on the track, but on the narrow asphalt roads around the village of Shmat, the coupe sits firmly on the asphalt and even holds its arc.
The Continental drives exactly as you want it to, responding to the slightest turn of the steering wheel. The accelerator pedal responds instantly, and there’s a powerful boost. Under that long and wide hood sits a six-liter W12 engine producing 635 horsepower and 900 Newton meters of torque. All this is more than enough for instant acceleration, and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic shifts gears in a fraction of a second. Before you can blink, the speedometer needle has crossed the 150 km/h mark.
The car accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. The maximum speed of this coupe is 333 km/h. The torque vectoring system slightly brakes the wheel on the inside arc during sharp maneuvers and cornering, and the car dives into the corner as if on rails without the slightest understeer or roll. By default, the car is rear-wheel drive, but as soon as it hits wet asphalt, the front axle also engages.
Despite the car’s power, the engineers from Crewe took care of the environment and fuel economy. A combination of direct and standard injection was introduced, which allows varying fuel consumption and emissions. The new turbochargers allow peak torque to be reached in a third of the time required by the old models, while the six-cylinder deactivation system and start-stop system conscientiously conserve fuel. The engine is fully compliant with the Euro 6 standard.
But, to be honest, you don’t buy a Bentley Continental GT to race it or “punish” someone in traffic light races. You buy it to demonstrate your status and grandeur. And yet, it lives up to its image as a thoroughbred stallion at a gallop. It is restrained, imposing, but at the same time it can not only carry the carcass of its master in comfort, but if necessary, the Continental GT will not lose face, even in front of the fastest production sports cars.
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