Continental GT Bentley Continental GT gets unique Sept. 7 internet reveal

[SKY]

wonder if that 4.0 will end up being shared with other models in the vw group?

It´s the engine the new S7, S7, S8, RS7 and RS6 are going to feature.

 

[Cashmere]

nice refresh

 

[allenwalker]

I'm going to say for one last time that this is not a facelift. If it is, well, we won't see another "facelift" for the next 7 years.

 

[K-A]

Wow, looks stunning in the new Press pics.

I always hated this car, but the new more upright/angular/stately front is a VAST improvement from the soft and insubstantial front end on the original one. Perhaps whatever other little changes they made also help in my developing a much better opinion about this car, overall, when I see it.

Interior looks beautiful as well.

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

While it still has a bit of VW's DNA in it, it looks much crisper and not as bloated. I quite like how the smaller flanking front lights give it the sense it's in motion. The wider taillights give it a more wider horizontal stance. Now this is not to say that the pre-FL isn't good looking either, but the VW's strategy led to it becoming rather ubiquitous, and thus not as special. My only problem is that the interior's center stack has too much plastic for a Bentley. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of performace the V8 is going to bring to the table. Also, is this V8 a petrol/E85 or diesel?

Regarding whether it's a facelift, revision, re-skin, redesign, or "all-new"....what platform changes were made? Save for the new V8, the W12 is pretty much uptuned version of it's predecessor. The interior is merely revised, there's is nothing really revolutionary in there. The majority of the exterior's panels have been redone. I didn't really bother to read the press release (I rarely bother to do that), so it may have been stated. To me, this is an extensive mid-cycle revision. I feel like automakers like to throw around "all-new" pretty flippantly, i.e. "the next-gen M-B CL" (http://www.germancarforum.com/cl-class/34411-luxury-efficiency-perfection-new-generation-cl.html). Yes, new features have been added and some paneling has been modified, but it surely isn't all-new. Now when Bentley transitioned from the Arnage to the Musanne, the Mulsanne was certainly an all-new product. I swear, some of my favorite automakers are becoming more and more marketing-oriented versus engineering-oriented. It used to be the product established the image and now it's vice-versa.

/Rant...probably not the best thread, but it's a trend I'm noticing more and more.

 

[Monster]

I swear, some of my favorite automakers are becoming more and more marketing-oriented versus engineering-oriented. It used to be the product established the image and now it's vice-versa.
/Rant...probably not the best thread, but it's a trend I'm noticing more and more.

While you are at it, I might as well join in. Audi using the T suffix to indicate their supercharged engines, that really gets me each time when I see it. There are way too much spin and marketing jargon these days.

 

[PanterroR]

 

[K-A]

This car is just ridiculously gorgeous, wow. Maybe one of my favorite current sold (or soon to be sold) cars. HUGE 180 from my opinion of the pre makeover.

This proves; subtle yet effective, evolutionary changes are always FTW, and take the most skill to really pull off. Anyone can change a design drastically for a popping-smoke effect, but this is carried out beautifully.

 

[LaArtist]

Yeah its great
I hope the 4 door gets the same treatment..
It might finally be used for something else than scare children to death..

 

[K-A]

Yeah, the 4-Door needs help. Honestly, to me, the 4-Door looks as alluring as a Passat. Absolutely the lamest visual impact per dollar out there.

 

[MoSs]

I love it!

 

[martinbo]

I'm going to say for one last time that this is not a facelift. If it is, well, we won't see another "facelift" for the next 7 years.

You were right all along allen, it is an all new Continental GT.

As for the car, it's superb. Very elegant, very stately. It's a handsome car that makes do without retro-cue frippery whilst still remaining current without resorting to overwrought modern styling trends. Timeless - just like its predecessor.

What I also like is that there is a strong familiarity to the product both inside and out; the defining features and elements of the previous model have been given a thorough reworking. The result is genetically pure ContiGT but with modernised interpretation of those original unique design cues to keep the overall persona up to date.

I find the incorporation of bright ellipses into the tail-light graphic to tie up in a pleasingly engaging fashion with the similarly shaped exhaust outlets. A lovely touch of detailing. The uninterrupted flow of the front wings is also very svelte but imagine the cost of a front corner nudge!

Cool, roll on Paris, the new cars are coming and we'll have something decent to talk about again.

 

[allenwalker]

You were right all along allen, it is an all new Continental GT.

Thank you.

This is to confirm it :

Bentley Continental GT (2011): first photos of the new Conti
By Tim Pollard
First Official Pictures
07 September 2010 15:00

Do not retune your computer monitor. This is the new, second-generation Bentley Continental GT unveiled today. It might look like a gently polished version of the familiar Conti silhouette that’s plagued football grounds and London’s swankier west end districts since 2003, but trust us: the new Bentley Continental GT is a properly new model.

For a start, every body panel and piece of glass in the Mk2 Conti is different. Dirk van Braeckel and his design team in Crewe have taken the familiar Continental design and sharpened it. This car is the same but different. There’s even a new 4.0-litre V8 engine added to the line-up, just in case you doubted change was afoot.

Come on! How different is the ‘new’ 2011 Continental?

You’ll spot the new Conti from the front most easily: those Mulsanne-inspired speccy-four-eyes headlamps are distinctive, the inner lamps powered by xenon on low beam and LED on high beam; the outer lenses are day running lights and illuminate entirely by diode. The Bentley grille now sits 40mm lower too.

Park an old and a new Continental alongside each other and you’ll be surprised by the diverging side profiles. Like the transition from Mk1 to Mk2 Audi TT, the glasshouse (or DLO, in designerspeak) is 26mm shallower, making for a more ‘slammed’ appearance on the new Continental GT arriving in early 2011.

The door handles are now on the side character line rather than breaking up the sheetmetal too. And see those door mirrors? They’re the same as on a Mulsanne, they are.

How will the new Bentley Conti GT drive?

Probably very like the last one, which is to say like the Orient Express on speed. The basic engineering architecture is carried over and the car has an identical wheelbase and overall length. However, there are numerous technical upgrades: the track is wider front and rear, new lighter steering knuckles are now hollow and the wheelarches have swollen to accommodate 20in rims as standard, though many will upgrade to newly available 21in wheels.

Drive is now diverted more to the rear with a standard 60:40 split in normal driving, juggled by a Torsen central diff. The ZF six-speed gearbox is claimed to halve shift times using tech pioneered on the Supersports, but ZF’s eight-speeder is coming according to chief engineer Ulrich Eichorn (and we’d point out that enables hybridisation as seen on BMWs and future Jaguar Land Rover products).

Most importantly, the new Conti GT makes greater use of lightweight aluminium throughout. The front wing is now a singleformed aluminium piece; the boot and bonnet are both made from aluminium too. Previously the bootlid and wings were steel – all helping to contribute to a 63kg weight saving.

 

[footie]

The new Audi sourced 4.0 v8 will be surprising pokey. The combination of less weight over the nose, less overall weight and similar performance should make this new smaller engined version to obvious choice. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if it accounts for 70% of the sales.

 

[K-A]

WOW, it's all new? Props to Bentley/VAG for not conforming to the "blow 'em away with a new crazy look that they'll tire of shortly".

I'm even more impressed. Like Porsche's 911, seems they're really trying to trademark a look with this car, and just elaborate/modernize it. I think the first one didn't hit the nail on the head perfectly, but this very nicely refines all of it.

One major telling as to how "all new" this thing is: Is the chassis the same? Wheelbase, etc.?

All I know is, this is the first car I've seen since buying my W212, that actually makes me lust after it. The new CLS, upcoming 6'er, M5, etc. are all nice (6'er we'll see how it impacts me when I actually know how it looks, M5 I have enough of an idea, and I now know how the general F10 looks), but don't make me feel like I would want to part with my car necessarily due to them impacting me on enough of a level.... But this... Damn. Too bad it's at wayy to high a price point (until a few years on the market at least. )

 

[Tarek]

Wow a whole new model? at this point i can't say i'm impressed or disappointed..either way i really don't care.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Video: 2011 Bentley Continental GT

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[YoUhimhER]

as some have already said. this car is ridiculously good-looking, i am sure there will be a very long waiting list for this masterpiece.

 

[Tarek]

Is it me or the interior looks too much like the "old" model?

 

[LaArtist]

Finally confirmation about it being a new car.. ive been shouting like a idiot for a couple of posts,,that this is either new or a stupidly thorough and expensive FL..