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Kraftwagen König
What’s all this then?
The Bentley Continental Supersports is Bentley’s fastest, most powerful car ever!
Haven’t I heard that somewhere before?
Well, yes. The Continental GT Speed was the fastest, most powerful Bentley ever, but now the Supersports, being 110kg lighter and with modifications to suspension and bodywork, now tips the scale.
Mind you, Bentley’s been saying this for a while – back in 1925, Wolf Barnato bought a Supersports which was then the first production car to reach 100 miles per hour. As one of the famous Bentley Boys, he went on to record back-to-back wins at LeMans three years running from 1928 to 1930 and then beat the Blue Train from London to Paris in a 6.5 litre Speed Six. So they’ve done this quite a bit!
What’s new this time round?
Apart from running just the same on renewable-source biofuel as it does on petrol, and weighing in at just under two and a quarter tons, the Supersports will turn 0-100kph in 3.9 seconds, top out at 329kph and deliver 800Nm of torque from way down the rev band. It pulls like the Blue Train its ancestral cousin beat, but can be thrown around like a go-kart.
So it drives OK then?
For sure – whether you’re cruising round the countryside or pasting it on a track, the car is both subtle and quiet when you want it to be, and a wolf in wolf’s clothing when you need it.
A new gearbox gives quicker downshifts and the reprogramming of the all wheel drive to a rear biased 60/40 split, means that you can really steer with the throttle when the opportunity arises. And yet it’ll burble around town, wiffling away on the over-run as the W12 supercharged engine is straining at the leash.
Usual Bentley kit?
Oh yes – in spades! From specially prepared 65% gloss carbon fibre dash panels and front seat backs (there’s no rear seat) to Gentleman’s Club leather and diamond-pattern stitched Alcantara, the Continental Supersports oozes style.
Even the carpets have been remanufactured as lighter units in the pursuit of weight saving, yet all the luxury paraphernalia is still there. It’s a recognisable Continental, but with long sideburns and an evil grin.
Anything you didn’t like?
Just the tiniest gripe that the paddle shifters on the steering column don’t turn with the wheel, is about all there is to not like – but quite honestly, I’d learn to live with that given everything else this car represents.
As a sneaky ‘under the radar’ factory project, driven through to approval by real enthusiasts who recognise Bentley qualities, we should be looking at the Nobel Prize for Engineering!
This’ll be the last of the Continental GT-based high performance Bentleys, and it’ll go mainly to existing Bentley owners who have identified a sneaking desire for something a bit more Jekyll than Hyde.
On a scale of one to ten, where would you place it?
To match the number of cylinders – a resounding 12!
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