2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed
OVERVIEW
Considering that Bentley has made some pretty powerful cars in its time, being the most powerful production Bentley ever is quite an accolade. The GT Speed is so named in homage to the Bentley Speed machines of the 1920s (Jay Gatsby probably drove one). But the new model has numbers more Space Age than Jazz Age.
Even though a conventional Continental is supposed to have a top speed of “just” 198 mph, anyone with enough road, gas and guts will find that it can easily breach 200 mph. So with a stated top speed of 202 mph, how fast can the GT Speed really go?
The car has a more upright grille (for better cooling) and a more driver-oriented look. The chassis has been stiffened a little, and performance tires grace the new, wider wheels. Its innards have also been upgraded to take the 9% extra power and 15% added torque.
UNDER THE HOOD
6.0-liter W-12
600 horsepower at 6,000 rpm
553 pound-feet of torque at 1,750 rpm
0 to 60 mph: 4.6 seconds
Top speed: 202 mph
WHEN?
On sale now.
HOW MUCH?
$206,000
OUR TAKE
It’s hard to imagine a vehicle that weighs 5,180 pounds being called a driver’s car. But that’s what the GT Speed is. Either that, or a force of nature. At its heart is the incredible W-12 engine (essentially two V-6s combined in such a way that it’s probably illegal in a few Southern states). To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald: The very rich are different from you and me -- they have better toys.
