Billed as the most powerful series-production Bentley ever created, the new Continental GT Speed has made its global debut. Most powerful, you say? Indeed. Boasting the British luxury marque’s ‘Ultra Performance Hybrid’ powertrain, the fourth-generation model is endowed with a staggering 575 kW and 1 000 N.m of torque, sourced from a new (441 kW/800 N.m) 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine and 140 kW/450 N.m electric motor. Power is sent to all four corners via an eight-speed automatic cog swapper.
According to the Crewe-based brand, these figures allow the new Continental GT Speed to sprint to the three-figure marker from a standstill in 3.2 seconds, before topping out at 335 km/h, the speed the latest iteration reached (in “just” 33 seconds) when it set the unofficial ‘Underwater Speed Record’ through the 14.4 km-long Ryfylke Tunnel, which, descending to 292 metres below sea level, is the deepest tunnel in the world.
However, if you desire an al fresco driving experience, for the first time in the Continental portfolio’s history, Bentley introduced the Continental GTC Speed alongside its coupé sibling. Although reaching the 100 km/h marker from a standstill two-tenths of a second later than the latter, the drop-top derivative is still plenty quick in a straight line. However, its (electronically governed) top speed, at 285 km/h, is 50 km/h less than the Continental GT Speed’s. Still, if you don’t have access to an ungoverned stretch of tarmac or the Autobahn, that is more than enough.
However quick they may be, the new Continental siblings weren’t designed with only outright performance in mind. Compared to the CO2 emissions produced by their V8 and W12 forebears (266 g/km and 319 g/km, respectively), the new models’ petrol-electric powertrain produces as little as 29 g/km. In addition, when the 25.9 kWh battery coupled with the ‘Ultra Performance Hybrid’ setup is fully charged, the new generation can travel up to 81 km on electric power alone.
