Bentley Continental GT, Supreme Long Distance Grand Touring Supercar

Whatever some people may say, supercars need to look good and the Bentley Continental GT looks superb. It is a supercar that really causes heads to turn, and no wonder. The lines are so graceful, so well balanced, and hint at the tremendous pace of the car. 

It is very, very fast, with a top speed of at least 198 mph or more and a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds. So when you open the door and ease yourself into the driver's seat, the car has started to win you over, with that elegant interior of hand-stitched leather and wood. These effects don't always work, but here they are absolutely right. Quality tells. Start driving, and apart from a couple of minor things, this supercar wins you over again and again.

It's a complex beast, though, not just because of that W-12 engine, designed to be as compact as a 12-cylinder can be. The car has a host of features including four-way adjustable dampers, air suspension with adjustable ride height in case you have to negotiate an awkward ramp - navigation system, and the usual things you expect on a luxury car such as cruise control, stability and traction control.

One of the neat things, which is becoming more common these days, is that you can unlock and lock the doors without touching the key or removing it from your pocket. And you don't need to shut the heavy doors completely once they're closed, motors pull them right in.

A true Grand Tourer

Grand touring is what Bentley Continental GT is all about. It is a fastback 2+2, and so long as they're not too tall you can get two adults in the back for a short distance . But this supercar is really for two adults plus two small children at most. And there is stacks of luggage space behind for serious grand touring.

But before you do that, you need to adjust the seat all the usual directions controlled electrically plus the ability to lengthen or shorten the seat to give suitable thigh support. You can also preset three positions in the memory. When you select reverse, the nearside mirror obligingly dips a little so you can see the curb.

To switch on and start the engine, you press a button on the center tunnel, and the engine bursts into life, unlike V-12s which usually need a little winding of the starter motor. The unique double V twelve is very smooth at any speed, but when it first starts it burbles in the background.

Forward and rear visibility are both excellent, and soon we're away on a dual carriageway, easing up to a sensible cruising speed relative to the speed limit, not the car and the car cruises along effortlessly, tracking round the curves well. The engine is silent.

I've often said that such-and-such car is quiet, but none of them are when compared with Bentley Continental GT. It is virtually silent at legal speeds. With the dampers set to soft, the ride is very good as well. More like a sedan than a coupe, but once you push the car into a slower curve, it corners on rails without much roll.

A long journey combining motorways and main roads showed this to be a great grand tourer, the sort of car you'd want to drive across France or Italy. Quiet, refined and relaxing.

Not just for fast, open roads

OK, so quite a few sedans can almost do that, but what about when the roads get twisty, up and down, with less than smooth surfaces? There, too, the car is in its element. The engine is coupled to a six-speed automatic with Tiptronic which includes paddles on the steering wheel.

Most of the time, D gives excellent response because the engine has tremendous power from 3,000 to 6,000 rpm. It starts to wake up at 2,500 rpm that's 90 mph in top, so high is the gearing and the engine starts to growl at around 3,500 rpm. And it never gets more than a growl. Sixth really is a cruising gear in most countries because it has to be geared to reach the maximum speed of 198 mph, should you find somewhere to do that speed.

Push the throttle down with the engine at over 3,000 rpm in third or fourth, and you're pushed back into your seat as the car rushes forward without any drama but with tremendous urge. The four-wheel drive makes sure you can get all the power onto the road. But the excellent steering also helps keep the car on the straight and narrow.

Well-controlled on twisty, bumpy roads

For twisty roads I set the dampers to the hardest setting, but the middle setting is pretty good for every day use. With the firmer settings, Bentley Continental GT is well controlled. Over our switchback route, for example, it rose over the crests instead of leaping over them as some small cars do, and the motion was well under control.

No float, just a rise and fall, without any divergence from the line and at pretty high speed. On bumpy roads, the ride was quite hard but control was still good for such a heavy car. Overall, the ride is very, very good, thanks to air suspension.

A lot of weight on the front

You can't defy the laws of physics, though, and there is one characteristic that reminds you that this car needs four-wheel drive and excellent suspension to cope.

The problem is that unlike most supercars, it has a massive engine sitting forward of the front wheels. Now, I'm apt to complain about cars with engines sitting over the front wheels like the Nissan 350Z and Chrysler Crossifre but the Bentley Continental GT, like most Audi cars, has all the weight of the engine sitting forward of the front wheels. That does affect the handling.

You don't notice it when you swing the car through fast curves very fast, I might add, with just a touch of under steer but it's a very different matter on slower corners.

Front tires work hard at slow corners

When you turn sharply into a slow corner, you can feel the steering pulling that weight around, and if you enter a tight bend a touch fast, the tires squeal for mercy as they pull the hunk around. How much weight is the steering pulling around? My guess is about 60% of the 5,250 lb (2,385 kg) or about 3,000 lb, which is a lot. So it wouldn't be a lot of fun to drive round a series of 10 or 20 hairpin bends. But this isn't a sports car, and isn't intended to be. This is a luxury Grand Tourer.

Otherwise superb handling

Elsewhere, the handling is superb. The car has tremendous cornering power which is almost roll free, and you sail round most curves with ease. On twisty roads you need to push the gear lever across to manual, otherwise it will shift up unexpectedly, even in Sport.

The paddles work well, and the transmission is set to keep the car in a ratio that gives you good acceleration it doesn't put you in top at very low speeds, and usually in no more than fourth.

On twisty roads, you might feel that the steering is rather low geared, especially when you need to turn really sharply at a T-junction or hairpin bend. You need to turn the wheel quickly, too on some of those sharp bends.

Otherwise, there is so much power available that you can always accelerate smoothly through the bends. It s a car that inspires confidence and can be hustled along or driven in a leisurely style. My niggle about slow corners is a minor one. The Bentley Continental GT always went round safely, and overall the car gets very high marks for handling, particularly the way in which it inspires confidence. The four-wheel drive is an important asset here.

Excellent brakes and tires

Brakes are also very good as they would need to be to stop any car from 200 mph and the 275/40 ZR Pirelli Corsa Rosso tires give massive grip. They also live on rather elegant wheels.

There's no doubt that the Bentley Continental GT has transformed Bentley and makes a superb grand tourer, a supercar that can be used every day and can also challenge many an exotic supercar in performance. For long-distance work it could do with a larger fuel tank the range is 200-300 miles as the fuel consumption is inevitably poor.

Do I recommend this car? Yes, if you're looking for a genuine grand tourer with stunning performance then this could be the car for you. There aren't many supercars that combine a 198 mph maximum speed and a Continental GT has been timed at 202 mph a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds, with this comfort, practicality and elegance. A true supercar.

Really, it's an exotic supercar at a supercar price. Not as exclusive as an Aston Martin Vanquish or Ferrari Scaglietti, but more practical, with more luggage space and similar performance.