Fastest Bentley Ever Rated at 700 hp

DETROIT – For about a year, Bentley’s most powerful vehicle was its 633-hp Continental GT Speed coupe, using a twin-turbo W-12 engine to reach a top speed of 206 mph (331 km/h) and sprint to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.9 seconds.

It wasn’t enough, so the British automaker plans to launch in July the 700-hp Continental Supersports using a modified version of the 6.0L W-12 with bigger turbochargers, enabling this 5,026-lb. (2,280-kg) grand tourer to reach 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 209 mph (336 km/h). The automaker calls it the fastest Bentley ever and the world’s fastest and most powerful 4-seat luxury car.

Tri-tone interior available in Continental Supersports.

Bentley history buffs know the legacy of the Supersports model, which was the brand’s first 100-mph (160 km/h) car in the 1920s. “Supersports has always sat at the pinnacle of the Bentley range,” Paul Jones, Bentley’s Continental product line director, tells WardsAuto at Sunday’s unveiling of the car here.

A 2009 version of the Supersports was the brand’s most powerful car at the time, rated at 621 hp, later to be superseded by the GT Speed. “We were looking to make a step change in terms of performance, not just power and torque but also straight-line performance. We wanted to make this the fastest accelerating Bentley ever, so we needed to go to 700 hp to do that.”

Bentley's Paul Jones.

Fresh off the late-2015 launch of the Bentayga luxury SUV, the Supersports represents the newest variant of the successful Continental 4-seater. The second-generation Continental arrived in early 2011 and underwent a mild refresh in 2015.

The third-generation Continental will be the brand’s next all-new vehicle, but the automaker has not said when it will begin production.

To reach 700 hp in the Continental Supersports, Bentley completely redesigned the top end of the W-12, incorporating larger turbochargers and larger charge-air cooling and exhaust systems (both for better breathing). Strengthened internal components to handle higher loads include the crankshaft, main bearings, connecting-rod bearings and torque converter.

The all-wheel-drive Supersports uses an updated version of the Continental GT3-R’s brake-based torque vectoring system, which uses the standard carbon-ceramic brakes to slow the inside rear wheel when entering a turn.

Bentley 6.0L W-12 rated at 700 hp.

When accelerating out of the corner, the system also brakes slightly the inside front wheel, while sending more power to the outside rear wheel.

The Torsen differential generally apportions 60% of torque to the rear wheels, but 85% of the available thrust can shift to the rear depending on traction levels, Jones says. Overall torque is equally impressive, at 750 lb.-ft. (1,017 Nm), available at a low 2,050 rpm.

Reducing weight was crucial to quicker acceleration, so engineers removed 88 lbs. (40 kg) relative to the GT Speed variant by using lightweight forged alloy wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes. Switching to a titanium exhaust saves another 11 lbs. (5 kg), Jones says.

Inside, the Continental’s overall interior layout will appear familiar, but a newly available tri-tone cabin is intended to match the Supersports’ aggressive performance. Alcantara micro-suede is used to sporty effect, providing better grip in the seats, and carbon-fiber accents in a striking checker-board pattern are available on the instrument panel and door panels as well.

Grand tourer can reach 60 mph in 3.4 seconds.

“It’s really a sporty package but with no compromise in terms of luxury and comfort there at all,” Jones says.

Worldwide, he says about 60% of Continental customers choose the coupe, with the remainder opting for the convertible. He says it’s too early to predict if the mix will be the same for the Supersports.

Meanwhile, Jones says Bentley had a strong 2016 overall, but that official sales figures are yet to be released. The automaker planned to sell 3,500 Bentayga SUVs in 2016 but ended up delivering 5,500, he says.

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