Month 3 with the Bentley Continental GTC
, my brain and inner ear are in dire need of recalibration. In their near-silent wake, a V8 Bentley feels merely adequate.
The Conti GT’s V8, with its twin-scroll turbochargers, direct injection and cylinder deactivation, is smooth, drenched in torque and musical in a bass-heavy, ripples-your-pancreas kind of way, and perfect in the nose of the Conti GT. It’s thrilling when you rev it out; barely there when you don’t. But at the risk of sounding spoilt, is it enough? When a £65k Hyundai Ioniq 5 N can run 0-62mph in 3.4sec, is it okay that this £250-ish Bentley takes 4.
The instant torque of a fast EV also shines a light on just how long it can take for the Bentley to find the gear the engine needs., in the titular drive mode, is a machine without a shred of pedal- to-velocity delay. If you’re driving the Continental GT’s eight-speed twin-clutcher in Comfort or Bentley mode, digging out the right gear can take what feels like seconds and inches of pedal travel.
Two conclusions, then. One, the V8 S deserves more power. I get that it can’t, in model line-up terms, trouble the flagship Speed. But it can’t be right that the sportiest V8 features exactly the same power output as its wellbeing- and more luxury-orientated siblings. We know the engine can do it , the chassis and four-wheel- drive drivetrain can handle it and, as uncomfortably quick family EVs proliferate, the cachet of Bentley-badged luxury motoring surely demands a comfortable margin of straight-line superiority. Nor should we forget thatAnd conclusion number two? When shifting drive mode is as effortless as turning a dial, there’s no excuse for ever being caught out.
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