First driving test Bentley Continental GT Speed

The last warhead cruise missiles have been gone for 30 years. More than 2,000 servicemen and their families have left behind a ghost town, where the supermarket, school, hospital and swimming pool, like the colossal concrete missile bunkers, are slowly but steadily losing ground to nature. Wind and weather have free rein. Under a clear blue September sky, Comiso, the former NATO base on the south side of Sicily, looks like a mecca for urban explorers, except those curious explorers are nowhere to be seen. We are guests of Bentley. The stately English manufacturer of mobile opulence has set up camp under rusty corrugated iron in the former fire station to introduce us on the desolate road network of Comiso to its fastest production car ever: the latest incarnation of the Continental GT Speed. Two immaculate examples, with a black grille, carbon strips under the sills and low but oh-so-wide Pirelli P Zeros on huge 22-inch alloy, are waiting for what’s to come.

Everything on edge

It must give a huge kick to roar with that GT Speed ​​over the tight asphalt of a high-speed circuit towards its top of 335 km/h. Only in a straight line has not so much changed compared to the normal Continental GT with twelve cylinders. The power of the 6.0-litre W12 has increased by 24 hp to 659 hp and maximum torque remains unchanged at an exceptional 900 Nm. What is it good for? Left foot full on the brake, right foot full on the gas. launch control. Release the brakes and we are shot like by a catapult. In 3.6 seconds, the no less than 2,273 kg GT Speed ​​sprints from standstill to 100 km/h, one tenth faster than the regular W12, while the top speed is 2 km/h higher. Dizzying! Especially the ease with which this is done is amazing. However, that’s not what Comiso is about. The deserted streets of the sprawling missile base form a handling course on which the undercarriage can show what it is capable of. And according to the accompanying engineer, that must be a lot. The GT Speed, for example, has electronically adjustable anti-roll bars as standard, which with 1,300 Nm determine within 0.3 seconds to what extent the car is allowed to lean and thus also regulate the weight distribution on the wheels. The electronics also control the limited-slip differential to keep the tail of the car in line and with small braking interventions, torque vectoring can be created that makes cornering faster and more neutral. The speedometer needle goes along 160, 170, 180…

Bentley Continental GT Speed

In the long, gentle bends in the path that at the time soldiers patrolled when guarding the outer gate, the GT Speed ​​does not flinch, steady on course as if it were riding on rails. Then we go full into the anchors. The whoppers of ceramic brakes (before 440mm in diameter, the largest under a production car) grab eagerly. Just in time. Right left. A slight tendency to understeer turns into a cautious oversteer. And on again. Exasperated to the extreme, the W12 works continuously in the upper part of its speed spectrum. He growls, whoops, hisses, whistles and hisses. The gearbox is still the eight-speed DCT (also known as the PDK from the Porsche Panamera) whose electronics have been recalibrated to better match the extra dynamics. In Comfort and Bentley mode, nothing has changed from the regular GT; it all happens for the GT Speed ​​in Sport mode. The Bentley thunders along crumbled asphalt between overgrown sidewalks. A lizard darts away.

coarse-mesh safety net

To underline that the GT Speed ​​is slightly different from the regular versions, the interior features Alcantara accents on the steering wheel, the edges of the center tunnel and the center lanes, plus headrests for the seats and rear seat. You can choose from fifteen colors in eleven combinations. Beautiful. Bottom line, it is still a moving gentleman’s salon, whose craftsmanship with which everything is put together is just plain. Despite all comfort enhancers, today it is not really relaxed driving, maximum concentration is required. With the air conditioning low and the seat cooling maximum, everything can be sharp. The operation of the car is child’s play. Still an attraction is the rotating multimedia system. Everything that matters (the drive mode button and the ESP switch) is right at your fingertips. With a turn of the knob and a push on the switch, the meshes of the electronic safety net are enlarged and the technology is sharpened. The speed on the streets between the windowless houses has meanwhile been returned to the level that the rear wheels start to steer against again, this time not to increase maneuverability, but to incite the mass at the rear to a whip out. In addition, in Sport mode, the electronics only let 28 percent of the immense torque go to the front wheels for an optimal playful effect, the rest goes to the rear. Nice, but the curbs or what’s left of them are treacherously close. Still, every now and then, we manage to explore the boundaries, half sliding over the grit and dust, or just go over them. Between the advancing greenery, a pinching bend ends on a vast plain of weathered concrete slabs. Now try again to resist the temptation. An extra tug on the steering wheel and immediately hit the gas! The back is sideways. What begins as a controlled long drift ends – encouraged by the man in the co-driver’s seat – in a raunchy donut with the front wheels as the magical center. It feels like sacrilege in this car, but who sees us?

Bentley Continental GT Speed

four-wheel drive

Back on course, we shoot like maddened behind the diving board of the empty swimming pool towards the cinema. Then we turn right at an intersection and with groaning tires over the weathered remains of what was once a zebra crossing we drive into a street with a double kink. The Bentley settles and in a controlled four-wheel drift we use the full width of the road. We could keep it up for hours, the Bentley too. At the end of the street, however, we are back at the fire station. The brakes, which have given the maximum without any trace of fading time and again, let us cool down quietly. In the GT Speed’s nose, a battery of fans does the same to all the fluids flowing through the car’s veins. End of playtime.

convertible

We leave the missile base in the open version, the Continental GT Speed ​​Convertible, towards Catania airport for the journey home. With the roof open and the driving mode switch in the Comfort position, the adrenaline level drops to more or less normal proportions after more than an hour of cruising along mountain walls on winding B-roads. Ultimate opulence and great performance are two extremes of a horseshoe, which come together tightly on the Bentley Continental GT Speed. Not only as a coupe, but also as a convertible. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the closed body is considerably stiffer than the open variant. According to the Bentley man in the passenger seat, this is about 50,000 Nm/degree for the coupé and about 30,000 Nm/degree for the convertible. In short, there is quite a bit in between. Then why would you want the convertible at all? Well, for the simple reason that this Convertible is a lot more playful compared to its less potent open brother. And with the hood open, you can enjoy the W12 soundtrack even more, bouncing off the mountainside. Success is a Choice!