Bentley Continental Supersports - Quickest, most powerful Bentley ever
With 700bhp and 750lb ft of torque, the Supersports is the ultimate variant of the long-running Continental GT
After hinting at its new model through a selection of teaser images, Bentley has revealed the new Continental Supersports in full - and it's the quickest model the company has ever produced for the road.
Marking the ultimate evolution of the brand's W12-engined Continental GT, it's also the most powerful road car the firm has ever made, with a peak output of 700bhp at 5900rpm.
Torque too is massive, nearly matching the mighty twin-turbocharged, six-and-three-quarter litre V8 of the Mulsanne: 750lb ft, developed from a lazy 2050rpm to 4500rpm. This power and torque is fed to all four wheels (in a 40:60 front-rear split) via an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. The results? From rest to a mile a minute in 3.4sec, and a 209mph top speed.
> Read: Bentley Mulsanne review - the ultimate luxury car?
The power increase - a 79bhp step over the standard car - is down to a pair of higher-capacity turbochargers and uprated intercooling, allowing the Supersports to run higher boost. The extra stress this creates on the reciprocating components means Bentley has also uprated the main and conrod bearings. The ZF 'box also locks up quicker, all the better for transferring that massive torque in the most effective manner. A revised exhaust system (optionally in titanium) helps draw gases from each of the twelve combustion chambers.
Carbon ceramic brakes are standard (and, like everything on Planet Conti, they're massive - 420mm up front, 356mm astern), and they hide behind 21x9.5in forged alloy wheels wrapped in 275/35 R21 tyres all-round.
> Also read: Bentley Continental GT3-R review
Power, as one tyre company is known to say, is nothing without control, and to that end the Supersports gets a torque vectoring system from the Continental GT3-R, to the benefit of agility. A revised stability control system is claimed to be less intrusive (though you'll have to be going some in order to unstick the 2290kg Supersports on its 275-section rubber) and the suspension is lower and stiffer than normal.
The exterior is typical Continental GT, albeit laced with extra menace. As is customary, menace means myriad black detailing and liberal use of carbonfibre. Coupe versions (there's a convertible model too) get the option of an aerodynamic front splitter and matching rear spoiler, while inside there's diamond quilted upholstery, Alcantara, and carbonfibre trim.
And if all that isn't enough, Supersports customers will still be able to take their 700bhp monsters to Bentley's Mulliner coachbuilding devision, where they'll attempt to make tasteful your wildest combinations of colour and material.
