Bentley Continental GT Speed 2025 review – driving the most powerful Bentley yet

Step inside the new Bentley Continental GT. No need to slam the door; pull it gently against the catch and it’ll softly motor itself closed, while the motorised ‘butler’ armature proffers the seatbelt over your shoulder. Depending on spec, you might be inhaling lungfuls of leather or sitting on smart suede; behind a carbonfibre dash with black chrome, or engine-turned aluminium with trad brightwork, or walnut, koa, oak or perhaps eucalyptus veneer. 

Press the starter button and, initially, there’s silence. Since the new Conti GT is a hybrid, it defaults to electric mode on start-up. The new 4-litre-V8-plus-e-motor set-up replaces both the non-hybrid 4-litre engine option in the previous Continental and the now-retired flagship W12. It has the firepower to outpoint both: with a 771bhp total output, this is the most powerful production Bentley yet. The 140kW electric motor is fed by a 25.9kWh battery, and can enable a WLTP-rated 50-mile range at up to 87mph. The engine won’t kick in unless you push the throttle past three-quarters of its travel, or twist the drive mode dial to Sport. The V8 starts with a muted whoomph, and does so instantly since there’s no traditional starter motor. The e-motor, located in the same casing as the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, does the job of starter motor and generator, as well as driving the wheels. In electric-only mode, it has enough performance to smoothly keep pace with most traffic without assistance from the V8. 

When the V8 is in play, it has an enjoyable cross-plane rumble, and Bentley is proud to point out that the woofly tones entering the cabin aren't enhanced in any way; it’s all real engine sound. The V8 generates 591bhp on its own. Like the rest of the hybrid system, the engine is shared with the latest Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid. The 3996cc block is retained from the previous Conti and Panam’s V8 but there’s new 350bar fuel injection (up from 200bar in the previous V8) and new turbos (since the electric motor helps with torque-fill, they’re now simpler single-scroll turbos, which can run harder for longer, helping with emissions) among multiple other refinements. And there’s no longer cylinder deactivation: since the electric motor can take over under low loads, the whole engine switches off instead.

Aside from pure electric running, the hybrid powertrain also has modes in which it works together with the engine to boost acceleration, prioritise energy recuperation or charge the battery directly from the engine. You could feasibly never plug this car in; if you do, it takes around two hours 45 minutes to top the battery up fully at a fast charger. WLTP-rated total range is well over 500 miles – just the job for a continent-crossing grand tourer.

The Conti GT is a big deal for Bentley. The original was the car that put the company back on the map as a maker of modern, cutting-edge luxury tourers, significantly boosting its financials and arguably saving the company. This new version marks the biggest shift in philosophy since the original, with the thunderous W12 being replaced by a V8 with hybrid power for the first time. The question is, has electrification reduced or enhanced its unique appeal against rivals like the Aston Martin DB12, Maserati GranTurismo and Ferrari Roma?

Performance, ride and handling

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Initially, the signs are good. The hybrid powertrain suits the GT character well: gliding through villages in electric mode, with V8 power and bombast on tap for mountain passes when you need or want it. The fixed-ratio power steering is a fast set-up, aided by standard-fit four-wheel steering. You don’t need much lock, even for the tightest hairpins. It’s more natural in feel than most systems of this type; you don’t always notice it on the move, even though when you leave a parking space onlookers can see the rear wheels turning the opposite way to the fronts.

Transfer between motor and engine is very smooth, as are the gearchanges. As well as using its 332lb ft to torque-fill at low engine speeds, it employs the same trick during upshifts for a smooth, seamless feel. The suspension, too, is TV-news-anchor smooth. Bentley’s engineering team describe this car’s new electronically controlled two-valve dampers (on two-chamber air springs) as its ‘secret weapon.’ They have a much wider spread between their firmest and softest modes, and the ECU can control compression and rebound separately. There’s a little surface fuzz from the 22-inch wheels but overall ride quality and composure is very impressive.

Like the previous Conti GT, the new car is fitted with 48V active anti-roll bars, under the Bentley Dynamic Ride label. On paper this car should corner just as well as, or even better than, its predecessor, despite being more than 180kg heavier: it has a sweet 49:51 front:rear weight distribution (helped by siting the battery behind the rear axle), software for the active all-wheel-drive system and rear e-diff has been carefully refined, and it has active torque vectoring front to rear via a centre diff, and side to side using the brakes. 

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The Speed is a prime example of how sophisticated modern all-wheel-drive systems talk fluently to various other active systems, and almost cheat physics. Barrelling through a series turns, a gamut of sensors, accelerometers and control units are in conference to control the rear-wheel steering; the rear e-diff; the stability control system, which varies its interventions according to drive mode; the adaptive air suspension and active anti-roll; and which axle to prioritise. As much as 100 per cent of the Speed’s considerable torque reserves can be sent entirely to the rear wheels, and further divided with accuracy by the e-diff and brake vectoring. 

Even though there’s a lot of weight at the front due to the engine being relatively far forward, the GT reacts with a high level of neutrality from the moment you apply any lock or throttle, its even weight distribution providing balance. And this translates into the Speed’s sense of predictability and trustworthiness. It feels enormous – bordering on too large to feel suitable for UK roads – but it handles like a car far smaller than it really is. Far lighter, too: this is a 2.4-ton car, but it’s only when you get it moving around that you realise just how much momentum is at play. 

On a track – where it should be well out of its comfort zone – it is truly keen to slide, too, in Sport mode and with ESC disabled. The long wheelbase and ability to bias torque to the rear, plus all that instant-access torque, make it a very driveable machine, one that’s happy to act like a hoodlum. Pin the throttle out of tight turns and it gradually pivots towards oversteer while still finding strong forward drive, before neatly pulling itself straight and unleashing 771bhp to hurl towards the next braking zone. And when you decide those massive 22-inch tyres have taken enough punishment, the GT is happy to be driven tidily, too, with a sense of heft and security that gives you confidence in damp conditions. It gives its best in the most dynamic drive modes, allowing you to subtly steer it with the throttle thanks to a rear diff that’s keener to lock up under power (it feels too open when pushing hard in the other modes). The Continental is by no means a touchy-feely driver’s car, but you can’t help but shake your head in admiration at the nimbleness Bentley’s engineers have somehow bestowed upon it.

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But away from a circuit, this is a car about security and confidence in all weathers and all situations, and its AWD powertrain is a big part of that. The Continental GT has been all-wheel drive from the get-go: back when The Car That Changed Bentley was being devised, a quarter of a century or so ago, AWD was one of the attributes it was decreed it simply had to have, along with a sub-5sec 0-62mph time and a top speed as close as possible to 200mph. Today, modern software makes it a perfect example of how variable-torque-split all-wheel drive can work in harmony with the other chassis and powertrain tools at the engineers’ disposal to make even a 2.4-ton luxury cruiser more deceptively agile than ever.

It stops well too, but pedal feel is a little odd at times. Bentley has gone to painstaking lengths to ensure the friction brakes and electric motor regenerative braking blend seamlessly but there are times when it feels less consistent than a non-hybrid car’s brake pedal. Iron brakes are standard and this test car was on the optional larger carbon-silicon-carbide brakes (both use 10-piston front, four-piston rear calipers), which perhaps are less progressive in feel.

The new Continental GT is launching in flagship Speed trim first; further, less powerful derivatives will follow. The Speed lives up to its name. When there’s the space and vision to do so, it goes well: peak torque – all 738lb ft of it – comes in at relatively low revs, circa 200rpm, due to the engine and e-motor working together, and even up at high revs, there’s more torque than the W12 engine in the previous Conti GT Speed. It makes a good noise too, without spoiling the car’s isolated refinement. It sounds even better with the roof down: Bentley is launching the new car in both coupe GT and convertible GTC guise at the same time. We tried both. The convertible is heavier, with a kerb weight of 2636kg compared with the coupe’s 2459kg, and as you’d expect you can feel a little less torsional rigidity in the drop-top version, but not dramatically so: it’s a composed and together machine. 

Interior and technology

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This is a comprehensive revision of the previous Continental GT rather than a clean-sheet replacement; Bentley says that around 68 per cent of components are new, with the new 400-volt architecture a key enabler for the hybridised platform’s abilities.  

Much of the interior is recognisable from before, with new digital displays and trim. Quality is still superb; it’s a standout-special cabin, and a core part of the Conti’s appeal. The party-piece rotating dash is still an option, too. The seats – which include ‘wellness’ options for massage and ventilation functions – are a remarkable piece of engineering in themselves, although, like the previous car, it’d be nice if the driver’s seat could be set a bit lower.

As a Grand Tourer, the new Continental has all of the strengths of its predecessor – apart, that is, from some of its luggage space, since the hybrid system’s battery has eaten into the boot. Otherwise, it’s made the car faster, widened its breadth of abilities, and potentially opened the car up to a wider range of customers thanks to – for the first time for the Continental GT – relatively friendly BIK tax rates. 

It still has the same continent-crossing comfort, sense of presence, and an enjoyable soundtrack: the V8 is a truly characterful engine and the hybrid powertrain is integrated in such a way as to expand the car’s repertoire rather than restrict it. The Continental’s character remains firmly intact. 

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Price and rivals

Bentley doesn’t name-check rivals directly but the Aston Martin DB12 and Ferrari Roma are referenced as competitors. Both have a more overtly sporting approach, sitting closer to ‘sports car’ than ‘GT’ on a sliding scale; the Bentley feels closer to a more traditional long-distance grand tourer. There’s also the Maserati GranTurismo, a truly practical GT albeit one that can’t hold a candle to the Bentley’s interior design and cabin quality.

You do pay more for the new Continental’s sophistication and hybrid capabilities – at £236,000 it’s £15,000 more than the previous car, with the GTC Speed costing £259,500. That’s also significantly more than the Maserati and Aston. The Ferrari Roma is no longer on sale in coupe form, but you can pick up a nearly new example for around £180k.