2009 Bentley Continental GT

Review

It seems like yesterday I was charging through some of my favorite local back roads in a grey hued Continental GT

Speed, and now the thick leather-wrapped steering wheel and cold metal paddle-shifters of this bright red example are at my fingertips and the roads are also high on my list of priority drives, but far from home. I'm living the Bentley lifestyle for a few days, at the Inn at Spanish Bay in Monterey, California where I'll be attending the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and associated activities, but I could hardly pass up the opportunity to revisit one of the most impressive cars I've ever driven.

I leave the golf course clubhouse of an exquisite gated community Bentley has chosen for the day's headquarters, where VIPs and media elite are gathered to get a feel for all things Bentley. Yes, and I mean all things Bentley, as the representatives of Bentley branded goods, such as Breitling (the Flying B wristwatch is my personal favorite), Alfred Dunhill luggage and accoutrements,

and Tibaldi, the latter with a Bentley emblazoned fountain pen on hand worth some $38,000 – it comes in its own inlaid hardwood box, so it's justifiable – are “hawking” goods to Bentley owners and merely dazzling the eyeballs of less endowed journalists.

After a quick photo in front of a golf course on the edges of the community gates, I rumble down a narrow lane towards Carmel Valley Road, more of a highway really, and point the car towards one of my all-time favorite haunts, Laureles Grade, a twisting, convoluted affair that makes its way over a 4,000-foot summit and back down to Monterey Salinas Highway, No. 68, the junction of which is right beside a place I'd really love to drive this car, Laguna Seca raceway. Not in the cards today, however, as the Monterey Historics are taking place as I speak, but Laureles Grade will do.

I took to the Grade the day before, at the helm of three Aston Martins, the most powerful and most likely compared to the GT Speed being the DBS. Yes, a good couple of days of driving, no doubt.

After a five minutes or so on Carmel Valley Road, I see Laureles Grade up ahead on the left, and so I slow to make the turn within heavy traffic. Surrounding cars slow too, but mostly to get a closer look at the Speed, a car that is rare even in this well-heeled beach community. A quick left puts me onto Laureles Grade and I slowly motor up through surrounding houses, biding my time until driveways and the potential for mishap minimizes and the road ahead beckons with more undulating curves. Foot into the generous throttle, the GT Speed's 600-horsepower twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W-configured

12 with 553 lb-ft of torque moves 5,180 pounds as if it wasn't there, breaking the 60 mph mark in a mere 4.4 seconds and theoretically rushing on to a rather blistering 203 mph terminal velocity; theoretical only to me as I have nowhere to test the car's ultimate mettle.

I have little doubt that it would feel planted to the road even at such outlandish speeds, because despite the most radical hairpin corners Laureles Grade could throw at the big Bentley while flying along at speeds I dare not admit to, the meaty 275/30ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero Rossos circling specially made 26-spoke alloy rims keep the big super-coupe adhered to the pavement like nothing I've ever experienced before. Truly, this car is special. The Speed is slightly lower than the “base” GT, with stiffer bushings and a solid-mounted front subframe, while, like all Continental-series cars its adjustable air suspension can be modulated via the infotainment controller

on the center stack so that the ride can be ultra-firm, as I have it set now, or ultimately compliant for soaking up inner-city potholes. The GT Speed gets a faster reacting Servotronic rack and pinion steering setup, while aluminum and composites lighten up the body... a bit. Its balance is neutral, aided by Torsen all-wheel drive with a slight rear-wheel bias, pushing and when necessary pulling the car through curve after curve, absolute control all the time, its race-like carbon-ceramic brakes scrubbing off speed at an unfathomable rate when needed, and with no noticeable fade after repeated application. It might be the easiest supercar I've ever driven at such speeds, totally communicative during every step of the drive and never once feeling like it was going to break free at the rear, although a quick flick to "Sport Traction" mode frees up the specially-tuned electronic traction and stability control system to allow for a modicum of rear end slip when coaxed... provoking some serious fun indeed. And this from a car that is as luxurious as any other Bentley, a brand rarified for its rich leathers, real solid billet aluminum fitments and seemingly solid planks of burled walnut.

Yes,

it's an exquisite interior, only bested amongst coupes by Rolls-Royce's new Phantom Coupe and Bentley's own Brooklands, and then the GT Speed is a more accommodating place to spend time, with modern amenities like a tilt and telescoping steering column and better ergonomics overall. There's no burled walnut in the Speed, however, but rather Bentley has given its raciest model unique accents of black lacquer, which backdrops the bright metal switchgear quite beautifully. The aforementioned infotainment system is fully featured, with the audio interface integrating a six-disc CD changer and Sirius satellite radio, plus navigation, a backup camera, Bluetooth connectivity, and yet more, and the automatic climate control system is straight-forward and easy to use. I really only have one small beef with Bentley at all, and it's ironically most likely due to the reality that it's company not very familiar with plastics. After all, climb into an Arnage sedan, Azure convertible or Brooklands coupe, or any of the cars that came before the most recent Continental series, and you'll be hard pressed to find a scrap of plastic in the entire cabin. So, while the comparatively

mass market Continental GT and Flying Spur models feature elegant chrome trimmed buttons on the center stack, they're not damped as nicely as I would like, wiggling a bit too much for my preference, and the plastic itself is harder and, well, more plasticky than it really should be, especially considering Bentley's Volkswagen parentage. Yes, I know, it's a small complaint for sure, and hardly a deal breaker, but something I'd like to see improved nonetheless. A quick glance at the machine-worked metal-sided audio and infotainment knobs, or a tug on the solid-metal air vent plungers while checking the perfectly elegant Breitling dash clock is all that's need to overlook any such imperfection, because the GT Speed is still endowed with one of the best interiors in autodom.

The

Speed's exclusive sport gear lever is also a joy to hold as is the special three-spoke sport steering wheel, while the drilled alloy pedals enhance pedal grip, important while piloting the big coupe back down the mountainside at nine-tenths, W12 pulling like a Griffon VI (sorry aviation buffs, but the Bentley BR1 and BR2 radial aircraft engines of WWI weren't powerful enough to reference and I couldn't make mention of Merlin due to its association with a certain British rival) and carbon-ceramic brakes counteracting to compensate for the downhill grade. Exhilarating? To say the least. More like breathtaking, although the GT Speed's confidence-inspiring demeanor never puts the element of fear into the experience, which is fine by me.

I'd rather luxuriate in its rapid-rate splendor, contemplate which recent stock purchase will double or triple in value as it climbs out of the volatile mayhem we once dubbed a securities market, as I have an empty stall in my garage that needs filling. And why not with a Continental GT Speed? It's simply the best super-coupe on the market, gorgeous to look at and positively unreal to drive.