36 may 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor

O3

“THEBILL”mustbediscussedonlyin
hushedvoicesaroundthewatercoolers
oftheVolkswagenAudiGroup.And
no,wedon’tmeanthepopularBritish
copshow,butsomethingrathermore
unsavoury.Andit’spayingthis“bill”
thatis drivinga levelofhomogenisation
andefficiency-seekingwithinthe
VAG we’ve not seen between sister
companies before.
Take the new Bentley Continental GT,
which has just arrived in Australia. A
brand new generation of car replacing
the best-selling previous model, it

is,ostensibly,a PorschePanamera

underneath,builtoffthesame‘MSB’

platform.Obviouslyit’sshortenedand

madeintoa coupe.Thebody-in-white

is evenbuiltalongsidethePorscheat

itsLeipzigplant,beforebeingshipped

toCrewein Englandforfinalassembly.

Fortunately,though,asidefromsome

obvious AudiandotherPorschebits

inside, that’swherethehomogenisation

ends for thebig,boldlystyledBentley.

In goes Crewe’sown467kW/900Nm

6.0-litre twin-turboW12,anengine

the Brits areexportingbacktothe

Germans,noless, for service in cars

liketheAudiA8 and VW Phaeton.

It’sconnectedup to an eight-speed

doppelkupplung – sorry, twin-clutch

• automaticand on-demand all-
  wheeldrivesystem, ready to shift its
  almostunbelievable 2244kg heft to
  100km/hin a bitumen-excavating 3.7
  seconds.Meanwhile, also attempting to
  counteractthelaws of physics, there is
  airsuspensionand a 48v active anti-roll
  barsystem– allitems that would share
  partnumbers,we presume, with certain
  turboPanamera models.
  Notthatthismatters, really. At low
  speeds,wherethe Continental GT is
  going to spend the bulk of its time, this
  is a properly sublime car. Well insulated
  from road noise and with a wafty ride,
  it’s a joy to feel the deep-pile carpets
  or expensive, expansive leathers. The
  interior doesn’t feel as special or as

ENGINE5950ccW12,DOHC,48v,twin-turbo

POWER467kW@6000rpm

TORQUE900Nm@1350-4500rpm

0-100KM/H3.7sec(claimed)

4.0 WEIGHT2244kg•PRICE$422,600

Rating

LIKE:Luxomissilea dream

dailydriver;lookscool;lush

interior;improvedbuildquality

DISLIKE:W 12 soundssnoozy;

handlinggoodbutnotexactly

‘fun’;feelslessspecialsomehow

ABOVE

Porsche-supplied

twin-clutch ’box

and all-wheel drive

grants launch control;

0-100km/h in 3.7sec on

to 333km/h. Not slow

➜

Stunning grand tourer doesn’t light our driving fire

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT

BY • DYLAN CAMPBELL + PICS • AL A STAI R B RO O K

M