Motor Australia – May 2019

d motorofficial f motor_mag^37

oddly flat as its active anti-roll bars

artificially delete most of the body roll.

There is the feeling, as well, that you

are giving the front tyres and huge

front brakes (420mm discs, 10-piston

calipers) a hell of a time, the balance

of the car, with that huge engine, very

much secure and safe understeer. All

the while, it feels like myriad computer

systems are at work underneath you

trying to cajole 2244kg into feeling

more like 1800kg, only half successfully.

Be in no doubt, the Conti GT is fast.

But it also oddly goes to great lengths

to hide exactly how quick you’re going

• until you look down at the speedo
  and have a conniption.
  This is a car you come away from
  respecting, even admiring, rather than
  lusting to drive for longer. It does
  depend on what kind of driving we’re
  talking, of course. If you’ve got a lot
  of miles to cover, the Continental GT
  is as comfortable, lush and luxurious a
  grand tourer as they come. And that’s
  what it does excellently – grand tour,
  city or country. If that’s the brief, the

Continental GT meets it admirably.

Many previous Conti GT customers,

who may live in Los Angeles for

example, will find the new Conti GT

exactly what they’re after – and the

new interior tech especially welcome.

But those who know of the Bentley

Boys, with visions of a Continental GT3

racer for the road – frankly, any MOTOR

reader who likes to poke their car a bit

no matter what it is – is best to wait for

other models, like the twin-turbo 4.0-

litre Continental GT V8. Or if you must

have 12 cylinders, the incoming, as-yet-

announced GT Speed sounds like a

proper dish.

Still a while off for that one, there is

no shortage of competitors after the

patronage of those both impatient and

brand agnostic, be that Aston Martin

with its saucy rear-drive DB11 AMR, or

even Benz with its brutish AMG S65

Coupe. Forgetting, of course, about

the outlay, because unlike Bentley and

its VAG overlords, bills aren’t really

something the average Continental GT

owner loses sleep over.

‘tailormade’astheoldContinentalGT

• perhapsthisis anotherwayofsaying
  thebuildqualityhasimproved– but
  nocustomeris goingtocomplainit’sa
  choreofa placetosit.
  Forallitseffortlesspowerand
  incredibleperformancehardware,
  driving fast and having a bit of a go
  feels like something the new Conti GT
  can do, but not something you really
  desire to do. While providing some
  serious acceleration, the W12 could
  be a V6 for all you could tell, noise-
  wise. Hard cornering is nothing really
  enjoyable either, the big Bentley sitting

THIS ISA CAR

YOU RESPECT, OR

ADMIRE, BUT NOT

LUST TO DRIVE

HARD FORLONGER

TOP

BentleyW12now

matedtoaneight-

speedtwin-clutch;

veryresponsive, but

notquiteasluxo-

smoothasa torque

converter

ABOVE

Interiorisbristling

withnew-for-Bentley

techincludingHead-

UpDisplay,Adaptive

CruiseandNight

Vision.Colourand trim

customisationoptions

hurtyourbrain

➜