Performance cars now take many guises. From the in-your-face RS4 to the subtle M3. Trying to strike a balance between the two is very tricky, but I think Bentley might just have done it…It was the wail of an Aston Martin exhaust outside the office that set it off…one of my colleagues smiled and nodded at the rasping exhaust note of a car being driven hard, the other shook their head in distaste. With the furore surrounding the square-off between the M3 and the RS4, there is something of a divide between those who want their performance cars to look and sound like an executive saloon on Nandrolone and those who prefer their über saloon to sport a subtle exterior and let the engine do the talking. There is also a great deal of talk about dumping clutches, redlines and mid-corner handling characteristics at ludicrous speeds being bandied about…things that would normally gain my undivided attention, but lately my disapproving colleague’s stance has intrigued me.
This person’s argument was that if someone had the means to buy an Aston Martin, would they really need to prove anything by thrashing it like an Impreza? I see their point, but having driven the Bentley Continental GT Speed, I’m beginning to see a slightly different take on fast cars – there needs to be a middle ground between blood and thunder, and softly-spoken.
Prior to driving the GT Speed, I will concede that I was not a great fan of the Continental. I had this preconception of the car being a lumbering barge packed to the gills with chrome and alloy wheels that would make a Premier League footballer squeal with glee…in fact, that’s the subconscious association I had made with this car. Every time I had seen one, it was being piloted out of the training ground car park by a tattoo-sporting luddite whose weekly pay rivals the GDP of a banana republic. Sour grapes, I know, but when association is all you’ve got to go on, that’s all you can really think.
So when I first approached the GT Speed on a balmy morning in Southern Spain, I was surprised when my expected feelings of revulsion were absent. In the metal, this car is not quite the wheeled monolith you assumed it would be – the lines are classy yet refined and mildly athletic. Many will now interject with the fact that the Bentley is anything but subtle, and I would agree. It’s got presence in spades, but given the force majeure that is the 447 kW powerplant, this car has thankfully shunned any spoilers or gravel-ploughing bodykits.
The drive also saw the barge connotation fly out of the window. The GT Speed has tenacious grip and a nimble composure that belie its hewn from granite build. This isn’t a car that will be wheeled out to face 911s and Elises on a track, it is ballistically rapid and can be driven in anger, but it feels most at home with a smoother approach. The most amazing thing however is the way in which it lives up to the “Speed” monicker. Initially, it doesn’t actually feel that fast, purely because you’re ensconced in a cabin that is so cosseting it casts a new light on the old “I could buy this or a new house” schtick.
Despite the collosal torque on offer, pressing the accelerator into the thick-pile carpet does not dislodge a retina. Instead, there is just a smooth surge of power and a distant bellow from the nose. Things are probably different outside the GT Speed. At pottering speed, the GT Speed emits a throaty burble, but does not disturb the plasterwork on surrounding buildings. Pick up the pace, and a noise that can only be likened to the end of the world emanates from the twin exhausts, as slower cars flail in your wake and frightened villagers gather their children and run for the nearest available cover.
This is where the GT Speed came into its own against the aforementioned RS4, M3 et al. It embodied such a mixture of seemingly opposing natures that it ultimately works as a highly desirable fast car. It has the presence you’d hope from something with the flying-B badge, but is not vulgarly appointed. It mixes a serene nature with a blood-curdling exhaust note, and restrained opulence with straight-line performance that could humble many supercars….to sound as intrinsically far-fetched as possible, the rightness of just how wrong it should have felt (like attaching rocket engines to a gentleman’s club) made driving this car an experience to savour.
So, if I appear mildly disinterested when the subject of conversation turns to the next firebreathing Audi or Merc, don’t take offence, it’s just that the GT Speed has been there, done that and done so with more character, power and eccentricity than they possibly could.
You can read more about the Bentley Continental GT Speed in the October 2007 issue of CAR Magazine, on sale from September 17.
Click one of the options below to download a wallpaper of the Bentley Continental GT Speed:
You can also view a video of the GT Speed at its launch in Andalusia, Spain.