Bentley Continental GT Speed proves PHEV power is no compromise

• The fourth-generation Continental GT Speed and GTC convertible tap into plug-in hybrid power
• The GT Speed First Edition as tested costs $302,100
• The GTC Speed First Edition convertible as tested cost $332,200

The Swiss Alps are objectively beautiful. With their ragged glacier peaks coursing with waterfalls like veins into verdant valleys clanging with livestock and cowbells, it’s a place that exceeds the imagination. It’s stunning, staggering, and surreal. 

The new Bentley Continental GT Speed is objectively beautiful as well, and it too comes to life in ways that exceed what’s imaginable. For at least $300,000, the fourth generation Continental GT Speed should, too. 

Switzerland is known not just for its cow bells, chocolatiers and alpkase cheese mongering, it’s the wealthiest population per capita in the world. No surprise then that it’s home to the most Bentleys per capita in the world. Driving the flagship over 6,000-foot Swiss mountain passes, alongside train tracks and turquoise lakes, up and down hairpin curves so steep only the grazing mountain goats ignored the drop off, the new GT Speed demonstrated how well plug-in performance can blend with the grace of a grand tourer.

 

 

Continental GT Speed: Looks to thrill

Even sitting in a parking lot, the new Continental GT Speed carries undeniable presence, a promise and a threat, much like the mountaintops crowded round it. For the first time in its 21-year history, not long after Bentley peeled off from the bespoke wings of Rolls-Royce, the Continental GT foregoes the dual headlight-foglight signature for one single headlight housing—the first time a Bentley has had such a thing since 1959.

A DRL eyebrow separates the housing, with 3D crystals glinting like diamonds up top and the integrated high-beam and low-beam LED matrix headlights below it

The single lights reflect a more streamlined front face but aside from the chrome surround on the rectangular grille, and a more pronounced metallic mesh pattern on the grille and lower air intakes, the long nose looks similar to its predecessor. It’s shinier, no doubt, as is the way of new toys. The DRL eyebrows really form a body line that rings the Conti, over its giant wheel wells housing new 22-inch wheel designs intended to look like a tiger’s claw, to the pronounced rear haunches.  

Those muscular haunches preen so much from the svelte body lines that Bentley can fit the fuel door on top of the passenger side, and the plug-in port atop the driver’s side haunch. In back, that body line resolves into oval taillights with a smoky finish. Above it is a modest ducktail spoiler that creates enough downforce to replace the active spoiler of its predecessor. In total, it has an American muscle car stance with classic European curves; it’s gorgeous. New Tourmaline Green and Gravity Grey paint colors accentuate the beauty even more, with the green catching my eye for one beat longer than Magenta or Jetstream Blue while I configure this in my imagination. 

The one welcome absence that’s all the rage with electrified cars is the lack of LED light bars front or rear. You stay classy, Crewe. 

 

 

Bentley Continental GT Speed puts electric power first

Don’t lament the passing of the legendary W-12 engine. Sacrificed at the altar of emissions regulations if not just old age, the W-12 had a fine sendoff last year in the $2.5 million Batur convertible limited to just 16 models. Bye. 

The V-8 plug-in hybrid that replaces it makes for a better Grand Tourer, with more readily available power, but also a default electric setup for quiet, emissions-free touring for up to 50 miles and at up to 87 mph.

It starts in “B,” as in Bentley mode, on the console dial that doubles as the ignition button. Aside from some chimes and illumination of the elegant instrument cluster, it’s hard to detect that it’s on. With its new 400-volt electric architecture, the Continental GT is programmed to run on electric power in B. It floats around town, silent and cocksure, but tip the throttle past 75% and the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 answers with a ready roar. 

The handoff is remarkably smooth. Even uphill and mashing the throttle, there’s no hesitation from the engine taking over. Unlike the W-12, there’s no cylinder deactivation, so the engine’s 576 hp and 590 lb-ft seems ever ready. 

Twist the dial left to Sport mode and the engine takes prominence. It snarls to life, then intensifies like fear up a narrow pass tiptoeing a sheer dropoff. It might not have the banshee howl of the W-12, but it thrums enough to feel it in your body. I suspected there was some artificial amplification, but Bentley assured me there was none. It must’ve been the contrast from the silence of electric driving. 

Small and perfectly fitted paddle shifters let you downshift a gear or two before a passing move or twisting into a turn, but it’s unnecessary. The 8-speed dual-clutch automatic handles downshifts as precisely as a Swiss watch. 

Supplementing the engine and torque-filling during shift gaps is a 140-kw motor sandwiched in the transmission. It’s used on start up, but in Sport mode it boosts the system output to 760 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque, up from 650 hp and 664 lb-ft in the third-generation GT with the 6.0-liter W-12. It cuts the 0-60 mph time from 3.5 seconds to 3.1 seconds, and tops out at 208 mph. That amounts to the most powerful Bentley ever. 

Our roads were limited to 80 kph (50 mph) and better judgment. As powerful and instantaneous as it felt, the GT Speed wowed with its grip, especially on hairpin curves slick with snow melt. Aided by an electronic limited-slip differential, as well as active antiroll bars, the GT speed carves into corners in a way that utterly belies its massive curb weight of 5,421 pounds. 

The weight is up only 51 pounds from its predecessor, despite the big 25.9-kwh battery (22 kwh usable) behind the rear axle and below the boot. The battery placement also helps better balance the car with a 49:51 weight distribution favoring the rear for the first time in a GT Speed. 

The few times I chirped the tires out of a turn, it felt fully planted, with the narrower Pirelli 275/35 ZR22 front tires and wider 315/30 ZR22 rear tires squarely on the ground. A center differential distributes torque front to rear, and torque is also redistributed wheel-to-wheel across the axles. Rear-wheel steering further enhances the grip while cornering and it also maintains stability at higher speeds while rounding one of those aquamarine alpine lakes, for instance. 

Large 420 mm front iron brakes arrested by 10-piston calipers increased my confidence to go a little harder a little more, and for those intending to hammer the GT Speed for long stretches 440 mm carbon-ceramic brakes are an $18,820 option. 

A Comfort mode softens the chassis settings, which have new dual-valve adjustable dampers and dual-chamber air springs with a wider spread between firm and comfort settings. In total, Bentley says 64% of the fourth-gen GT Speed has new or reworked parts. All of the enhancements to the chassis, as well as the electromechanical handling components, result in a delightful dynamic between controlled performance and sublime comfort. 

It never feels squirrelly enough to lose control, though the speed and weight always carry that threat, and it settles back into grand touring comfort without even a gasp.   

 

 

Electric power in the GT Speed PHEV

All of these modes and settings and mechanical wizardry don’t need to be trifled with by the driver. If you want to dig a little deeper, and play with the suspension, steering, and power delivery mechanisms, there is a learning curve. 

In addition to the four drive modes, an E-Power button on the wood-covered console toggles through four other battery settings: EV, Hybrid, Hold, and Charge. Accessibility to those settings depends on the drive mode. For instance, you can’t put it into Hybrid when in Sport mode because it’s already in Hybrid, optimizing both motor and engine power. Charge, which activates engine power only to replenish the battery, is disabled if the battery is above 75% state of charge.

Despite Bentley designing the powertrain to default to electric power, and with all these customization options, there’s no way to adjust the regenerative braking settings beyond what’s preprogrammed in the drive modes. Another curiosity absent is the lack of a brake hold button as in most EVs, PHEVs, and hybrids.    

What is absolute is how the V-8 PHEV improves on the W-12’s 14 mpg combined, though the estimated 27.4 mpg and 50 miles of electric range on the WLTP cycle will certainly be lower when it cycles through the EPA’s tests. 

Bentley GT Speed interior space and roominess

The 2+2 seating configuration carries over, though there’s slightly more front headroom than before. In theory, a family of four could fit in this two-door coupe. A firm metal latch embedded into the front seats power slides and tips the front seats forward. Getting in back is easy enough, and a quick pull on the latch brings the seat back into position. If it hits your knees, it automatically nudges up an inch or so. A button on the seat side also allows for power adjustment from the rear. At 5-foot-8, I fit OK behind the rear passenger seat, with enough toeroom and headroom to sit normally. My 6-foot-2 driving partner had to hunch due to the limited headroom. A console and cupholders back there suggest some longer-trip potential. 

Despite the placement of the battery pack, the trunk grows from 8.3 to a still small 9.2 cubic feet over the generations, and it’s roomy enough for a carry-on for each of the four possible passengers.

 

 

The Continental GTC Speed convertible difference

The convertible version of the GT Speed, the GTC Speed, adds about $30,000 to the price tag and nearly 400 pounds of weight. It didn’t feel as planted as the coupe, and wasn’t as quiet inside, expectedly. 

Aside from the initial sally out of the resort and into the hills, I drove with the top down in blustery conditions at no more than 50 degrees F. It was lovely. A virtual heat scarf blew hot air in three settings from the headrest to the base of my neck. My drive partner had a hoodie that may have tripped a sensor and limited his heat output.

The GTC comes with a windscreen that requires manual installation; it folds in half and pops into place above the rear seats, and it can remain in place even with the top up. It takes about 20 seconds for the top to close or retract, and it can be done at speeds of up to 30 mph. 

It was fun, and the GTC certainly has its fans as an open top tourer, but I preferred the coupe, and not just because I’m a bald man. 

The Bentley Continental GT Speed’s $302,100 question

The eventual question my non-rich friends asked is if the new GT Speed First Edition loaded with options is really worth $302,100. 

It’s in the details. Power adjustable headrests, heated armrests, gorgeous wood dash trim, deep pile floor mats richer than most home carpets, every control and adornment, from the B in the gear shifter to the vent controls, seemingly crafted with intention. 

My favorite feature was the lack of one: no wall-to-wall screens, no gaudy light show or bedazzling ambient lighting that stand out like diamond-studded teeth. The materials themselves are special enough. Even the 12.3-inch touchscreen can rotate out of sight at the push of the button: it can flip to the wood of the dash to make it one long panel, or it can flip again to a nautical theme with three analog dials. 

Despite all the sophistication and technological innovation, there are still Apple CarPlay connectivity issues. The graphics of the native navigation system are far superior anyway, but it’s worth noting.

With the various color combos, as well as the Mulliner customization options, Bentley estimates that there are 46 billion—yes, billion—configurations for the GT and GTC Speed. That almost guarantees that no two will be the same, lending each one that rarefied space of the ultralux class. 

As to that question of merit, it’s like asking if visiting the Swiss Alps is that mesmerizing or if a Swiss watch is really that much better. To those fortunate enough to know, there’s only one answer. 

Bentley paid for airfare, lodging, and sustainable fuel for MotorAuthority to present this firsthand report.