The first Continental GT Speed hybrid is here, and it’s the most powerful road-going Bentley yet

If there’s one thing Bentley does superbly well, it’s to surprise you. Having witnessed this Tourmaline Green rocket whiz by in the blink of an eye on its global debut at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, it is, perhaps, not such a surprise that the latest Continental GT Speed handles like a beast in posh clothing once you’re behind the wheel. 

After all, this fourth-generation iteration is hailed as the most powerful road-going Bentley ever created, and it is hands down the British carmaker’s most dynamic drive yet. 

Like most of the auto industry, Bentley is hybridising its fleet with planet-saving powertrains, so here comes the first Continental GT Speed, now a plug-in hybrid. The formidable 6-litre W12 engine that once held court under the hood of many a predecessor has been replaced by a new 4.0-litre V8.

Never in the history of the automobile has fewer cylinders meant more power, but here we are, thanks to the addition of an electric motor based on 400-volt electrical architecture. 

It’s a prescription for more power in this new world order, with 771hp (a 19 per cent increase) on tap, accompanied by 11 per cent more torque, clocking in at a staggering 1,000Nm, thus anointing this elegant grand tourer with the prodigious power of supercar proportions and performance. 

All that muscle might translate to a very impressive century sprint of just 3.1 seconds. As for the electric-only range on this hybrid, it’s a respectable 81km that should be sufficient for daily commutes.

However, this is certain to diminish given the overwhelming temptation to indulge the heady thrill of always and only driving the car in sport mode.  

Sprinkle a dash of active torque vectoring technology, as Bentley engineers have done, and you have a luxury car so deceptively agile and nimble that it’ll take the self-restraint of a saffron-robed monk to stick within the speed limits. Quite intoxicating, really. 

A beast unleashed

In atypical Bentley fashion, the most powerful Bentley ever built looks it, too. “The stance of a resting beast,” says Bentley about the new design DNA embodied in this latest rendition.

Like an apex predator about to unleash its full power, its profile is bolder than ever with visibly more muscularity, sharper lines, sculpted haunches, and far less embellishment that — depending on who you ask — didn’t do its past incarnations any favours.

Even the new 22-inch wheels have been fashioned to evoke the “claws” of a tiger digging into the road and ready to pounce. 

But what we really need to talk about are those headlamps. Like Bentley’s legendary W12 that has gone the way of the dodo, the carmaker has done away with those garish, flowery diamond-cut round peepers in favour of sleeker and far sexier LED headlights framed by crystal-cut “eyebrows” that flicker on, reminiscent of the come-hither gaze of a vixen batting her eyelashes. Quite stunning, really.

Now, while we’re not entirely sure if that analogy falls outside the parameters of political correctness in these times, we know that the centenarian that is Bentley is bent on wooing a younger crowd. Because, as the kids these days would say, those lamps are lit. 

Also lit: Those new tail lights stretching horizontally across the rear, which, by contrast, make the old ones look clumsy and contrite. These slender blinkers cut into the boot lid as dramatically as the sunlight catches more of those signature diamond motifs embedded in the LED matrix, which, Bentley says, create a “molten lava-like effect” when illuminated. Okay. 

Less-is-more luxury

The design revolution continues on the inside, where more of that “less is more” ethos comes through, and we can’t imagine the Bentley designers back at its Dream Factory in Crewe not patting themselves on the back right about now.

They’ve again exercised some restraint in embellishing the interior cabin, eschewing the overly ornate in favour of a more sporty countenance, as it should be when the word “Speed” is intrinsic to your name.

But you still get all the luxury trappings like 20-way adjustable seats, wellness seat technology (optional) with a postural adjust function, and a new air ionisation feature capable of detecting when it’s necessary to improve cabin air quality, like recirculating the cabin air when driving through a tunnel. 

On the topic of travelling in tunnels, here’s a fun fact for you: The new Continental GT Speed has set the unofficial “underwater speed record” of 335kmh through the longest and deepest subsea tunnel in the world — the Ryfylke Tunnel in Norway; a piece of trivia not at all useful or essential when you’re stuck in city traffic, but I guess it’s nice to know it could.

There are three audio systems to choose from: A 10-speaker system that comes as standard, a 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen option with illuminated speaker grilles, and the 18-speaker Naim system with Active Bass Transducers built into the front seats for the true audiophile.

On that note (pun intended), laminated acoustic glass is used for the windscreen and side windows, which Bentley says provide a nine-decibel reduction in exterior noise versus non-acoustic glazing. Of course.

We expect nothing less than being cushioned in quiet luxury, even as we zip around at warped speed.