2009 Bentley Continental GT Speed

Bentley Continental GT Speed weighs a staggering 2350kg and can travel at an obscenely fast 326km/h (that’s 202mph) the first Bentley production car to hit the crash through the 200mph barrier. Acceleration from 0-100km/h will take you just 4.5 seconds or quicker than BMW’s M5. Not only that, the Speed can match the M5 in the S-bends too.

Although the engine is essentially the same as in the standard Continental GT, its been tuned to deliver more grunt. Step on the drilled alloy accelerator pedal and get ready for a serious g-force assault. Initially – it feels like the Bugatti Veyron boosting up, as the torque driven acceleration for a car of these proportions, seems positively unnatural.

Power is up nine percent to 449kW and torque has jumped by 15 percent to a huge 750Nm. Despite the substantial increase though, the Speed is only marginally quicker than its GT sibling. Either way, life at full throttle in any Bentley Continental GT, is just a blur.

The Speed’s extra wide 20-inch, 26-spoke forged alloys (the GT gets 19-inch wheels) would have to rate as the word’s best looking wheels, and shod with specially made Pirelli 275/30ZR20 P-ZERO rubber, grip levels through tight bends mean that the laws of physics as I know them, have been re-written by the Bentley boys.

However, when you are dealing in the over $420,000 league, standard is never enough, and optional carbon ceramics are all but mandatory, despite the $30,000 price tag. As always, you get what you pay for, try 420mm x 40mm cross-drilled front discs and 356mm on the rear with eight-piston callipers! With over $450,000 worth of car sitting in your driveway its hard not to feel better than the bloke next door with his unwashed diesel powered VW Polo, but at least he owns his!

© Source: caradvice
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