Bentley has made the Continental GT Speed even faster and more desirable by adding more power, torque and a fancy Black Edition.
The Bentley Continental GT Speed’s 6.0-litre W12 engine was no shrinking violet, but that fact did little to deter its engineers from making it more powerful, taking power up 7PS to 642PS and torque up 20Nm to 840Nm.
This was done, according to Bentley, by providing ‘additional torque… through the entire rev range via careful reoptimisation of boost control’. There’s more of it, basically.
This gives the Continental GT Speed a 0-60mph time of 3.9 seconds (down from 4.1), thanks to all torque becoming available from just 2,000rpm, the rapid-shifting eight-speed auto and all-wheel drive working in British engineering harmony.
Keep your foot buried for long enough and you will eventually reach 206mph, so this is still very much the fastest production Bentley ever and possibly the fastest luxury cruiser on Planet Earth.
Bentley has also added a Black Edition to the range, which brings with it all-black 21-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, high gloss black details on the window openings and lamp bezels and either black or red brake calipers.
The Continental GT Speed Black Edition is also differentiated by four contrast colours – Hallmark, Beluga, St James’ Red and Cyber Yellow – for the front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser.
Inside, Bentley has included a mix of ‘dark tones and vivid highlights’, including carbon fibre on the fascia, centre and roof consoles. Contrasting stitching on the Mulliner GT seats and centre console in Porpoise, Beluga, Pillar Box Red and Cyber Yellow provides a touch of colour.
Bentley was keen to point out it takes 110 hours of handcrafted labour to make every Continental GT at its factory in Crewe, Cheshire. The engine takes 30 people more than 12 and a half hours to assemble alone.
The more powerful Bentley Continental GT Speed and GT Speed Black Edition are available to order now ahead of the first deliveries in the summer of 2016. No word on an official price yet.
Watch Rory Reid’s Contintal GT Speed video review here.
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