Gentleman
RACER
Earlier this year Damien Reid ventured over to the UK for a special preview of a car developed as a secret project by a small team within Bentley. Now it’s time to take the Ferrari-rivalling Continental Supersports for a serious
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Bentley Continental Supersports | First drive
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First drive | Bentley Continental Supersports
I
have an image in my memory of a dark blue Bentley Arnage on a damp winter’s afternoon exiting the gates of the company’s HQ in Crewe, UK, full throttle, tail-out sideways, sans traction control giving its 1000Nm of torque no chance to bite any grip from the icy asphalt. I was in the car behind heading for my return flight to Dubai having enjoyed a nice lunch with the board of directors plus a few journos – and behind the wheel of the mischievous Arnage was Dr Ulrich Eichhorn, Bentley Motors director of engineering. It was a visual salute to the unbridled excitement he and others from Bentley, including his boss Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, chairman, chief executive and member of the board of directors for Volkswagen, had exuded over lunch about the lone Continental Supersports we had just viewed in a small, dark corner of Bentley’s ground-floor preview room. I figured for a car to have that sort of effect on people so senior in the corporate ranks, it had to be something special. So finally, nine months later, I got the chance to experience the wildest, most powerful, fastest, yet greenest Bentley ever built. The Bentley Supersports has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds, a 0-160km/h of 8.9 seconds and covers 0-300km/h in 41 seconds. Given enough road, it will run to a terminal speed of
329km/h thanks to its beefed-up sixlitre bi-turbo, W12 engine, which now develops 621bhp – 13 per cent more than the GT Speed – and 800Nm of torque. Added to the equation that it’s also 110kg lighter and it’s a genuine Ferrari 599, Aston Martin DBS challenger. However, one thing it has over its competitors is the reduced amount of tailpipe emissions as it’s the company’s first biofuel car able to run on either petrol or up to 85 per cent ethanol as part of the company’s plans to be a leader in biofuel technology with every car on its fleet E85 compatible by 2012. The company claims that CO2 emissions must be read on a well-towheel basis taking in all facets of fuel production and it claims that CO2 emissions when running E85 ethanol can be reduced by 20 per cent if using corn and up to 90 per cent when using the cellulosic method of pulping paper, cardboard and timber fibres. That’s better than a hybrid, four-cylinder Toyota Prius shopping hatch. On a long winding road or out on the track, that’s the last thing on your mind, though, as the hefty 2240kg, two-seat beast is hurled from corner to corner in a manner belying its size. It’s amazingly agile and with a driving position slightly lower than the GT Speed plus the feel of Alcantara-style leather
Yep, they’re 20-inch rims hiding 19-inch brake discs, which on their own are bigger than wheels on most cars. Nothing is done by halves
Right Sinister blackon-black trim sets the tone middle Right W12 still lacks the bark of a V8 configuration Far right Blacked out tail lights add to its muscly look 32 WWW.AUTOCARmAg.COm November 2009
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‘With 621bhp it’s a genuine challenger to the Ferrari 599 and aston Martin dbs’ Despite its firmer ride and low-profile tyres, the poise of the big Bentley through fast and winding roads remains exceptional. It pushes physics to its boundaries
on the sports wheel, it’s a very different feeling to driving your typical Bentley. Most of the luxuries such as Satnav, climate control air-con and parking assist are there, of course, except for the notable exception of powered seats – and a rear seat altogether – but for a 200+ mile per hour supercar it’s as easy and as fussfree to tootle around your local shops as any luxury coupe. Unlike a Ferrari or Lambo, however, there’s no need to have
double-jointed hips to lower yourself in or out while the boot still takes several sets of golf clubs and a week’s grocery shopping easily. Despite the fact it rides on enormous 20-inch wheels with low profile 275/35 shod Pirelli P-Zero tyres, which mask the massive 19-inch carbon ceramic brake discs (the largest of any car in the world), it still rides reasonably smoothly. You can detect a harshness in the ride and a grainy feeling when you
Above Under the badge is the most powerful engine built by Bentley
stab the brakes from the carbon discs, but it’s remarkably complaint for a car with that combo of low-profile tyres and such large diameter rims. As you approach the car, looking over the giant added mesh grilles and purposeful gills carved into its bonnet, there’s that slight air of anticipation mixed with nerves you should always experience before you drive such an exotic. Notably, there’s not one ounce ◊ November 2009 WWW.AUTOCARmAg.COm 33
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Bentley Continental Supersports | First drive ‘Its size vanished out on the track. It’s one very competent car’
‘ ‘The esp allowed some ThroTTle off oversTeer To leT T iT slide Through corners ’ ∆ of chrome to be seen. Every piece of brightwork around the windows, lights, the wheels and sills is now a luscious gloss black, which has been baked in a specially built oven in Germany. It’s a process that has never been used in the car industry before, but is commonplace in the manufacture of high-end watches, industrial tools and even hip-replacement joints. From behind the wheel it’s an unusual sensation to be staring at the classic Bentley dash and wheel but then manually pulling the Sparco race-seat forward to a comfortable position. Those seats alone, which have been plucked from the Bugatti Veyron and retrimmed in Crewe, save 45kg while the
lack of a rear seat is worth another 26kg. The carbon brakes and lightweight alloy wheels save another nine and 10kg of crucial unsprung weight respectively, which all adds up to a 110kg weight saving while the rear track has been widened by 50mm through changing the offsets. Yes, this is a Bentley like you’ve never experienced before and the first one I genuinely get a tingly feeling about when I go to hit that starter button. It’s probably exactly the same feeling Wolf Barnato had when he jumped behind the wheel of the first Supersport back in 1919. That three-litre car was based on the Bentley TT and Indianapolis race ◊
RIVALS - when 12 IS enough
Engine: Power: Torque: Transmission: 0-100km/h: Top Speed: Price:
FERRARI 599 V12, 5999cc 611bhp @ 7600rpm 607Nm @5600rpm 6-speed seq man 3.9 sec 330km/h $354,000
ASTON mARTIN DBS V12, 5935cc 510bhp @ 6500rpm 569Nm @ 5750rpm 6-speed auto 4.3 sec 307km/h $326,000
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First drive | Bentley Continental Supersports
The Breitling now wrapped in Carbon Fibre
more than 70kg was saved from in here alone
a sequence of tasty throttle blips along the way – especially when clicking it back to first gear or if you’re running grippier, semi-slick tyres for competition. On the limit the quick Conti feels reassuring with an ESP system that lets you explore the limits on the track allowing some throttle-off oversteer that was perfect for getting it’s large backside to transfer its weight quickly enough so that it could slip and drift through the chicanes very quickly. Otherwise it’s slight understeer most of the time and don’t panic too much if you miss your braking mark as a hard stab on the stop pedal almost always pulls you up short of the turn-in point in much the same way a race car does. It’s confidence inspiring all the way with minimal bodyroll and the security of those hugging Sparco seats. Sometimes you shouldn’t ask why people build such indulgent and exotic cars and just be glad there’s a still a few of them out there like Dr Eichhorn who still see the fun in it all. L
looks familiar but feels a whole lot quicker between shifts
fActfILe Vitals
∆ cars of the time which evolved into its famous mid-1920s Le Mans cars and set the precedent for race-tuned road cars worldwide. Because turbo boost is up on the Conti Supersports, those mesh-covered air intakes are needed to provide 10 per cent more cold air for the intercoolers, which has given it a more aggressive look at the front, while the hot air now exits through the vents cut into the bonnet. These bonnet vents also increase downforce at the front which has been balanced by the addition of a slightly larger, re-profiled spoiler that automatically rises at speed at the rear along with a subtly raised rear edge. The ZF six-speed box has been beefed to withstand the added torque and by opening up the oil passages as well as designing a new valve box, cuts shift time in half allowing change-ups closer to its 6000rpm redline. Its planetary gears have also been strengthened for quicker downshifts and quick multiple downshifts – with
BENTlEY CONTINENTAl SUpERSpORTS Engine Power Torque Transmission Kerb Weight Top Speed 0-100km/h Price On sale
W12, 5998cc twin turbo 621bhp at 6000rpm 800Nm at 1700-5600rpm 6-speed auto 2240kg 329km/h 3.9sec $275,000 December
‘‘A road like this was made for the Supersports. Point and fire ‘
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