CARS / December
The ‘diamond-knurled’
finish on the switchgear is a
particular tactile highlight
driver, and it operates very much like Audi’s Virtual
Cockpit set-up. You can make it display analogue
dials at full scale with centrally inset infotainment
information, navigation mapping, or live video
feed from the infrared night-vision camera, or you
can have that inset secondary display at larger
scale in place of the car’s rev counter and water
temperature gauge.
Press the ignition switch and the veneer in the
middle of the dashboard rotates to reveal a 12.3-inch,
retina-quality MMI display with impressive graphi-
cal sophistication and good usability. It is, the maker
says, the largest touchscreen yet fitted to a Bentley.
From here, drivers can access sat-nav, DAB radio, ve-
hicle settings, and smartphone connectivity services.
It’s an elegant system to behold, with crisp, clear
graphics, and the switch between menus is made in
a fluid, responsive manner.
If, however, you prefer to travel without the dis-
traction of a modern luxury car’s on-board technol-
ogy, you can rotate the infotainment screen out of
sight entirely and replace it with a panel of analogue
instruments. Our test car also had the range-topping
Naim for Bentley premium audio system. It’s a
pricey option, but, given its rich and sonorous sound
quality, it’s certainly worth considering.
Making you comfortable ought to be high on any
Bentley’s list of priorities, and the Continental does
that supremely well. The 20-way bullhide leather
front seats (heated and cooled, with massagers)
are set slightly higher than the norm for a sporting
coupé but are that way, you suspect, by design, giving
you good all-round visibility. And they’re sufficiently
cosseting and cushioned that you can spend hours in
them without noticing the time pass.
Rear space remains tight for larger adults but
fine for teenagers and kids in child seats – which
is what you expect of a 2+2 – and boot space is big
enough for a couple of large cases and a couple of
smaller holdalls.
But it’s the richness of Bentley’s materials that
really set the Continental apart: those polished
metal interior trims and gorgeous wood veneers.
The ‘diamond-knurled’ finish on the switchgear is a
particular tactile highlight.
But when you feel the new car’s turn of speed –
and hear the new-found edge to the bark of its W12
engine – you’ll begin to understand that change is
afoot in how this car defines itself. No longer, you
suspect, is Bentley willing to play second fiddle to
Aston Martin, Mercedes-AMG, or any other maker
of big GT coupés in any comparison of bald accelera-
tion. On a slightly moist track, driving from all four
corners and perfectly governed by its launch control
system, the Continental GT needed just 3.6 seconds
to hit 100 km/h from rest.
The car’s acceleration never feels violent or savage,
though, and remains more impressive for the kind of
huge and assured mid-range torque that makes 2.3
tonnes of bulk seem inconsequential under power.
Even so, this accelerator pedal is one you squeeze
rather than snap open, partly to avoid unleashing
greater force from that engine than you really need,
but also because there’s still a softness to the pow-
ertrain’s pedal response that rewards smooth input.
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