Worldcarfans
Shall Bentley call this the e-Continental? Well, whatever they eventually name it, it seems not even ultra-luxury automakers like Bentley are immune to the required eco-sensitivity of our times. And why not? We should all do our part. If Willie Nelson can start a bio-diesel fuel company then, yes, Bentley should have this. And what is it, exactly?

At the Geneva auto salon earlier this year Bentley premiered a Continental GT that runs on ethanol and called it the Continental Supersports, for lack of a more appropriate name, apparently. And the upside is that the E85 version is a better performer, upping the power quotient on the 6.0 liter W12 engine to 630 hp, 20 hp more than the GT Speed and 78 more than the standard Continental GT. 0 to 100 km/h comes in at under 4 seconds (3.9 s). Another marked improvement over the GT and GT Speed, which come in at 4.8 and 4.5 seconds, respectively. There's also a modest jump in top speed - 329 km/h compared to 322 (GT Speed) and 318 km/h (Continental GT).

But the improved performance does not necessarily reflect the power of the E85 (ethanol) fuel. Bentley has put the Continental on a diet to the tune of 110 less kilograms through the use of carbon fiber components. There's also a new Quickshift gearbox that makes changes twice as fast as the previous iteration of the transmission. It also has a wider track at the rear by 50 millimeters.

The spy shots seen here are of the Continental Supersports arriving at the track at Nurburgring for a little exercise. Cosmetic differences to the standard Continental GT are minimal, with a different rear bumper and tailpipes and larger air intakes at the front, which improve cooling to also help increase those performance numbers. Whoever will be driving this, though, you can bet they won't be whistling On the Road Again.

 

Wow. Good catch. Interesting if it is new matte paint or camouflage wrap.

 

Looks pretty good but I prefer it in that beautiful pearl white paint it was wearing in Geneva. I'd like to see it in metallic red as well.

 

Bentley is now offering 3 colors of matte paint.

 

Brandi, as a professional in the car business, what is your take on the Continental Supersports? Is this a halo car, or are they actually going to sell - and if so, to what type of customer?

IMO, the matte grey looks cool, but I can't help but wonder how cool it's going to be in one year or so. I know depreciation probably isn't your number one concern at this price point, but isn't the matte paint thing pretty much done already?

 

In my opinion they are trying to market it as a "green" supercar.
The matte paint colors do look great, but I can agree that hype might be fading.

I don't know, but I hope to have all the answers when I get back from the factory late next week.

 

Bentley factory tour? Sounds awesome! Enjoy, and snap some pics if you can

 

Wow. Didnt know that. Thanks for reply. Can you tell what exactly matte colors Bentley offer now?

 

Hopefully Brandi will have more details, but according to Bentley's own configurator, two of them are called "Dark Satin" and "Light Satin":


Sorry for the crappy quality of the screenshots.

Said configurator can be found 'ere:
Bentley Configurator

 

Thanks a lot. Looks like more and more high-end car makers starting to add matte paint to their palette.

Speaking about your question about market positioning of Conti Supersports, let me share my opinion, I do not really think that green issue is major thing to atract customers, it is rather strong marketing move, but not more. I suppose that Supersports market position is very close to SL65 Black Series. They are rather different, but they definitely play in same league.