Goodwood Test: 2021 Bentley Continental GT Speed review

The Bentley Continental GT is a big GT made for cruising continents, or more likely Cheshire and Kensington – the purpose is pretty much in the name. Now, just to carry on the theme of being completely clear in naming policy, Bentley has launched a faster one, and it’s called... Speed.

The Bentley Continental GT Speed will reach 62mph faster than you can say its name, cruise off to 208mph and still carry four adults in comfort (relative if you’re in the back, this is a 2+2) like it always has, but now it’ll allegedly rip some massive drifts and engage the driver.

Well, if you take a glance at the Bentley Continental GT Speed it will look, well it’ll look like a Bentley Continental GT. This is no flared-arched, massively-winged machine, it’s not a new Conti GT3-R. The changes here are subtle, building on what is a visually enjoyable machine to begin with.

The current Continental is a sleeker machine than its predecessor, a very relative term when talking about a car that’s 4.8m long and 2.1m wide. But it just looks lower and better proportioned than its forebear. The lower, wider grille helps it look more balanced, the haunches feel more pronounced and the rear lights are just a much less fussy, less busy design.

To make it a Speed there have been some tweaks. The grille is a little darker, there’s signs to say “12” just behind the front wheels (denoting the cylinder count), it’s got 22-inch wheels and it says speed on the sills. And that’s about it to be honest. Inside you’ll find some more Speed logos, but that’s really all Bentley has done to differentiate the Speed from any other Conti, even that aggressive lower grille details are standard.

Again, if you look at the plain stats of the Bentley Continental GT Speed you’ll struggle to work out what’s changed. The Speed will do 1mph more than the standard car – that’s 208mph rather than 207 – it has 25 more horsepower from the same 6.0-litre W12 engine as the normal Conti with a peak of 659PS (485kW) at around 5,000rpm, while torque is no different, with 900Nm (664lb ft) on tap from 1,500rpm.

The changes drop the 0-62mph sprint by just 0.1 seconds to 3.6 while it’ll hit the tonne in 7.8. With so little changed you have to wonder again, what is the point?

That’s where the other changes come into play. The GT Speed now has an electronic limited-slip diff, there’s also torque vectoring and rear-wheel-steering, the latter a first for any Continental GT. There’s a re-engineered traction control system that Bentley says allows a little more fun to be had in sport mode, too. The brakes, if you opt for the carbon-ceramics, feature the largest discs ever fitted to a production road car – all 440mm of them.

Does it work? In short, yes it does, but there needs to be a little more nuance in the question really. The GT Speed is definitely a lot more leant toward the driver than the standard Conti. Summon all 900Nm at once and the rear will shimmy, revelling in the extra freedom it now has. In sport mode only 28 per cent of the power is allowed to go to the front wheels, which you can feel straight off. Coupled with a slacker traction control system, the big Bentley will now offer up a taste of adjustability. The 48V anti-roll bars have been retuned too, to allow just a little more roll in sport mode. Not horrible wobbling yaw, more the kind of roll your brain expects in cornering, it helps you to understand the car’s movement more, engaging your brain in the process. That allowed weight shift also means the car will move around, taking advantage of that rear bias and diff to hint at a lairy nature.

The problem with the question is it needs to ask where it works. On a track it’s still a 2.3-tonne machine. Sure it feels like a 2.3-tonne car that does things no 2.3-tonne car should, but also half a lap and those brakes will feel hot, and you’ll be straining. On the road it feel like it can be fun, but given it’s the same size as a Kensington flat you hold back, unsure if there’s the space for that fun. What you need really is an old army base, to fling the Speed round with abandon.

That said, this kind of adjustability is something a little new for Bentley. The Speed is keen to go sideways, and on the road it’s sometimes a bit more of a wrestle to extract performance without the back going off for its own fun. The rear-steer helps to dig the car in when you request a turn while the pliability from that new traction control system and diff pairing is very welcome. The steering is weighty while not offering much feel and the front wheels don’t offer too much understeer unless you’re really being an idiot on turn in.

It being a Bentley though, stick the car back into Bentley or Comfort mode and it becomes, a Bentley again. The Conti switches off some all but six cylinders on its W12, sets its damping to waft and just gets on with being very, very, comfortable.

The cliché about a Bentley being a very fast-moving stately home is a little out-dated these days. Sure you could spec the interior to feel like it’s a moving library, panelled with rich mahogany and full of leather-bound books, but you don’t have to any more. In fact our test car was purple inside with carbon-fibre everywhere. While that is complete overkill, the current Bentley interior is a thoroughly modern place to be. The disappearing touchscreen is always enjoyable and the materials are sumptuous (there’s really no other word for it).

Our Speed’s Mulliner Driving spec comes with double diamond stitching, which looks good, and the button-festooned centre console doesn’t feel too much, despite having more old-fashioned physical controls than most manufacturers would dream of providing in 2021. The seats are excellent, with adjustable side bolstering to keep even the smallest driver in place, necessary in sport mode with the anti-roll bars slacked off. Perhaps the only disappointment is looking at the steering wheel and realising the button units on it are straight from the old Golf, although they have made the rotating controls shiny.

That aforementioned revolving screen is 12.3 inches across, and of course controls everything from sat-nav to Bluetooth connectivity. It’ll also control the climate, but thankfully there are overriding buttons and knobs so you can forget that. If you have the massage function specced you’ll pick which part of your back you want nudged on the screen.

There’s no rear screen in the Conti GT, unlike Bentayga and Flying Spur, perhaps a nod to the fact that while nice, you wouldn’t want to be in the back for too long. The dials are totally digital too, but remain clear and readable, mostly because they are massive. Our test car came with the optional 18-speaker Naim audio system, which is truly excellent, but will set you back over £6,700. As standard you’ll find the top-down parking camera, traffic sign recognition, pedestrian warning auto dimming mirrors, auto windscreen wipers and headlights and sat-nav. Digital radio, Apple Carplay, Sirius satellite radio and even a CD drive are standard too. Yes, a CD drive in 2021.

This is perhaps a car answering a question no one asked, but it’s very hard to not like the Bentley Continental GT Speed. OK, so there will never be a single one of these cars heading to its local drift arena to do what it really can do, but perhaps the point is more that it can, than it does. It’s a great big machine that really would like to just have a lot more fun that it really will, like a massive dog meeting a small one.

Sadly that W12 motor doesn’t exactly sing up front. Which is perhaps the biggest complaint, if this is a proper performance car it could definitely sound more like it. There’s very little outside to tell people what this Conti could do, so at least let us howl like a madman from time-to-time.

Take it on a track and, while it’ll make you work, it’s still fun and if you just accept that British road widths might make you wince from time-to-time you can still enjoy yourself on an A-road. Just remember that B-road blasts are always going to be far, far too small.