DRIVER'S SEAT
They’re not especially wide, not especially smooth, and not designed with 2.5-tonne grand tourers in mind. Perfect, then. The GT S coupe weighs 2,459 kg. The GTC S convertible weighs 2,636 kg. These are not numbers to brush aside with a clever line about lightweight engineering. The Bentley is a heavy car, full stop. But this is where the engineers have done their best work, because the Continental never feels lazy or overwhelmed by its own mass. In Comfort mode, it is composed and mature, as it should be. The ride has calm authority, the steering carries proper weight, and the car moves down the road with the sort of confidence central to the Bentley brief. Switch to Sport mode and the mood changes. The throttle sharpens, the gearbox holds gears with greater purpose, the suspension tightens its grip, and the V8 becomes far more vocal. The Continental does not suddenly shrink around the driver, because that would be asking too much. But it does become more alert, more disciplined, more eager to press on. Here’s the important part: It still feels like a Bentley. There are high-performance luxury cars that lose the plot when the sporting intent gets dialed up too far. The ride becomes brittle. The steering becomes artificially nervous. The exhaust note becomes a cry for attention. Suddenly, the car is less
"Electrification hasn’t erased the old magic. It has given the car another way to express it.”
18
Powered by FlippingBook