One in every of my favorite issues in regards to the Bentley Continental has all the time been the bravery of sticking a 12-cylinder engine beneath the bonnet – much more so, conserving that in manufacturing all the way in which up till this yr.
It was courageous and it paid dividends, with round 100,000 Continentals offered since its inception over 20 years in the past.
So you may think about the collective gasps within the room when Bentley stated it was ditching the W12 for a plug-in hybrid.
We needed to seek out out whether or not the substitute might stay as much as the hype and substance of the outgoing 12-cylinder beast that after was, so we joined Bentley at a prime secret testing occasion in Spain forward of the automobile’s launch.
What has modified?
There are two major items of content material that’ll come from this occasion.
The primary is a drive of the automobile on monitor, together with excessive stage particulars of the drivetrain and all of this can be with a camouflaged automobile.
The second is a more in-depth take a look at the design modifications and the inside, this piece of content material can be with a uncamouflaged set of vehicles.
Whereas the camouflage hides many of the element, it’s laborious to not discover the modifications to the headlights and tail lights. Each have grown to present the Continental a bit extra character out of the street, and to indicate that it’s a brand new mannequin.
It’s beneath the pores and skin the place many of the modifications have occurred although.
Bentley ditched the W12 engine and changed it with a turbocharged V8 hybrid association. It now makes use of a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with a flat-plane crank mated to an electrical motor and 26.5kWh battery.
This drivetrain sends torque by means of an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and an all-wheel drive system.
The electrical elements alone enable for round 80km of driving vary on the WLTP cycle, whereas further features like four-wheel steering, a limited-slip differential, torque vectoring and a 48V electrical system enhance efficiency.
Efficiency figures have gone in the fitting path – system energy and torque are actually 575kW and 1000Nm respectively. 441kW comes from the turbocharged V8 alone, whereas the 140kW stability is derived from the e-motor and battery system.
The 48V system additionally begins the engine nearly imperceptibly. It’s fairly exceptional how clean they’ve been in a position to make the engine begin sequence.
Each at low and better speeds it’s in a position to swap the petrol engine on and on and off with out the rumble and thump you come to anticipate from a daily inner combustion automobile, and even some hybrids.
And don’t fear – the exhaust word just isn’t solely actual, nevertheless it sounds unimaginable. Bentley has finished an incredible job at making the automobile sing each at low speeds and excessive speeds.
Whereas weight will increase – Bentley hasn’t specified the precise quantity, however we predict it’s as much as round 200kg – brakes stay unchanged.
Bentley doesn’t anticipate homeowners to trace their autos, but when they do resolve that’s what they need from their vehicles, consumers can possibility a carbon-ceramic brake package deal for higher warmth dissipation.
What’s it prefer to drive?
Our expertise behind the wheel of the brand new Bentley Continental GT Velocity was solely temporary, nevertheless it gave us probability to run by means of the drive modes on provide after which even have a go at a sooner lap to guage whether or not the additional weight will come at the price of dealing with.
First up we had been in Bentley mode – it units off gently and quietly with the inner combustion engine switched off. Something as much as 75 per cent throttle will preserve the automobile in electrical mode whereas there may be ample cost.
The motive force can then swap to Hybrid mode, which permits the engine to fireside up as required however it would predominantly attempt to preserve the engine off whereas there may be cost within the battery.
This mode was fairly seamless and labored as you’d anticipate. You do discover gear shifts at decrease speeds – this tends to be the case with hybrids that don’t use a CVT – however they weren’t overly aggressive or annoying like they are often in some vehicles.
What stunned me most was how effectively the electrical elements fill the torque hole earlier than the turbochargers come on enhance. The e-motor can mix torque supply seamlessly till the petrol engine is able to ship full power.
But it surely was in Sport mode that issues actually began to warmth up. On this mode the engine is completely on and it’s delivering the complete quoted energy and torque outputs from the petrol and electrical energy sources.
Even when the battery shows as empty, there may be reserve left for full acceleration. A portion of the battery is all the time charged or being charged whereas low for the very function of nonetheless having the ability to provide that surge of torque.
The Parcmotor Castelloli monitor is positioned round 45 minutes out of Barcelona, and options some fairly epic elevation modifications and enhances a long-legged automobile like this. It has massive straights and plenty of room to discover the automobile’s limits.
One specific part after flip one goes uphill for fairly far. From behind the wheel it appears like a flat street floor – that’s how spectacular the Continental’s 1000Nm of torque is in full flight. It’s the electrical elements working in unison with an enormous outdated turbocharged V8 to maintain issues buzzing alongside.
The sooner sweepers additionally demonstrated how a lot effort has been put into chassis tune. The twin-chamber suspension setup has allowed Bentley to extra exactly tune experience consolation, compression and rebound.
It means the Continental can sit pretty flat by means of corners, and feels way more nimble and agile than its kerb weight would counsel.
Even beneath heavy brakes right into a nook with corrugations main into it, the physique remained settled and composed.
There’s no escaping the mass on the absolute restrict – it’s a heavy automobile and you’ll discover that at low speeds pushing by means of tight corners, however regardless of its mass it feels extra nimble and agile than the previous-generation Continental.
A part of that nimbleness is due to changes in weight distribution. The V8 is shorter than the W12, so the load was pushed again additional within the engine bay, whereas the battery pack helps settle the rear finish.
There’s additionally a extra vigorous ESC Sport mode now as effectively. It was fairly laborious beforehand to impress a Continental right into a slide, however the brand new automobile will step out with rather more enthusiasm, whereas nonetheless being curbed by the soundness management – it lets you’ve loads of enjoyable earlier than it actually must step in.
CarExpert’s Tackle the Bentley Continental GT Velocity
Evidently, this automobile will set a brand new benchmark for the ultra-luxe GT section.
It delivers the perfect of each worlds; snug touring with the choice of engine off silence, or you may go all out in assault mode and carve up your favorite mountain cross – it appears like a jack of all trades.
We’ll reserve correct judgement for once we can check the automobile again house on the proving floor, however early indicators are that this new electrified drivetrain is a winner.
It’s additionally prone to make its approach into different Bentley and Volkswagen Group merchandise, which can be a fairly rattling thrilling prospect.
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