Every motorcar make is navigating a course to an electrified hereafter , but that work unique challenges if you have to convince affluent people to buy a car with a plug due to something as pedestrian as emissions standard .
Bentley has sold plug - in loan-blend for a few eld now , but the century - quondam British automaker is now shifting that effort into a higher gear . The 2025 Bentley Continental GT Speed ( and its GTC Speed convertible sib ) is n’t just an addition to the lineup ; it replaces the non - intercrossed GT Speed as the sportiest regular yield version of Bentley ’s signature model .
When it launched in 2003 , the original Continental GT brought Bentley out of the shadows , compound the opulence of a handbuilt luxury car with the style and performance that had mostly lain hidden like a recessive gene since Bentley ’s nimbus twenty-four hours early in the previous century . Now the new Continental GT target to once again redefine Bentley as a stain that in full squeeze electrification rather than only digest it .
Design and interior
At first glance , the fresh Continental GT Speed does n’t expect that dissimilar fromits predecessor . But well-nigh every aerofoil has been changed , creating a coupe and convertible that are tauter and sleeker than before .
The most noticeable difference is upfront , where the previous four - headlight arrangement has been replace by a larger pair of round lights with daytime - running - Christ Within slashes that make the Continental GT look like it ’s attempting some unearthly Instagram makeup look when stationary . On the road , though , the running lights emphasize the upright grille , giving the car a more overbearing appearance .
Recalling authoritative Bentleys , , the Continental GT still sports salient rearward fenders that loom large in the side mirror , with creases like a well - ironed pair of pants . At the back , designers remold the plane metal to produce aerodynamic downforce without the penury for a disjoined pappa - up rear spoiler , and squashed the rear light into a more elliptical embodiment . This looks enceinte from the side , where the sleek arse nicely drop behind off like it ’s billowing in the flatus . But from behind , this Bentley expect too much like a Ford Mustang and not a six - figure of speech sumptuousness car .
Nearly every surface has been switch for a tauter and sleeker looking at .
That rear - end treatment also creates a fairly small torso aperture , which means customers will belike scramble to fit the requisite bag of golf club in the trunk . And while the Continental GT is technically a four - seater , adults will only find the rear stern tolerable for short distances . Still , that the back rear are usable at all is a major coup d’etat for the Continental GT , as that ’s not something that can be enounce of rival four - seaters like the Aston Martin DB12 and Maserati GranTurismo .
The driver and front - behind passenger also savour a greater feeling of spaciousness than in most two - room access car ; the Continental GT is more opulence railroad car than sport car in this regard . That smell of spaciousness is diminished somewhat by the thick roof pillar , high dashboard , and gamey windowsill line , which limit outward-bound visibleness more or less , although generously sized exterior mirror help a bit .
Like all Bentleys , the Continental GT ’s interior is an exercise in opulence . The fascia primarily exists as a show window for gamey - lineament woodwind instrument , brushed aluminum , or carbon fiber trim , while the cryptic - quite a little carpets and leather seats are living - room - worthy . The leather upholstery is also available in virtually as many colors as the exterior , from immature and gray-haired to purple and magenta .
Tech, infotainment, and driver assist
Like the exterior design , technical school features are more phylogeny than gyration . But that ’s because the Continental GT made so much onward motion in this area with its last redesign .
The optional Bentley Rotating Display is a 12.3 - column inch touch screen that can blot out away behind a matching piece of splasher trim or a set of three analog gauge . The cover itself is great to use ( in part because the infotainment organisation is based on Audi ’s first-class MMI ) , but it ’s also nice to be able to stow it by when the car is park . It ’s surely a classier solution than the expanse of sheeny grim plastic other automakers apply to aid screen immingle in well with splashboard .
It ’s squeamish to be capable to stow the screen away when the car is parked .
WirelessApple CarPlayandAndroid Autoare still included , along with a 10 - speaker , 650 - watt Bang & Olufsen audio system . Customers can also compensate excess for a 16 - speaker , 1,500 - watt Bang & Olufsen system with well-lighted speaker grilles or an 18 - speaker , 2,200 - W Naim system with basso transducer in the front tail end , as well as a head - up display and night vision . In observe with current trend , the updated Continental GT add an app store that get your download Spotify , YouTube , and other apps directly to the car .
The Continental GT is equip with expected number one wood - assistance lineament like adaptive cruise control , lane - keep assistance , and blind - spot monitoring . entropy about these features is presented understandably in the instrument clump , despite feature to partake in space with gauges and drive mode and intercrossed system readout . A new remote parking scheme let the driver parking lot or mobilise the car using a smartphone . Hyundai hasoffered a similar featurefor a few years now , but trying it with a motorcar this expensive requires a new level of self-confidence in this tech .
Driving experience
As the sportiest Continental GT ( debar limited - edition models ) , the Speed get the pureness of debuting Bentley ’s young plug - in hybrid powertrain . This is not the six - cylinder version previously seen in theBentayga SUVand Flying Spur sedan . alternatively , a 4.0 - litre counterpart - turbocharged V8 drives all four wheels through an eight - speed automatic transmission with an integrated electrical motor . A 25.9 - kW - hour bombardment pack ( 85 % of the capacity of which is operational ) sit behind the rear axle to ameliorate weight dispersion .
The plug - in hybrid setup replaces a duplicate - turbo 6.0 - cubic decimetre W12 that was unique in terms of its configuration , if not the actual seat - of - the - pants experience . Predictably , the Continental GT Speed is more powerful than before to aid assuage nostalgia for the W12 . Its 771 H.P. and 738 Irish punt - feet of torque make this the most powerful series yield Bentley route car ever . Bentley also quotes a zero - to-60 miles per hour of 3.1 seconds — 0.4 second nimble than the old car — and a 208 mph top speed that ’s downright amusing in something with this many luxuriousness .
galvanising modality is in spades not the chief draw , but it is a decent gain .
The actual takeaway is that the young plug - in hybrid powertrain combines the eternal torque of the W12 with the higher-ranking driving feature and sound of the non - hybrid V8 powertrain Bentley also offeredin the forthcoming Continental GT . The novel GT Speed has the lighter - sense front end of the old V8 elevator car , making it feel more eager to flex into corners . And the engine ’s raspy sound — a classic eight - cylinder exhaust greenback remastered and in high definition — is so addictive that we did n’t make as much use of electric mode as we probably should have .
Electric mode is by all odds not the principal attraction of the Continental GT Speed , but it is a prissy accession . As gracious as the V8 exhaust system note is , turning down the mass heighten the feeling of sumptuousness , and is probably more considerate of passengers and bystanders who might not be enchant with the sound of glow hydrocarbon . In its less - aggressive drive modes , the GT Speed also did a good job of equilibrise gasolene and electric power , while keeping the response to the right pedal consistent .
Speed models also come standard with Bentley ’s full regalia of participating figure features , include adaptive dangling ( now with twin - valve dampers for more precise control ) , rear - cycle steering , an electronic limited - berth rear differential , and torque vectoring . As before , these make the Continental GT impressively nimble for such a big car . Still , it feel utterly enormous on proper drive roadstead . And you ’ll never make full use of all of that magnate .
Electric range and charging
Official U.S. fuel economy and electric range evaluation were n’t useable at the time of publishing , but Bentley claims up to 50 land mile of electric range on the more indulgent European WLTP testing cycle . galvanic modality is uncommitted at up to 87 mph and/or three - quarters throttle , name it fairly usable in the real world . Unlike some chaw - in hybrid , we did n’t want to treat the throttle valve pedal like an eggshell to keep the Continental GT Speed from switch on its gasoline railway locomotive .
An 11 - kilowatt onboard battery charger can finish a full recharge in 2.7 hours , allot to Bentley , but in mixed drive , it ’s fairly easy to keep the battery from running down in the first place . Strong regenerative braking help keep the battery topped up without interfering too much with the feel of the friction brakes ( with your choice of massive iron or carbon - ceramic rotor ) . Hit a twisty route with some raising variety , and the country of mission can be maintained .
How DT would configure this car
We drove well - equipped First Edition GT Speed coupes and GTC Speed convertibles with base price of $ 302,100 and $ 332,200 , respectively . Each motorcar had about $ 75,000 Charles Frederick Worth of options , among them the $ 39,940 First Edition spec ( $ 41,190 for the convertible ) First Edition models include the Bentley Rotating Display and the Touring Specification , which bundles in the key driver aids . These cars also had the carbon - ceramic brake option that , at $ 18,820 , had us wondering what the received brake felt like .
There ’s no point in get an off - the - rack Bentley , so we ’d also pass some time on the online configurator playing around with paint colors , interior trim , leather hides , and other design details to make our car exceptional ( for a fiddling surplus dough , of course ) .
Returning customers will happen an improved rendering of an already - capital car , but those centre on the atomic number 6 footprint of their ostentatious two - door sumptuosity motorcar also have all - electric selection in the form of theRolls - Royce Spectrecoupe and Maserati GranTurismo Folgore coupe andGranCabrio Folgoreconvertible . Rolls - Royce , Bentley ’s onetime proprietor , position a like accent on craftsmanship and erstwhile school luxury , while Maserati covers the sporty angle .
The Continental GT Speed is n’t a big leap for plug - in hybrids . automobile like theLamborghini RevueltoandMercedes - AMG S63 E Performancepull off the same trick of keep a specific kind of internal - combustion driving experience with hybridization . But it ’s hard to think of a better use of this engineering science than keeping around the unparalleled compounding of sportiness and sumptuousness that is the Bentley Continental GT to start yet another new era for this storied car manufacturer .
