The car is at its best in those moments when a windy back road presents itself. Muster up some trust and bravery, though, and the GT Speed is surprisingly dynamic. In that regard, the GT Speed mirrors the Flying Spur in that it feels heavy and grounded like a steam locomotive, and when it’s time to take a sharp corner, this leads to a great degree of hesitation. Power delivery is smooth yet forceful, and there’s quite a ways to go before experiencing any drop-off, though reaching that point requires a length of unrestricted highway. That’s as far as the similarities go because everything else beyond is far from antiquated. Stepping on the throttle feels and sounds like accelerating in the single-engined fighter planes that the GT Speed shares a lineage with. The W12 engine is blustery and sonorous when its note rumbles out the back of the exhaust. Convenient, though the GT Speed is most rewarding when fully engaged. Seated at the wheel of the GT Speed can be a little dazzling at first due to the glitzy chrome and polished veneer, but it’s quick to demonstrate how driver focused it is from the moment of ignition.Īssists such as a head-up display and traffic sign recognition are on hand to improve situational awareness, and on long journeys, lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control relieve some of the burden. Aesthetically speaking, the rest of the cabin will age far better than the display will, and having a method to tuck it out of sight fits the accommodating nature of this luxury grand tourer. A touch of in-car gadgetry theater? Perhaps, but another way of looking at it is future-proofing the interior of a vehicle in a way. In case it’s still too much tech to tolerate, the screen tumbles away into the panel and is replaced with three analog gauges a clock, compass and air temp monitor. “Beyond that, our ethos includes retaining physical, haptic buttons and rotary controls in lieu of multiple touchscreens.” “The design of the graphics of those gauges was subject to the same attention to detail as physical components,” said Sayer. The high-resolution screens feature graphics styled to mitigate their juxtaposition against all of the tangible craftsmanship. This system also has integrated pedestrian recognition, so any persons encountered in the night are highlighted by a red box. There’s even a heat-based night vision option that highlights the area in front of the car for enhanced night driving. This is paired with an all-digital gauge cluster that can also be customized to mirror much of the same information displayed on the touchscreen. Drivers can customize their preferred throttle and steering settings, raise the suspension for a few inches of extra clearance and access the full driver’s manual if need be. It’s the source for navigation and entertainment, as well as the interface for several vehicle functions. Bentley sprinkles in techĪ 12.3-inch touchscreen can be found in the center of the dashboard, as a modern luxury car buyer would expect, and it performs the usual functions. On the GT Speed, it’s meant to give the two-door sharper turning and is far more active on this car than on the sedan.Īll told, the more than 5,000-pound GT can sail at up to 208 mph, rocketing off the line to hit 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds, something cars without a cruise ship’s worth of luxury accouterments struggle to achieve. Rear-wheel steering was first applied to the Flying Spur to give the full-sized luxury four-door a tighter turning radius as well as enhanced stability at speed. This iteration of the Speed brings some new tech to the GT for the first time, specifically an electronic rear differential and rear-wheel steering.įor the E-diff, this distributes torque across the rear angle to give it balance and control during turn-in when driving in a sporty manner. To this we then add Bentley Dynamic Ride - our 48V electric anti-roll control.” In Comfort, solenoid valves bring all three chambers into play, at a low pressure, providing a softer spring. In Sport mode, a single chamber in each air spring is utilized, providing a high spring stiffness. “To enable the chassis to be varied, we utilize three-chamber air springs, which allow three distinct spring stiffnesses. “Our chassis engineers have an incredible array of technology at their disposal, to give the car genuine duality in ride and handling, and controlled by the driver using Drive Dynamics Control,” Mike Sayer, head of Product Communications for Bentley Motors Ltd.
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