Bentley Continental (2003-) Review

Overview

• Next: Reliability and Quality

So much technology - and so much hand-crafted detail too. It's become the done thing for every grand touring car to attempt to be cutting-edge yet simultaneously conscious of its maker's heritage. It's a juggling act being attempted with varying degrees of success by manufacturers including Aston Martin, Jaguar, Maserati and Ferrari, but the most conspicuously successful practitioner of the art is - against the odds - Bentley.

The car that's driven Bentley's immense success since VW took control in 1998, the Continental GT has spawned the Flying Spur saloon and gorgeous GTC convertible, and helped Bentley to its biggest output in its 88-year history: more than 10,000 cars sold in 2006. Footballers and rappers have joined blazer-wearing businessmen as Bentley customers and the manufacturer is busy opening new dealerships worldwide.

Built at the Bentley factory in Crewe, the Continental GT uses some parts and much technology from the Audi A8 and VW Phaeton, but everything you touch, see and smell is meant to have a classic Bentley air to it. Shaped by a team led by Bentley design chief Dirk van Braekel, the Continental GT is a modern but characterful interpretation of Bentley, full of muscle and with hints of the 1952 Bentley R-Type Continental - the fastest four-seater of its day. Inside, every surface where you might expect plastic is beautiful leather and the real wood veneers are worked to the highest standards. Many controls are chromed, with traditional knurling for an indefinable little fingertip stimulation.

Under the skin there's a version of VW's W12 engine, here fitted with two turbochargers. The power output is a massive 551bhp; torque 479lb-ft. To keep it all in check is a six-speed automatic gearbox with paddleshifters and Audi-type four-wheel drive with a central torque-sensing Torsen differential. The suspension, a clever self-levelling air system with adaptive dampers, is largely borrowed from the A8 and Phaeton, too. But again, by specifying its own geometry and settings for all flexible components - springs, dampers, anti-roll bars, bushes, steering valves - Bentley has achieved a unique feel.