Bentley has added another strand to its Continental GT and GTC model lines by bringing in the sporty 'S' variant. These are the most-powerful and fastest versions to carry the S badging yet.
Isn't there already a Speed version of the Conti? And a Supersports on the way?
Yes, but the S was always the most driver-centric model of the Continental and Flying Spur families with the 'smaller' engine offered by the British firm. So, in the old, pre-hybrid era of Bentley, that meant the S used the 4.0-litre biturbo V8 engine, while the Speed employed an enhanced version of the 6.0-litre W12.
Now we're in the hybrid age, there are two tiers to Bentley power (excluding the Supersports, we'll come back to that) - these are the High Performance Hybrid (HPH) and then the Ultra Performance Hybrid (UPH), both based on a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8-derived plug-in hybrid (PHEV) arrangement. With the HPH, owners enjoy massive outputs of 680hp and 930Nm, although the UPH enhances those numbers to 782hp and 1,000Nm.
Well, presently, the HPH is populated by the 'regular' Continental GT and GTC models, and then the Azure luxury-oriented derivatives. Up at the UPH level, there's the Mulliner (the most grandiose of all Bentley specs) and the sporty Speed. The new S cars essentially fit in at the top of the HPH segment and provide a counterpoint to the Speed. Oh, and the Supersports? That's a special model with no PHEV gear whatsoever, but it's also the lightest and only rear-driven car in the line-up. Which makes more sense of its seemingly 'lowly' 666hp output.
Right, I think I've got all that. So what denotes the new S cars?
Well, as we've said, searing performance is a given. Packing 130hp more than the previous-generation GT S, this Bentley can launch from 0-100km/h in just 3.5 seconds; that means it even out-accelerates the old W12-powered Speed variants too. Yet the battery pack is big enough that it can also whisk around in zero-emissions silence for anything up to 80km, should owners require.
The platform set-up from the Speed and Mulliner models is adopted for the S, which brings in the Bentley Performance Active Chassis. This includes Active All-Wheel Drive, twin-valve dampers, torque vectoring (both front to rear and across both axles), the 48-volt Bentley Dynamic Ride active anti-roll system, and revised control software for the ESC system. For the first time on a Continental GT S, there's also an electronically controlled limited-slip differential and all-wheel steering as well. All of these are designed to enhance the handling abilities of the GT S, and indeed the open-top GTC S, but the standard-fit sports exhaust that accentuates the crossplane V8's noise is purely to titillate the ears of the car's occupants.
Sounds good, if you'll forgive the pun. How about the aesthetics?
The Continental GT S and GTC S come with Blackline Specification as standard, which brings in gloss-black matrix grilles, plus black Bentley wing badges and model lettering to complement the dark front-lower spoiler.
Further, there are Beluga black door-mirror caps, sill extensions and rear diffuser, plus dark-tinted and full-LED Matrix headlamps featuring Bentley's Precision design detail - a feature the S only shares with the Speed in the range. At the rear are more dark tints, for both the lamp clusters and the tailpipe finishers, while the 22-inch ten swept-spoke alloys - silver as standard - can be optioned in a number of different looks for the S, including a full gloss-black version and one with bright-machined facing surfaces over the gloss-black finish.
Inside, the Continental S models have a split two-tone upholstery in the finest leather, complemented by extensive use of Dinamica microfibre for the steering wheel, gearlever, seat panels and door cards. Piano Black veneer echoes the Blackline spec outside, although Bentley will offer owners the choice of high-gloss carbon-fibre and other finishes as options. Finally, all the interior metalwork in the Continental GT S and GTC S models is rendered in dark-tint chrome.