What's the news?
Bentley's emblematic Continental GT might be due for replacement soon, but that still leaves time for one last hurrah for the epic grand tourer - and, in this instance, the luxury carmaker has pulled out all the stops. The new Continental Supersports Coupe and Convertible models are the fastest, most powerful production models to issue forth from Crewe to date.
Exterior
Over and above the GT Speed models (which are already pretty rapid), and the track-focused GT3-R, the Supersports have always been the most intense of Bentleys. The name first appeared in the modern Continental family in 2009, and the car featured subtle exterior and interior styling differences to mark it out, something which is true of the newcomer. As standard, it comes with reshaped front and rear bumpers (incorporating a carbon fibre splitter and diffuser respectively), side sill extensions and carbon fibre bonnet vents. The lamp clusters front and rear, and all the brightware on the front grilles, lights, rear bumper, door handles and window surrounds are dark-tinted or black-finished, while the front wing vents and rifled exhaust tailpipes are gloss-black.
As an option, an aerodynamically balanced rear spoiler and front splitter combination for the Supersports Coupe is offered, while you can choose to have Supersports badging, black and bright-machined finish 21-inch forged alloy wheels, and optional side decals as well. Oh, and a gloss-finished, Supersports-branded carbon fibre engine cover. Not much to add about the Supersports Convertible here, save to say it has the same multi-layered hood as any Conti soft-top and it also features the neck-warming decide in the headrests, to make cooler open-air driving more pleasurable.
Interior
The Continental Supersports has a unique colour split for the interior, with three colours used for the first time in this generation of the Bentley GT. There's a diamond quilt pattern on the seats and door cards, while the trim panels are chequered and Supersports branded. There's heavy use of Alcantara, which also features on the bespoke Supersports steering wheel and gearlever, while it also has its own design of stitching.
For even more personalisation, there's an X Specification package, which brings two-tone exterior paint, carbon fibre door mirrors and heel plates, carbon interior side panels, the carbon engine cover and an exhaust upgrade, which we'll go into fully in the Mechanicals section. And if that's not enough, then you can hand your Supersports over to the craftspeople of Mulliner, Bentley's bespoke coachbuilding department, which will cater to individual customer requirements.
Mechanicals
The Coupe has a top speed of 336km/h and can do 0-100km/h in 3.5 scorching seconds; the Convertible, said to be the most rapid four-seater open-top in the world, is not far behind with equivalent data of 330km/h and 3.9 seconds. Either of the Supersports achieves such astonishing numbers by using a development of the tried-and-trusted 6.0-litre W12 engine, tweaked to massive outputs of 710hp and 1,017Nm - those are increases of 80hp and 217Nm over the 2009 Supersports, so that gives you an idea of the potency of the 2017 edition. Also, the most rapid Conti's outright figures look neater in the imperial measures, where they read 700bhp and 750lb ft.
To get to such heady heights, Bentley has fitted higher-capacity turbochargers and a revised charge-air cooling system, allowing for more boost and extra power. New main and conrod bearings, plus other upgrades to the crankshaft and drivetrain, ensure the Supersports can safely handle the prodigious grunt. There's also a new torque-converter in the eight-speed automatic gearbox, which locks up faster to make the best use of that almighty torque figure.
Naturally, other areas of the Continental's chassis are beefed up to suit, with carbon ceramic brakes with enhanced cooling fitted - these have the largest discs of their type in the world, by the way - for incredible stopping power, a set of 21-inch forged alloys trimming 20kg from the unsprung mass, and an optional titanium exhaust shaving another 5kg from the kerb weight; that exhaust, incidentally, is the one we mentioned in the X pack above, but even as standard Bentley has tuned the system to give the car a distinctive soundtrack.
The Supersports also has a specifically calibrated and updated version of the torque-vectoring system first used on the GT3-R, a 40:60 rear-biased torque split for its four-wheel drive set-up, and the promise that - despite its lowered and stiffened dynamic suspension - the typically cosseting Bentley ride quality is preserved.
Anything else?
Wolfgang Dürheimer, chairman and chief executive of Bentley Motors, said: "The Supersports name is legendary at Bentley. From the very first Supersports of the 1920s, to the Continental Supersports of 2009 - and now with the third iteration of this iconic model - it is a name which excites, impassions and thrills. Only Bentley could create a car which blends immense performance and unrivalled luxury in this way."