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29 March 2024

Get ready for the most extreme Bentley in history

Published
By AFP

On January 6, Bentley will be officially taking the wraps off the Continental GT Supersports, a premium car where the premium is well and truly on performance not passenger pampering.

Following hot on the heels of its new Black Edition Continental with aggressive body kit, Bentley is getting ready to launch another special GT but this one promises to offer supercar-like acceleration to match the external styling.

Thus far, the company has only offered a tiny glimpse of the car via a teaser video but even that is enough to suggest the car will offer epic performance.

Until now, the title of the most extreme and supercar-like Bentley in history has been held by the very rare and very expensive Continental GT3-R.

Unveiled in 2014 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and inspired by the company's GT3 racing car, the limited edition model (just 300 examples) served up 572bhp via its twin-turbo-charged V8 engine and a 0-100km/h time in under four seconds.

And while it kept a host of the creature comforts associated with Bentley's luxury GT car, in order to cut weight, improve handling and boost acceleration, it jettisoned the rear seats and added a huge carbon fiber external aerodynamics package.

And even though it came with a £300,000 (about US$370,000) price tag, it sold out in a matter of weeks.

The new Supersports model is also expected to be extremely lightweight (for a Bentley anyway) thanks to generous use of carbon fiber and by the removal of certain heavier creature comforts.

It is also expected to go with a V8 rather than 12 cylinder engine. However, that eight-cylinder engine is going to boast a host of innovations developed by the company's racing team in the GT3 class between 2014 and 2016.

That should translate into a continent crossing coupé that can hit 100km/h in 3 seconds and onto a top speed in excess of 205mph.

But to find out exactly how extreme the Bentley is going to be, we'll only have to wait 48 hours. In the meantime, the teaser video is available at https://youtu.be/Z8Rdb83jY8g.