it waltz' rings around sports cars half its weight

It is daringly close to the print deadline for this issue of evo, when we get the opportunity to test the $ 273K Bentley Continental GT Speed properly, without restraint and on Middle East roads.

We had waited patiently for the arrival of this car, yet (as much as it pained me) for the whole of day one the GT had to sit motionless (abandoned I should say) outside the office as I entertained a few meetings, battled against the barrage of emails and made a few important phone calls. Whether or not a good idea, I parked the GT right outside the office window, a 2350kg half crescent made in Great Britain arcing around the mini roundabout, at the foot of our loft building.

It was intended as an incentive to get things moving - and rattle through my to-do list in time to have one hour at least of playtime on day one of our test before darkness becomes - and I had to haul the Bentley back to Bur Dubai in gruelling standstill traffic. But it proved to be more of a distraction than anything else, as I incessantly swizzle my office chair around and fritter away crucial minutes of production time, haloing my attention over the sumptuous silhouette of the Granite grey GT.

But I didn't really need a window to portal my attention, for parked a lot closer on my desk in front of me is the key to the magnificent Gran Tourer parked outside; shiny outer case, and what looks like a nail-file on one side, with a rubberised midriff.

This is a key that the evo office has been keen to see floating around, so now in my presence I am holding it close to my chest and trying to savour every second. What a key. I just hope I can say the very same of the car.

I didn't really spend much time with the original Conti GT, but I spoke enough with my colleagues at evo (both here and in the UK) to know not to bother myself too much about my limited time with that particular Bentley. I have spent equal time chatting with the same party of people about the GT Speed and without question I know I'd be kicking myself if I never got a go. Benefiting from nine per cent improvement in the power stakes, (up to 600bhp) 15 per cent in torque (now 553lb ft) and a melody of mechanical modifications to cope with the extra promise I am as eager as any beaver has ever been to truly explore these advances. And it is a promise that many will be expecting Bentley to keep, this time around, failing last time on the grounds of inadequate commitment to what it could have been, so said mostÉ But why would a manufacturer give a car a name, like Speed, if it couldn't - well - live up to its name? And with a reworked twin-turbocharged W12 Audi engine, (an unstressed mammoth of a unit crammed into every inch of the engine bay) charged with improving cooling efficiency and gas flow, lightened and balanced conrods, a single-chain camshaft drive for weight-saving purposes and a far more focussed engine management system, thankfully it can.

But you don't need to spend too much time analysing Bentley's choice in a car name, or lifting the bonnet to see how big 'TWIN TURBO' is written on the engine cover, just peek between the spokes of the 20-inch one-piece forged alloys and, if it has the optional carbon ceramic discs (as per our test car) you'll catch sight of brakes of gigantic proportions obviously employed to anchor a gigantic power house: a super-size 420mm at the front and 356mm at the rear, squeezed by suitably silly size 8pot callipers. No car manufacturer offers brakes this big (the biggest in the history of the production car) for the sheer sake of it, especially when you'll pay a handsome premium for such an upgrade.

Yet they are needed - really they are - bringing the British steam train to a halt in a shockingly short distance, with added confidence and with the benefit of weight-saving too: 20kg to be precise. But would a 20kg drop really make the slightest difference in a car weighing in at two tons and a bit?

True, the Bentley GT Speed is no dainty dancer, but it can waltz rings around the majority of sports cars half its weight. Problem is finding a suitable stretch of road linking twists and turns to properly evaluate this chassis of great potential. The front anti-roll bar is smaller in diameter than previously available on the Continental, in an attempt to dial-out some of the understeer and they seem to have succeeded as there is only the slightest hint of the front pushing wide in extreme conditions.

Worthy of praise is the rigidity of the structure, increased over the old or not, and praise the weight and precision of the steering. This all rolls up into one big ball of finesse on the open road, but remember this is still a hefty car to be hustling around like you would, say, a 911. But you can, mind you, for this GT is astoundingly capable on any given fast sweeping route, masking its mammoth mass as it responds to your inputs with a killer keenness.

Making good use of four-wheel drive, a rarely intervening ESP, and beautifully revised self-levelling air suspension (mainly made from lightweight aluminium) that constantly monitors and adjusts the ride height and damping according to road conditions, the GT Speed sits 10mm lower at the front and 15mm at the rear than the standard Continental GT, with a spring rate increase of 22 per cent for improved handling dynamics. Amazingly enough the front of the lowered car didn't bottom-out on any speed bumps or rough ground once, throughout the duration of our test, but I guess the plastic spoiler of the GT could suffer on the more extreme of speed bumps and exit ramps of some car parks, or worse still scoop up road-kill.

And I say this from experience, as I headed home in the GT that day I happen to notice that there were a lot of dead cats littering the highways (more than usual I'd say) nearly taking one of these strays home on the front valance. I also noticed along the highway that in light of the recent wake-up call of disasters brought on by the freak flooding, people are still numb to basic road etiquette and safety, and that at least six people are missing one of two shoes. Keen eyed I also observed a whole front N/S trailing arm assembly lying in the hard shoulder, complete with suspension strut, brake calliper, wheel and tyre. A little further down the road I passed an equine ambulance and what appeared to be a severed limb in the middle lane. I was on the ball this day, no doubt about it, pin-sharp alert and in tune with my surroundings, until I wake my senses to what is going on inside the cabin of this car. Whilst the world wafts past, slumped in hand-stitched opulence, I am bound by a darty mix of tradition and technological trimmings that divert my eye away from the speedometer needle, which for the last twenty minutes has probably been pointing way too far right, to the numerous speed camera's glee.

From this automotive armchair I can do nothing but observe the bespoke angle of this Bentley, the quilted door panels to mention but one particular focus, but not the fact that we are in sixth gear, the small wing has risen out from its home on the leading edge of the bootlid and we are nudging 180kph in a 120kph speed zone. The technically-thunderous W12, with whistling turbochargers (yes two of them) should to all intents and purpose be making an almighty racket in neutral - bringing buildings down to their foundations - so an even bigger tremor should be felt half-song at 4500rpm, but so it seems there is no thunder today and no charm of the chargers to be heard either, instead a muted milled-aluminium cabin.

Road noise from the bespoke 275/35 Pirelli PZero Sport tyres should make for a racket too, if nothing else, but again silence falls on the cabin. Buffeting from the wind results in something equally eerie. There is a hearty pulse to this senior of GT we'll have you know - and a voice too - but its baritone is barely audible unless you lift off in a low gear then pile back on the power through a tunnel pass, or in close proximity to a wall, to hear the Speed GT balling and grumbling. This is a thinking man's car, I conclude, a car of quiet contemplation that expels very little in the way of energy to summon the power from that mighty W12. Really, there is no visible effort applied whatsoever to the way this GT exploits every pocket of 553lb ft of torque; less of an explosion and more of a slumbered motion, that is still capable of getting you somewhere way before you realise you've actually got there. And all that is needed is a tickle of the throttle to provide this apocalyptic propulsion, that if it were not for your internal organs looking to escape out any available pore in your back you'd be none the wiser to the monstrous manner in which you have just sliced your way from 110kph to 230.

From standstill the hulk of a GT, dumped on all-wheel drive with the world's biggest brakes, snicks in 100kph with 4.5 seconds on the stopwatch, and 160kph in a margin over 10. It doesn't take an awful lot longer to max it way past 300kph either, to 326kph actually.

'we are in sixth gear, the small wing has risen out of its home on the leading edge of the bootlid and we are nudging 180kph in a 120kph zone'

This isn't the first Bentley to achieve an evo-proven 322kph (200mph) though, even if initial press material and showroom brochures bragged only of 319kph (198mph) but this magnificent GT Speed actually hits the magical two-ton figure that every manufacturer since the dawn of rubber tyres has aspired to. For the Crewe establishment it is the first official record of such an achievement in the history of the company, as ultimate luxury finally meets ultimate performance. Question is, does the GT feel more British or more German in terms of build, character and composure? The answer I must say is very British, definitive even, and dare I say possibly better than even the British could do!

To date I must say I have not been in anything so dramatically fast that I am content sitting in traffic in, for hours on end. The interior space of the GT is way nicer than my living room, with a lot more toys to play with so there's no rush to get home today. And today of all days I should be pulling out what little hair I have left, knowing that we were meant to time the 600bhp Bentley around the short Club Circuit of the Dubai Autodrome. Annoyingly the circuit was still submersed in parts, from the recent deluge (see page 68) so we concentrated on a conventional road test of the versatile GT.

But I wasn't annoyed for long, at full ease again once behind the wheel, as the potent GT and I gained momentum both tactful and calculated. Passing every other road user with a lightening-quick shove from the turbo spool I felt this achievement was second only to pulling a tablecloth from underneath a fine bone china tea party. Metaphorically speaking most car manufacturers can yank a tablecloth out from under a table setting, but most will spend the rest of the day cleaning up all the broken dishes littering the floor. Only a chosen few flourish, Bentley being the king of them all, its finely-tuned party piece winning fans, friends, cute companionship and above all confirming the GT Speed as the defining Bentley of the century.

Specification
Engine V6
Location Front, longitudinal
Displacement 5998cc
Cylinder block Aluminium alloy
Cylinder head Aluminium alloy, dohc per bank,4v per cylinder, variable valve timing
Fuel and ignition Electronic engine management, multipoint fuel injection
Max power 600bhp @ 6000rpm
Max torque 553lb ft @ 1750rpm
Transmission Six-speed ZF automatic with paddle-shift facility, four-wheel drive
Front suspension Four-link double wishbones, computer-controlled self-levelling air suspension, anti-roll bar
Rear suspension Trapezoidal multi-link, computer- controlled self-levelling air suspension, anti-roll bar
Brakes Cross-drilled carbon discs,420mm front (356mm rear) ESP
Wheels 9.5 x 20in one-piece forged
Tyres 275/35-20 bespoke Pirelli PZero
Weight 2350kg
Power-to-weight 216bhp/ton
0-100kph 4.5sec (manufacturer's claim)
Max speed 326kph (manufacturer's claim)
Basic price $ 273,000
On sale Now
evo Rating 4 Star