The 2027 Bentley Continental GT S is a quintessential aristocratic express. The design is distinctive and impressive without being imposing or aggressive. To the pilot’s pleasure, the driving experience can actually be described in largely the same way. It’s an incredibly capable machine and plenty fast for your needs, but composed and gentlemanly even when provoked.
Bentley has been wise to evolve the CGT slowly. The shape and silhouette are largely unchanged from the first-gen car—and they still look awesome, even if you’re more likely to see them on a buy-here-pay-here lot than a Country Club valet line these days. The Bentley coupe’s cockpit hasn’t changed all that much, either.
The powertrain, however, is considerably more sophisticated than the Bentleys of the past. When we reviewed the even more powerful CGT Speed, my colleague Cy Soliman called it “still exquisite as a hybrid.” I would even dare to take that a step further, at least in the case of this S model—it’s largely exquisite because it is a hybrid.
View Price on AmazonThe Continental GT comes in a few main flavors—the “base” car, the luxury-focused Azure, the high-output Speed, and the flagship Mulliner, which also has extra horsepower. This S model sits between Azure and Speed, with the sporty decorative flourishes of the two higher-hp models but not the engine tuning. Make no mistake, it’s still extraordinarily powerful.
With a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 and a 140 kW electric motor, Bentley claims this car puts out a combined 671 horsepower and 686 lb-ft of torque. Despite the steel-and-aluminum monocoque coupe weighing a chonky 5,421 pounds, the 0-60 time is a sizzling 3.3 seconds, with a top speed of 191 mph.
But straight-line speed isn’t even the Conti GT S’ real party trick. That would be the supremely serene way in which the car glides over asphalt and around corners. For that, we can thank the vehicle’s air suspension, advanced twin-valve dampers, variable-ratio all-wheel steering, aluminum double-wishbone suspension, electronic LSD, and all-wheel torque vectoring.
Whether you’re lurking through a parking garage, cantering over mountains, or hard-charging down an onramp, this car feels more like it’s floating than rolling. The level of isolation you feel in the cabin, even over New Jersey’s moon-crater potholes and in evasive maneuvers, is truly remarkable.
Put another way: If you’re looking for a visceral, feel-focused driving experience, this ain’t it. While something like a Lotus or Porsche provides extreme directness and communicative steering at the expense of comfort, the Bentley CGT goes wherever you point it, but the operative word is “effortlessness” rather than “engagement.”
Whether that’s a pro or con depends entirely on what you want your car to do. If you’re committed to driving as a sport and are charmed by a little vehicular harshness, you might be better off in something lighter. If you want to be able to make a sketchy pass around local traffic at 110 mph without unsettling the foam on your cappuccino, make your way to a Bentley.
It does feel plenty fast when you really step on the throttle. But where hardcore performance-oriented cars make you feel like a heroic warrior, this one kind of makes you feel like a god—steaming along unbothered, unhindered, and a mile above the fray at whatever pace you see fit.
When it’s time to reel the car in, 10-piston brake calipers clamp down on 16.5-inch front brake discs with an unbelievable abundance of stopping power. From any reasonable speed, even slightly unreasonable ones, the car can be pulled back quite aggressively with minimal nose-diving. You’d better hope all your passengers have their belts on before trying that—and if you haven’t finished that coffee, better hope too.
Source: thedrive.com
