British automaker Bentley is as much about speed as it is about sheer luxury. We say this following the announcement of the new Continental Supersports which is claimed to be the world’s fastest and most powerful four-seater car.
Backing this bold claim is the car’s incredible top speed of 336 kmph and a 0-100kmph time of 3.5 seconds. Similarly, its soft-top sibling, the Continental Supersports Convertible, is the fastest four-seat convertible in the world, dispatching the sprint to 100kmph in 3.9 seconds on its way to a 330kmph top speed.
The Continental Supersports is powered by the familiar W12 engine which has been beefed up yet again through higher-capacity turbochargers and a revised cooling system which create more boost and additional power. These revisions result in an increase of 79bhp and 217Nm over the 2009 Supersports model.
The Supersports also benefits from a new torque converter gearbox which locks up faster allowing the car to make best use of the 1,017Nm of torque. In order to rein in the additional grunt, the new Supersports is fitted with carbon ceramic brakes with enhanced cooling.
The brake discs are the largest of their type in the world and they sit behind 21-inch forged alloy wheels, together offering a 20kg weight saving in unsprung mass. A further 5kg weight-saving is offered via an optional titanium exhaust system. The new Supersports, in fact, is the lightest-ever iteration of the current Continental GT and lighter than the 2009 Supersports model. The Supersports retains the rear-biased torque split of Bentley’s all-wheel drive system, sending 60 per cent of the engine’s power to the rear wheels as standard.
Scheduled for launch later this year, the new Continental Supersports will carry a premium of around Rs 40 lakh over the standard GT Speed.
