If I had to descend six floors, I’d probably take the elevator. Or if I were feeling extra spry, the stairs. Today, however, I’m going to be driving down in a car, and not via some meandering multi-storey car-park ramp. No, there’ll be a left turn, followed by a right, and that’s it; from the top to the bottom of a small apartment block in mere seconds. This is, of course, the ‘Corkscrew’ at Laguna Seca Raceway – a fearsome linkage of corners that descends 60 feet in the blink of an eye. And amazingly, it’s not even the scariest part of today’s drive.
No, that would be the car – the new Bentley Supersports. You’ll notice there’s no ‘Continental’ in its name anymore; Bentley says it’s so far removed from its donor car that it has been ostracised from the family entirely. Why is it scary? Well, they’ve relieved a Continental GT coupe of 500kg – about 300 of which is achieved by removing the hybrid system. More still is shed by fabricating the roof and boot lid from carbon fibre, adopting lightweight forged wheels developed with Manthey Racing with carbon-ceramic brakes, and removing the rear seats altogether. But the most terrifying deletion is the front driveshafts. This is the first rear-wheel-drive Bentley since the Mulsanne, and the first one to duck under the 2,000kg mark – if only just – in 85 years.
Bentley Supersports Exterior Design and Engineering –
Aggressive aero package shows intent, but it’s lost some elegance in the process.
But they haven’t thrown everything out. It still has two-chamber air suspension and a 48V active roll suppression system, allowing for limousine ride quality or race-car body control, depending on where you’ve left the drive mode selector. They’ve retained rear-axle steering and installed a trick e-diff, which promise turn-in and agility on a different level. With the help of new single-scroll turbochargers, a dual-mass flywheel and aggressive variable valve timing, they’ve changed the character of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, which now puts out a devilish 666hp and 800Nm. And just to make sure you know it means business, it will scream at you through loud and lightweight titanium Akrapovič pipes.
You’ll see a Supersports coming a mile away too, even if the owner hasn’t splashed out on this Mulliner Dragon Red paint – one of three special ‘ombre’ or faded colourway options. The curved edges of the Continental GT are affixed with sharp carbon-fibre canards, sills and winglets, like a knight being armoured for battle. The front splitter and rear diffuser are the largest ever on a Bentley, and the rear bumper has vents to purge hot air from the rear wheel wells. It’s all functional, and culminates in a fixed carbon-fibre spoiler that’s more akin to sail than a wing, and generates up to 300kg of added downforce at speed.
Does it work visually? I’m not sure. The performance addenda look aggressive, sure, but they simply don’t adhere to the finely honed sculpture that is the Gen 4 Continental coupe. Imagine a Cumbria cut-crystal decanter fitted with a carbon-fibre stopper.
Bentley Supersports Interior Space and Comfort –
You sacrifice the rear seats, but the rest is pure Bentley opulence.
The interior, too, is an interesting mix of Bentley giveth and Bentley taketh away. Yes, the rear of the cabin has been stripped down to a carbon-fibre shell that could double up as a helmet rack, but the front is quite the opposite.
It may be fitted with Bentley’s slimmer, more supportive ‘sports’ seats, but they’re hardly what you’d call racing buckets. Yes, there’s less cushioning, which also effectively lowers the driving position, but they’re still incredibly plush and widely power adjustable.
Bentley Supersports Features and Safety –
Misses out almost none of the features you can get in a regular Continental.
There’s leather and chrome everywhere, and though the personalisation potential isn’t as vast as, say, on a Continental GT Mulliner, you can still option things like a tri-tone cabin and get sporty trim options like carbon-fibre and turned metal for the dashboard. You even get all the features, including the driver display and touchscreen, and for once they recommend not optioning the motorised rotation function.
What this all means is it’s business in the back and pleasure up front, and apart from never being able to share it with more than one passenger, you don’t lose any of the Continental’s ‘GT’ capabilities. In most respects, it’s still every bit a luxury item.
Bentley Supersports Performance and Refinement –
Trades outright performance for engagement and feel; the loudest modern Bentley yet.
Our time at Laguna Seca is all too brief – a couple of learning laps, followed by a few more for photos and filming – so I really want to make the most of my time. As I canter down the pit lane, cocooned in soft leather, the only clue that I’m in something super sporty is a distant, almost calming burble. I then realise I am in Comfort mode, and promptly twist the dial up to Sport. “Braaapp!” It responds, as if to ask what took so long.
In an instant, the car is transformed. I don’t so much exit the pit lane as break away from it, the responses having been sharpened to a knife edge. I tug at the wheel and rein it in just in time for the first set of rumble strips as my brain hurries to make mental notes for later. This is the rawest I can recall the EA825 3,996cc twin-turbo V8 ever feeling, the closest other example being the erstwhile Lamborghini Urus Performante, before the hybrid system was introduced. It builds revs shockingly quick for a cross-plane-crank V8, sending soul-stirring vibrations through the wheel the entire time.
Paired here with a quick-shifting 8-speed dual-clutch auto, however, there’s an even greater sense of urgency as we hammer from apex to apex. And true to the Bentley ethos, the shifts have some kick, but they’re not outright violent. What the Supersports certainly isn’t shy about is the noise it makes, which is easily the loudest it’s ever been in a Bentley road car. Since there are no seats and presumably less noise insulation, it reverberates around the cabin, overwhelming one of your senses.
Bentley Supersports Ride Comfort and Handling –
Uncannily agile for such a big car, but push hard enough and the weight is felt.
This is shaping up to be a most un-Bentley-like experience, especially if your main association with the brand has thus far been of opulence and luxury. But has an identity crisis ever been this much fun? As we dive headlong into the first of many challenging corners, I’m met with a huge rotation that takes me by surprise. My muscle memory is attuned to the regular Continental GT – its weight, its pace and its tendency toward safe understeer. I’m struggling to process what’s happening here.
I dial it back before the next corner, approach with caution, and once I’m clear of the apex, I step on it. The rear starts to go, and I’m reminded of our instructors’ warnings as I back off. These cars are running the optional Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tyres – semi slicks on a big grand tourer – and if they aren’t up to temperature, they lose grip fast.
I’ve come to grips with it as we approach Turn 8 – the mighty Corkscrew – a true test of both machine and man. I remember the strategy I was taught – sharp left in, and quick but gentle on the right hander, which is absolutely blind. I emerge six storeys lower, front splitter intact, with the realisation that though this may be the lightest Bentley in eight decades, it still weighs two tonnes, and no amount of engineering can hide that.
I can feel the mass pulling away from me as I go through the double-apex Andretti Hairpin. You can tell the hardware is working, but that it’s also working overtime. This is especially true of the mammoth carbon-ceramic brakes, which must be commended for holding it all together, but are clocking 800deg C as we pull back into the pits a few laps later.
Bentley Supersports estimated price and verdict –
Ultra-niche mix of super luxury and super sport, limited to just 500 units globally.
And just like that, our time with the Supersports is over, and frankly I wish it wasn’t. I had just about gotten comfortable with both the track and the car, and what they have in common is that they’re challenging initially but exceptionally fun and rewarding once you’ve gotten to know them better.
Like last year’s Bentayga Speed, this feels like Bentley making a concerted effort to get back in touch with its rich sporting legacy, with a greater focus on feel and engagement, rather than outright performance. For context, the Supersports is the least powerful model in the range, and yet somehow that works in this application.
The good news is, because it doesn’t have the hybrid system of other Continentals, it qualifies for the India-UK FTA immediately, so it could actually be cheaper than the standard car in our market, at around the Rs 5 crore mark. The bad news? They’re only making 500 of them and they’re all spoken for. But who knows, perhaps some of those units are headed our way.