How do you explain the things this 5500-pound behemoth can do? It reaches 60 mph in 4.2 seconds—that’s verging on Corvette territory. It has 0.89 g of skidpad grip—as sticky as a Cadillac CTS-V. There’s also the 165-foot 70-to-0-mph stopping distance—a foot shorter than a Murciélago LP640.
Of course, one might be tempted to call it magic, the trick of some gray-bearded, spell-casting wizard—but that would be silly. Instead, blame this car’s performance on the Bentley engineers (some of whom may, in fact, have gray beards) who created this Speed, the über version of the Continental Flying Spur. The recipe was thus: take the normal car and uprate the engine, work over the suspension, retune the steering, and slap on high-performance rubber. The 6.0-liter twin-turbo W-12 is now good for an even 600 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, up from 552 hp and 479 lb-ft. The suspension has been lowered by 0.4 inch, and also has new spring and shock rates and beefier anti-roll bars.
Gargantuan but Agile
The changes are noticeable. When you punch the throttle, it feels a bit like riding a skyscraper shot out of an artillery piece, with max torque coming at a low 1750 rpm. The sounds you hear are dominated by intake whoosh and a determined, locomotive groan from the engine room. But, disappointingly, the exhaust is overwhelmed by wind noise with the windows down and simply eliminated with the double-paned glass up. On throttle-lift, you can detect a pleasingwoofle from the back, but it seems that only bystanders are destined to hear the W-12’s exhaust note. Gotta toss the plebes a cookie sometimes.
Keep Reading: 2009 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed - Short Take Road Test
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