The third-generation Bentley Continental GT Speed is set for its debut on March 23, the Crewe-based luxury automaker has stated in a teaser claiming it will be “the most capable, performance-focused Bentley yet, with no compromise to comfort or luxury,” in addition to “highly advanced chassis technologies”, it added.
A relatively low-light image of the car in side profile shows extensions applied to the car’s front bumper and side sills, while its wheels with a swept-spoke design akin to those on the Flying Spur, albeit with the sweep in an opposite direction to those on the wheels of the four-door.
Development units for this Continental GT Speed were sighted as early as September 2018, when the performance-augmented version of the two-door was expected to feature an uprated version of the 626 hp/900 Nm twin-turbo petrol W12 engine, likely to be increased to the region of 650 hp to 670 hp for the upcoming Speed version of the coupe.
This would mean a notable gain over the outputs of the previous Continental GT Speed, which premiered in 2016 with 642 PS and 840 Nm of torque, itself succeeding the 2012 iteration that packed 625 PS and 800 Nm of torque, to surpass the Continental GT’s figures of 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and a 333 km/h top end.
Its forthcoming Flying Spur Speed sibling won’t be following suit with the W12, however, as that has been sighted with an additional ‘fuel’ flap denoting a battery charging port – that would be likely for a V8 biturbo PHEV powertrain.
No indication of electric-augmented drive for the GT Speed here, so it could be in a shrinking group of purely internal combustion-powered models, which Bentley will be phasing out by 2026. In terms of electrification, the first hybrid Bentley, the Bentayga Hybrid was unveiled in 2018, and the first pure EV Bentley is set to arrive in 2025. Its line-up will go fully electric by 2030.
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