‘Muscle and luxury.' To me, that is what a Bentley stands for.
And that is what a muscle car should stand for as well. Traditionally, the term ‘muscle car' has been defined as a two-door, rear-wheel drive American car with a powerful V8 engine that comes at an affordable price. The only problem in this definition is that the American car manufacturers for the past few decades seem to have got away with calling their relatively large-engined sporty-looking coupés that handle like trucks ‘muscle cars'.
In fact, considering that Americans love acronyms, I think that the American muscle car should be called ‘SLEAV' for "sporty large-engined affordable vehicle".
I really think that power and performance should be affordable, butI also think that finesse and control play a large part in the creating the image of the car the makers wish to project. Such combinations of refinement and more than enough power, along with the personal touch of something that is hand-crafted by a passionate team, often comes with a large price tag. Bentleys are built with such an uncompromised approach. They cater to the needs of a small segment of people who care about what the brand offers. It isn't really a crowd pleaser, especially with its larger-than-life approach to everything including its cost, but that's what sets it apart from most other car brands.
Exclusivity and character play an important part in the brand image and catering to customisation requests from its buyers makes it quite unique.
Defining luxury
The 2010 Continental Supersports that I got to test drive is all of the above and more. Not only is it the fastest Bentley ever, it's even the most aggressive-looking too. The dark-smoked steel finish grilles, wheels and lamp bezels that distinguish the Supersports from the usual Continental GT set the tone for an interior that is just as amazing.
Alcantara, soft-touch leather and carbon fibre have been used extensively to create the perfect blend of luxury and sportiness that makes you want to stay behind the wheel all day long.
Looking inside
The interiors deliver a lot more than what is expected in terms of craftsmanship, ergonomics and comfort. The beautiful leather sports seats, with the carbon fibre clamshell backs, suit the profile of the Supersports perfectly. The seat adjustments are manual which is unheard of in the industry today, especially in road-going luxury sports coupés where electric seats with memory settings have been standard for a long time. The manual controls give it a very retro feel. In addition, seat positions can be easily adjusted in shorter amounts of time.
The rear seats in the Supersports have been replaced by a stowage area with a restraining carbon fibre beam which is useful and enhances thetwo-seater profile of the car.
The dashboard is quite a work of art, especially the push-pull switches that control the air flow of the air-conditioning vents.
The multimedia interface is user-friendly and quite simple to use.
The 15-speaker Naim sound system is a treat to the ears. I am not a car-audio enthusiast and I usually don't appreciate anything more than four basic speakers in any automobile, but the Bentley really got me thinking again. A special Breitling timepiece rests elegantly, perfectly embedded into the centre of the dash. In fact, Bentley and Breitling look like they're made for each other, especially with their emblems being so similar - the letter "B" with a pair of wings.
High on tech
Besides being a treat to the eyes and the ears, the Supersports is also an adrenaline stimulator. It's a 110kg lighter than the Continental GT Speed. However, it still weighs 2,240kg which is more than most full-sized SUVs.
The usual 6-litre W12 twin turbo-charged engine has been modified for the Supersports thereby allowing better airflow and better cooling. The engine delivers a whopping 621 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 800Nm of torque at 2,500 to 4,500 rpm. These figures are quite amazing for a stock car that can run on petrol, E85 biofuel or any combination of the two. It does a 0-100km/hour sprint in around 3.9 seconds and can reach a whopping top speed of 329km/hour.
Technical specifications aside, I was really curious about how the Supersports would feel, especially with its all-wheel drive system, which in my mind translated to a considerable amount of understeer. But that wasn't the case. The difference between the usual all-wheel drive cars and the Supersports is the raw power that the engine delivers. All that power is channelled through a continuous all-wheel drive system that has a 40:60 rear-biased torque split.
The advantage here is that the power available along with the rear-biased drive system makes it feel like a rear-wheel drive car around corners, reducing the understeer but providing the same amount of grip with the finely tuned stability programme.
It's true that the rear end isn't as lively or responsive as its sports car rivals in the same price range, but for a car that is primarily about luxury, this is quite good. On the highways at reasonable speeds, the Supersports feels just like any luxury car. Smooth riding with very low wind or road noise. The suspension is adjustable and so is the height, just in case you need to take it off road onto a little bit of sand. The all-wheel drive system will ensure that you don't get stuck in the sand, as long as you don't venture out on to the dunes.
The Supersports also comes with an automatic spoiler that improves the ‘down force' at high speeds and can also be controlled manually. The steering wheel feels good, especially at high speeds, but I did notice a bit of extra tightness at really low speeds and while parking. The exhaust tone is not as deafening or as aggressive as your usual supercar, but it sounds perfect with a tonality that suits the character of a fine luxury sports coupé.
At the end
Again, I would like to stress uponthe fact that this is how ‘muscle cars' should be: larger than life, yet refined and restrained.
To sum things up, recommending the Bentley to someone looking for a luxury car with a bit of sportiness would be quite easy, because this particular combination is quite rare in the industry where you either have sports cars or luxury cars. But combining the two aspects of sports and luxury effectively is expensive and the starting price of Dh1 million for the Supersports reaffirms the fact.
