Bentley Continental GT Review 2024

There’s absolutely no ambiguity about what the Bentley Continental GT is, as its name says it all. Even so, the idea of a grand turismo car that you’d thrash through Europe to visit friends in high places and party hotspots might be completely outmoded in the days of inexpensive air travel, but the Bentley Continental GT is still utterly relevant in the world of fast, luxurious cars, with a breadth of ability that makes it hugely compelling choice to those who buy it. Indeed, if you’ve only one parking place outside your Belgravia or Beverly Hills property then a Continental GT is the perfect all-rounder to put in it.

The Continental GT was originally introduced by Bentley back in 2003, and it’s been a huge success for the company. Bankrolled by Volkswagen, the Continental might have had a rich benefactor behind it, and borrow some parts from within its parent company, but it was and remains quintessentially Bentley. The interior is all but incomparable in its indulgent luxury and on the road it has a bandwidth of capability that really does mean you could run one as a daily driver, and many do. Just try that with any of its rivals and you’ll forever be dealing with compromises. 

The Bentley Continental GT is, then, a supremely capable all-rounder, with ample power, surefooted four-wheel, a sizeable boot for your luggage, a pair of +2 proportioned seats in the rear for occasional use and the sort of effortless urge and languid ease that makes driving it an absolute joy. Specify it with the optional Comfort Specification, which adds massaging seats – their intensity such that you’d swear Bentley’s seconded a masseuse in that pew behind you – and you’ll be so relaxed in it you’ll never want to get out of it. The fit and finish is exceptional, and, being a Bentley, almost every material inside it can be specified to your exact choice of finishes, colours or texture. Obviously, all that scope for personalisation means that the Continental isn’t inexpensive, but it never feels anything than worth every penny it’s cost, and more. 

It isn’t, it has to be said, as compelling to drive up an Alpine pass as something like an Aston Martin DB11 or Ferrari Portofino, nor is it as outrageous in its performance or agility as a Porsche 911 Turbo S, while things like BMW’s 8 Series or Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class coupe offer more technology and a bit more space. That’s fine, because none the Continental GT’s ‘rivals’ can match its feeling of utter imperviousness on the road, or the deeply satisfying feeling when you’re sat in its interior, pawing the rich, warm chrome and fine action of the organ stop pulls for the ventilation, or just enjoying the absolute ease by which the Continental GT answers anything you ask of it. Actually, there is one car that rivals it here, the Rolls-Royce Wraith, but the entry-level price for that only underlines that, ludicrous as it might sound, the Bentley Conti GT is actually something of a luxury bargain. 

There’s more choice than just the hue of the leather, or the grain of the wood inside, too, indeed, the Bentley Continental GT can be described as having a range, insomuch as it’s possible to have it with a choice of two engines – fast, or faster still with either the 4.0-litre 550PS twin-turbo V8 or 6.0-litre 635PS twin-turbo W12 – both engines offered in coupe or convertible guises. In 2020 Bentley also offered a Continental GT with an entirely Mulliner coachbuilt, speedster style open-roofed body named Bacalar for 12 people with the necessary expendable expenditure to be able to drop a cool £1.5m on it. Such is the clamour among the super-rich in the world these days for such exclusive machinery, it sold out, immediately, Bentley saying it could have sold many, many more, but won’t. Kudos. It’s not limited to how many regular Continental GTs it builds, if you could ever describe the big, capable coupe/convertible as regular, which you can’t because it’s very special indeed. 

All that wood, leather and chrome inside means weight, a lot of it, but for all its grand touring credentials the Bentley Continental GT’s not entirely out of its depth dynamically. It’s actually surprisingly capable, and in this generation it’s far more able than its predecessor ever was when the roads get twisty and involving. Not light of foot and agile like a winger, but as fast and seemingly impervious to conditions, it’s an able, automotive wing-forward, that’s very good at everything. The four-wheel drive means traction is assured, grip levels high, too, with the four-wheel drive now being a bit more rear biased than the previous GT, the V8 feeling a bit less nose heavy than the W12, because it is. 

Even so, both are a bit detached and not as singular as some of its sharper, more focussed rivals, but here that’s actually not a complaint, but a compliment, the way the Continental GT deals with any roads or conditions with unwavering ability, security and ease is a huge part of its appeal. 

There are, inevitably, driving modes to pick from, but in properly Bentley fashion, there’s a Bentley default mode, which is the set-up that Bentley’s engineers think best suits the car. Really, there’s no need to question them, so pop it in ‘B’, leave the air suspension and 48 Volt roll stabilisation system to work its magic on the wheels and body control and you’ll never be pressing Sport to upset the otherwise supple ride.

Two engine choices, and they’re both mighty. The W12 is a 6.0-litre twin-turbo 635PS powerhouse that’ll do effortless grace everywhere, or, if you’re really in a hurry, monstrous pace. It’s able to reach 62mph in 3.7 seconds and over 200mph, the massive 900Nm of torque meaning huge flexibility from as low as 1,350rpm as is correct for a Bentley. The V8’s a bit sprightlier, feeling more responsive and eager, its 550PS and 770Nm making it an able understudy for its 12-cylinder relation, its torque delivered from equally early in the rev range, which makes for a similarly unstressed drive. The numbers see it barely trailing its W12 relation, either, it knocking on 200mph with a 198mph top speed, while the dash from 62mph is despatched in just 4.0 seconds. Ultimately, and relatively here, that V8 needs more revs to produce its very best, but it’s enjoyable to do so, changing the GT’s character subtly to one that’s more fun and engaging, the reduction of weight over the front axle also helping that impression and quickening up the turn-in.

Both are fitted with an automatic transmission which for the most part gives clean, unflustered shifts, but there’s occasionally a bit of hesitation from the gearbox, these made even more notable because the rest of the package is so polished.   

There’s no independent crash test for the Continental GT, but it’ll almost certainly protect you admirably in the event of a collision. There are, of course things to mitigate that happening in the first place, with the GT coming with ABS, stability and traction control systems as well as a tyre pressure monitoring system. You can up that with more ‘active’ safety via the Touring Specification Pack, it adding Lane Assist, Bentley Safeguard Plus which includes Emergency Lane Change Assist, Night Vision and a Head-up Display.

If you want more electronic protection (or intervention/distraction) in the city there’s an optional City Specification pack, it having a Top View Camera, Traffic Sign Recognition, Pedestrian Warning, Reversing Traffic Warning among the additional equipment. We’d save the money on those, and instead have the Bentley Rotating Display, which singularly removes one of the biggest distractions inside the car – the big screen in the centre of the dash.  Naturally, behind all that wood and leather, there’s a whole suite of airbags should you get it really wrong, too. 

Towing's a job for the Bentayga.

You don’t go tearing off down to Nice without packing some essentials, and the Bentley Continental GT’s got that covered. Indeed, the Continental GT’s boot is bigger than that of a Ford Focus, which won’t mean anything to a typical Bentley buyer, because they’ll never have looked in the boot of a Focus. They might understand the 358-litres, which is the contents of 12 Melchizedek of champagne, accounting for a couple of litres of spillage. Big then, though buyers of the convertible will have less space in the boot, as well as it feeling a bit tighter in the rear seats. 

In either, those rear seats in both really are only best considered for occasional use, or for kids, think for you and three friends from the yacht to the restaurant in the marina rather than one miles inland, save that trip for just the two of you. For the driver and passenger there’s plenty of room, ample cabin stowage and a pair of deep cup holders under a lidded near the armrest. 

It’s a Bentley, and with that comes a level of expectation of fine materials and exemplary fit and finish and hefty, expensive feeling weighting to all the controls. And you’ll not be disappointed, the Continental GT is beautiful inside, the design such that it can do understated and classically elegant as much as it can do slightly new money and glitzy, depending on your tastes and how you’ve specified it. The chrome is proper chrome, the wood is wood, though polished to the point it’s mirror smooth, the leather coming from the best hides available. It’s lovely, and despite the inevitable creep of technology inside, Bentley’s incorporated it into the cabin without it in any way detracting from the old-school and indulgent appeal that’s a Bentley signature, which is quite a neat trick.   

Even Bentley buyers are likely to have given up their Nokias and gravitated to smartphones now, so with the current Continental GT wisely updated the infotainment accordingly – there’s Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and all manner of connected apps, maps and suchlike. Unsurprisingly, it’s largely borrowed from Porsche, the Bentley sharing a decent amount of its tech with the Panamera, though wears a Bentley-specific look and operation. The large central touchscreen works well, while the digitally represented instruments are so visually similar to analogue items you could be forgiven for thinking they are. 

There’s some configurability to underline they’re not, but Bentley’s considered integration of technology inside is very impressive indeed, the tech more butler than front of house as it is in rivals, as it should be. If you pick the Bentley Rotating Display, which you must – even at £5k, you can have the large touchscreen rotate out of the way and instead display a trinity of analogue dials instead. Do that, opt for the head-up display and you’ll never have to sully your Continental GT’s interior with anything as uncouth as a nav screen for more than a few moments at the start of your journey. Being in the super luxury sphere the audio choice spans the incredible standard one to a Naim option that’s so crisp you’ll hear not just the pianist hitting the individual keys on the Steinway but the creak of their leather shoes as they work the una corda, too.     

As if any Bentley owner would ever discuss anything as vulgar as money, but if you really must know the cheapest Continental GT will cost you a little bit over £150,000 without any options, in coupe guise with the V8 engine. Expect to add at least 10% to that, perhaps 20% if you’re a bit wild with the options, and more still if you dip heavily into the skillset of Bentley’s Mulliner artisans who’ll fulfil any of your wishes – be it painted the hue of your favourite tie, scarf, skirt or shirt, or trimmed in materials not already in the extensive palette offered among the standard choices. 

The W12 costs more, and pick either the V8 or W12 with a fabric roof above your head, or, more likely, stowed behind you above the boot, and you’ll be dropping more than just the roof. It’s all incidental, though, and indeed, at this level of buying there’s an expectation that you’ll spend more, and more, to make your Bentley your Bentley, it’s actually all part of the appeal, and Bentley caters very well to its exacting customers here.   

Luxury, 200mph capable coupes/convertibles with twin-turbo V8s or W12s aren’t ever going to be at the top of the list when it comes to parsimony, and so it proves with the Continental GT. But, then, you knew that didn’t you? Driven normally, Bentley claims a W12 Conti GT will return 20.8mpg on the official combined consumption cycle – which being the new WLTP one means you might actually achieve close to that without having to try too hard. The V8 is a bit better at 23.9mpg, but really, in both you’ll be doing well if you’re averaging a figure in the mid-late ‘teens in ordinary driving, significantly less, if you’re clogging it. There’s a 90 litre fuel tank, so even with that thirst you’ll not have to stop too often to fill it up. 

Insuring it, servicing it and all the other taxes and suchlike associated with car ownership won’t be light, either, but you’ll likely have a clever insurance broker, a foreign address you can register it to if you want to dodge tax, and even if not, when you’re in the realms of buying a Bentley, the running costs just aren’t a consideration.

Pop into your Bentley showroom, or better still, go visit the factory in Crewe, and you’ll be faced with a couple of choices. “What engine sir/madam, V8 or W12? And coupe or convertible?” That’s about it as far as models go, though Bentley does have a suite of possible trim combinations for time poor, cash rich customers, or those without any imagination. Stretch it, and you can have your Conti GT tailored exactly like you want it, and you really ought to, too.