Test Drive: 2011 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible
Courtesy Bentley Public Relations
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The first thing you notice in cockpit of the Supersports Convertible is the smell. It could be the adhesive that holds the diamond-quilted Alcantara tight to the curvature of the clamshell seats, the leather hide wrapping the wheel, or the carbon fiber console’s satin polish. Whatever it is, the thing smells rich, it makes you take notice, and gives you the feeling that this machine offers more dangerous potential than its sleeper looks let on.
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Over a two day joyride to Long Island’s east end, the Supersports proved to be one of the most wonderfully perverse cars I’ve ever driven—a full-tilt luxury ride with supercar stuff. The fastest convertible that Bentley’s ever built is an exercise in excess: a quarter of a million-dollar-plus beast whose portly 5,279 –lb. curb weight is negated by pure power, via a massive, twin-turbocharged W12 that can, if you ask, push 60 in less than four seconds. Keep pushing harder and you could hit an aerodynamically-limited 202mph — with four in the cabin and the top down.
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That is, if you have the desire to ask. I found the Supersports to be completely amenable to a cruising slow, unlike similarly tourquey, jacked-up supercars that can’t keep it cool in the city. Thanks to a sublime 8-speed quick-shift automatic gearbox, this Bentley carries itself smoothly, seamlessly, and jitter-free, even in brutal stop-and-go traffic. The Supersports is a heavyweight champ in a Tom Ford suit, better spoken and more at ease than you at a cocktail party.
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But it could destroy you at the drop of a hat. I get that feeling several times on one of the Long Island Expressway’s only open stretch, as the road passes through the Pine Barrens, gateway to Gatsby country. Let’s just say the brakes—massive carbon-ceramic stoppers—become your best friend. They’re fantastic.
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Read up on the Supersports’s bonafides and you’ll find that Bentley went to great lengths to shave weight and improve handling, putting it on par spec-wise with track-star supercars. I didn’t take it to a track, nor did I even find any twisty roads on my two-day run. Really, you would never really want to force this Bentley to prove itself on the track. And even on the open road, you’ll find little opportunity to unleash the full measure of its ungodly wrath.
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But as you are open-air cruising, coddled in luxury, you can rest assured that the potential’s there.
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LOVE IT: Grown-up look, a subdued swagger. Speedy, topless bliss. Seats for four.
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LEAVE IT: Weekend-house price tag. Expensive drinking habit (12/19 mpg).
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The Specs
2011 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible
Price: from $280,400
Engine: 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged W12
Horsepower: 621 @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 590 lb.-ft @ 2,000-4,500 rpm
0-60mph: 3.9 seconds
Top speed: 202mph
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Posted by Dania
on 20:24. Filed under
Bentley,
Continental,
Convertible,
Drive,
Supersports
.
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