Who needs a W12? Bentley’s most powerful car ever is a fuel-sipping plug-in hybrid
German-owned British luxury auto maker Bentley has rewritten its own record book with the the all-new 2025 plug-in hybrid Continental GT Speed.
Available as a coupe and convertible, it pumps out an incredible 575kW and 1000Nm of torque, blending a stonking 0-100km/h dash of 3.2secs and a lofty 335km/h with the ability to travel up to 81km (WLTP-verified) on pure-electric power alone at speeds of up to 140km/h.
Those power and torque outputs are 80kW and 100Nm above the fastest-ever twin-turbo W12 version of the last generation of this model, with the Continental GT Speed switching to a smaller twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 that’s combined with an electric motor, a 25.9kWh battery, all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission.
While official fuel consumption has yet to be revealed, Bentley claims that thanks to its new hybrid tech the fast four-seat coupe and convertible emits 29g/km of CO2. That’s 90 per cent less emissions than before while being capable of covering up to 859km with a full tank and fully-charged battery.
Ensuring the latest Conti GT can cope with all the firepower on tap, as well as featuring all-wheel drive as standard the latest Bentley coupe and cab gets an electronic limited-slip differential and torque vectoring as standard and a near perfect 49:51 front-to-rear weight distribution.
Helping offset what’s expected to be a two-tonne-plus kerb weight, there’s also rear-wheel steering, 48-volt active anti-roll bars and the car-maker’s latest two-chamber adaptive air suspension and trick twin-valve dampers.
Braking, meanwhile, is courtesy of huge 10-piston callipers and massive 420mm rotors at the front and four-piston callipers that bite down on 380mm discs at the rear. All that capacity lurks behind huge 22-inch wheels.
For those who plan to venture out on track, or regularly cruise flat out on the autobahn, Bentley will happily upsize the standard stoppers for even more powerful carbon-silicon-carbide brakes that carry over the regular callipers but combine them with even bigger fade-resistant 440mm composite discs up front and 410mm rotors at the rear.
Inside, the Bentley is as luxurious as ever with the inclusion of quilted leather 20-way adjustable seats, a 10-speaker or 18-speaker sound system, 30-colour ambient lighting, a 12.3-inch rotating display which, as well as showing the infotainment, can swivel round to display three analogue dials, or a plain wood veneer. There’s also a fully customisable digital instrument cluster, that now get hybrid-specific graphics.
The more sophisticated infotainment now includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and is capable of over-the-air updates and can be operated using a smartphone app allowing owners to pre-heat or cool their car remotely, as well as checking fuel and hybrid battery status.
Other new tech includes an auto park feature and cabin air filtration that automatically recirculates the air when entering a tunnel.
In the near future Bentley says it will introduce a green traffic light predictor in US and Europe and also offer downloadable music, videos and games.
Launching alongside the coupe, Bentley has also unwrapped the new-generation 2025 Bentley Continental GTC convertible which combines the new hybrid powertrain with a folding fabric roof that lowers in around 19 seconds.
Even with the extra weight needed to strengthen the body, Bentley claims the Continental GTC can still hit 100km/h in just 3.4 seconds while topping out at a blustery 285km/h.
In Europe both the 2025 Bentley Continental GT and GTC will land in showrooms by the end of September. In Australia, meanwhile, a late 2024 or early 2025 arrival is likely. The British car-maker has yet to reveal pricing.
