When less is more: 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 test drive

Along the Pacific Ocean just west of Napa, California, a section of Skaggs Springs Road is known for fog-shrouded curves perfect for uncorking your stress and shaking down new cars. It was there I realised why Bentley is so darn confident about its new V8 Continental GT.

The 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 is the new version of Bentley's best-selling coupe

The beast is just as devastatingly handsome as its W12 predecessor, with chiselled sides and a latticework grille and four round headlights so brash they look like they’re spoiling for a fight.

But more important, as you round corners and hit the gas, it feels as if you’ve harnessed a linebacker with the footwork of Roger Federer.

There are four new colors available for the exterior of the coupe, including Dove Grey, Peacock, Alpine Green, and Silver Storm

The 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 is power and agility blended into a cocktail you’ll want to pour down your throat.  

With a new engine, new light(er)-weight aluminium body, and new double-clutch gearbox (more on those later), Bentley has given the V8 enough juice to make anyone question why you’d buy the more expensive, fuel-hungrier W12.

In fact, I’m convinced that those lucky ducks who purchase one of the new V8s will feel downright giddy with their choice. There will be many of them, proportionately speaking.

Bentley has delivered more than 70,000 Continental GTs worldwide; it’s the best-selling Bentley ever.

In the United States, they make up half of all Bentleys sold, Bentley North America President Christoph Georges told me at dinner the evening after my test drive.

Most critical, nearly 80 per cent of the Continental GTs sold in the US will be V8s, rather than W12s.

A small core of traditionalists will remain loyal to the W12, Bentley’s most historic engine configuration; for the rest of us, the V8 will be the happy go-to.

All told, Bentley sold more than 10,000 cars globally in 2018 and will sell more this year. Company executives say they expect half to be Continental GTs

Leaner, meaner

Let’s get this right out of the way: With 542bhp (404kW) of power and 568 pound-feet (770Nm) of torque, the car has 84 bhp (63kW) less power than the W12.

But that’s on paper. I’d bet good money you’d never know the difference driving it; unlike the W12, this all-wheel-drive V8 is heavily rear-wheel-drive biased, especially in Sport mode.

It feels like a “real” sports car, which any track enthusiast will tell you must be rear-wheel-driven, no? Plus, it’s 200 pounds (91kg) or so lighter than the W12, so that’s a wash, if you ask me.

And this is an all-new engine, updated since the first V8 Bentley made in 2012. The coupe will go to 60 mph (100km/h) in 3.9 seconds (4 seconds for the convertible). It has a top speed of 198 mph (320km/h).

The only way to spot the difference between the W12 and the V8 Continental GTs is by noting the minimal badging on the side of the car and on the engine

The part about the engine that really blew me away, though, was not its starting-line sprint speed. It was what it did between third and fourth gears.

Stretching out on an uphill grade, blasting toward Highway 1, the GT went from 65 mph (105km/h) to 91 mph (146km/h) in the same time it took for me to glance from the excellent heads-up display to the passenger seat and back. That’s 91 miles per hour—uphill.

Bentley has said a hybrid version of its Continental GT will be available by 2023

For a 4,773-pound (2165kg) car to be able to gather itself so seamlessly and quickly from an already fresh clip was shocking. Heck, for a car of any weight to be able to glide like that was shocking.

Note to self: Buy police radar detector immediately. Because there would be no way I could self-regulate this level of tantalising power.

Credit a brand-new, eight-speed transmission in the GT for such finesse. The Continental GT V8 is the first Bentley ever to have a double-clutch gearbox.

“We did it because we wanted to stretch the limit of performance,” Peter Guest, product line director at Bentley, had told me over breakfast in Napa that morning. “There are limits to how fast you can shift without a double clutch.” Noted.

Smooth and fast

The new Continuous Damping Control system also helped this effect. It optimises comfort and handling by smoothing things as you drive, constantly dampening — or not — in response to the surface of the road, how the car is moving, and the driver’s input.

It does this by monitoring the car’s speed and the distance between the wheels and the body of the car at each curve.

Plus, the thing stops great. As in: solidly prompt and firm, without the nasty bite that some rawer sports cars possess, and which can lead me toward slight nausea and an overall green feeling on tight, twisty, up-and-down roads.

Bentley has used the same iron brakes on the V8 as it did for the W12, to great effect.

A point on that aforementioned engine sound: It has been engineered to be louder than the W12, yes, with a deep guttural growl as you push it to accelerate. (The bark, as it were, matches the bite, and both are potent.)

But this car remains a civilised assassin, not a vigilante. Where the BMW 8-Series and Jaguar Project 8 clamour like alley cats at every turn, especially as you downshift, the Bentley Continental GT keeps you within the realm of likeability for those neighbours who are not as enthralled by car sounds as we are.

A paradise inside

The interior of the Bentley Continental GT V8 is the knockout punch that proves this car is the complete package, as suitable for 1000 miles’ driving up the Pacific coast as it would be on a date at the opera, or tearing down two-lane roads on a joy ride.

An extensive range of veneers is available to outfit the cabin. The Bentley Continental GT V8 has seating for four

None of these scenarios would prove fatiguing to your nerves—the car is sealed for quiet inside, like a vault—or to your back, with those newly plush and supportive 20-way adjustable seats.

Or to your wardrobe: The gaping trunk here easily fits two large, hard weekend cases, two backpacks or duffels, and assorted hats and coats. Even the convertible version allows this, which is more than I can say for any other sport convertible on the market.

I also appreciate how Bentley has been honest about how its previous interiors felt dated (no USBs anywhere) and has acted accordingly.

“The new interior has really taken us from a little bit behind to absolute state of the art,” Guest said at breakfast, noting such things as the three-point rotating 12.3-inch touchscreen that turns with the press of a button.

The new GT V8 has an intuitive infotainment system

He’s right. There are enough cup holders for a long road trip, and the back seat is far bigger than what you’d get in an Aston Martin or Porsche coupe. It’s usable even for adults—imagine!

But unlike some brands with the tendency to try to do too much (Mercedes, sometimes), Bentley has exhibited that famously endearing British restraint. Thank goodness.

“We know that luxury is not just about stuff,” Guest said. “Luxury is about simplicity, not overload. If you don’t want it, you can take it off.”

Top speed in the new Continental is 320kmh

The 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 perfectly embodies the concept of less is more. Let the engine and design do the talking. The car speaks for itself just fine.

Hannah Elliott

Hannah Elliott is the resident motoring writer at Bloomberg.