According to Autocar.co.uk, the Bentley Continental GT Speed will remain the luxury marque’s hottest grant tourers for a while longer.
The previous generation had special editions like the Continental GT3-R, which packed a V8 rated at 580 PS (572 hp / 427 kW) and could sprint 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.8 seconds. Later on, Continental Supersports arrived with a W12, 710 PS (700 hp / 522 kW), and 3.5 seconds to one hundred. However, the new generation will be lacking such special editions.
Matthias Rabe, R&D boss at Bentley, said in an interview that the engineering crew was currently busy developing a plug-in hybrid. Interestingly enough, he mentioned that it was the clients of the company that urged it to design one.
The easiest way to produce a hybrid would be just to take the V6-based powertrain of the Flying Spur, but Rabe stressed that different options were being discussed. Smaller displacement would make the PHEV more eco-friendly, but Continental buyers tend to choose it for the W12, so there seems to be a bit of a dilemma.
Source: Autocar.co.uk