2020 Bentley Continental GT Road Test and Review

20bentleycontinentalfrontbeauty3sessions ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

The Bentley marque recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, but the Continental GT as we know it broke cover in 2003. For 2020, Bentley introduces an all-new third-generation Continental GT that’s sleeker and lower than the version that preceded it. Muscular rear haunches and front wheels are moved forward 5.3 inches for a longer hood, a lower nose, and a grand-touring-appropriate extended dash-to-front-axle dimension. Flanking the traditional mesh Bentley grille are new LED matrix headlamps that convey a cut crystal appearance. Available in coupe or convertible guise, the Bentley Continental GT is a fusion of handcrafted elegance and modern technology. 

Including the $2,725 destination charge, the 2020 Continental GT lineup includes the $207,825 V8 coupe, $224,225 W12 coupe, $228,225 V8 convertible, and $246,125 W12 convertible. All-wheel drive is standard.

Big Power

In the Bentley tradition, the Continental GT is endowed with an abundance of locomotive force. Engine choices include a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with 542 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque or a 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 with 626 hp and 664 lb-ft of twist. Both engines are capable of powering the Continental GT coupe or convertible from rest to 60 mph in 4 seconds or, in the case of the 12-cylinder, just under 4 seconds. The V8 is higher-revving with a lustier-sounding exhaust, while the W12 puts scenery behind it with determined zeal.

With either powertrain, a stop/start system shuts off the engine when the car is stopped in traffic or coasting to a stop — saving fuel and reducing emissions — and restarts automatically when the driver lifts a foot off the brake pedal. A variable-displacement system also saves fuel by shutting off half of the engine’s cylinders when coasting or cruising under a light load. Both engines are mated to a crisp-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. The dual-clutch automatic gives a sporty, manual-transmission-like feel to shifts but is non-linear and sometimes abrupt maneuvering the car at low speeds as when parking.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Driver-Focused Luxury

As you’d expect in a luxury car costing north of $200,000, the Continental GT’s cabin is richly decked out with aromatic leather and fine wood trim covering virtually every horizontal surface. The modern-looking dash sweeps into the doors. New for 2020 is a driver-configurable all-digital instrument panel.

A wide center console houses many of the controls that routinely populate other cars’ dashboards. The driver and front passenger each have their own climate controls there, along with switches for drive modes, seat heating and cooling, and the convertible top. It sounds like a lot, but the layout works well. The Continental’s heated, ventilated, and massaging “comfort seats” are 20-way adjustable, including adjustments for the quilted bolsters. Personalization is what a premium luxury offering is all about, and in addition to 70 possible exterior paint colors and eight convertible top hues, the Continental can be configured with a choice of 15 different interior leather hides, 15 carpet choices, and 12 unique wood veneers. Mulliner Specification adds “diamond within diamond” pattern quilting, embroidered Bentley logos on the seatbacks, an added selection of wood veneer trim, sport-trimmed pedals, and a leather headliner. There are even seven convertible top colors available, including one in natty British tweed.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Infotainment as Theater

The Continental GT’s standard infotainment display is a landscape-format, high-definition 12.3-inch touchscreen. No remote controller is required to access content. The display features a row of good-size touchscreen tiles on the left side and hard shortcut buttons plus analog volume and tuning knobs along the bottom. The screen can display up to three functions in separate windows, such as navigation, audio program, and cellphone, or can open, say, the navigation map to full screen. The navigation display offers 3D graphics, with mountain ranges, bodies of water, and geographic features fully represented.

One cool parlor trick is the optional rotating display. This $6,365 option lets the driver select the 12.3-inch infotainment screen, a trio of classic analog gauges (compass, chronometer, and ambient temperature), or a decorative woodgrain veneer panel that nicely completes the sweep of wood and leather across the dash. Some infotainment content can also be accessed with voice or steering wheel controls. Apple CarPlay cellphone mirroring connectivity is standard but Android Auto is not yet available. Available audio systems include the standard 10-speaker, 650-watt system; an optional 16-speaker, 1,500-watt Bang & Olufsen (with lighted speaker grilles); and a 2,200-watt, 18-speaker Naim with front-seat active bass transducers and eight sound modes for an immersive experience.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Avoiding the Chill

Neckwarmers are built into the front seats of the GT convertible when equipped with the heated comfort seats. Vents in the seatbacks at shoulder height channel warm air to the necks of the driver and front passenger for more comfortable top-down motoring on cool days. These complement the comfort of the Continental’s heated seats, steering wheel, and armrests.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Aft Accommodations

Keep in mind that the Continental GT, whether in coupe or convertible form, is really a 2+2 grand tourer. The rear seats, while highly contoured and equally as luxurious as the front buckets, are suitable only for a pair of children or small adults. The bottom cushions are low to the floor, a necessary concession to achieve a low, sloping roofline. Rear seat legroom is scant but made more bearable if it’s possible to sneak the front seats forward a bit.

The convertible’s trunk can hold up to 8.3 cubic feet of luggage, while the coupe, offering a taller, deeper space unencumbered by the intrusion of the convertible top mechanism, can accommodate 12.6 cubic feet. With either the coupe or convertible, there’s sufficient space for a weekend trip’s baggage. The convertible is good for a pair of airline roller bags as well as smaller computer bags or briefcases, and the coupe able to handle four or five reasonably sized pieces of luggage.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Canvas Choreography

In a bit of choreography that’s hard not to watch, the convertible’s Z-fold top opens, folds, and stows into a compartment between the back seat and the trunk in 19 seconds. Equally entertaining, it also takes just 19 seconds to raise the insulated top — which, when fixed in place, drops the cabin’s sound level by 3 dB at highway speeds.

Either operation can be accomplished on the roll, up to 30 mph. Bentley says the sound levels inside the new Continental with the top raised are equivalent to the levels in the coupe version of the previous-generation model.

Photo by Ron Sessions

One Good Turn Deserves Another

The Continental’s electrically boosted variable-ratio steering provides quick turn-in for performance driving on twisty roads and reassuring stability on center at highway speeds. Around town, added boost provides easy around-town maneuverability.

The GT convertible has standard 21-inch wheels with 22-inchers optional, while the coupe comes with standard 20-inch wheels. Grippy Pirelli P Zero tires are standard. Providing confidence-building stopping power from triple-digit speeds are huge, grand touring-worthy 420mm two-section discs and 10-piston calipers at the front and 380mm discs and four-piston calipers at the rear. An active AWD system varies the powertrain’s front/rear torque split according to driving demands and road conditions.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Grand Touring

On the road, the new Continental GT merges high-performance handling, precise steering, and road manners with ride comfort worthy of a six-figure grand touring car. The body is stiffer and more robust than ever. Even the open-top convertible exhibits no discernable cowl shake over uneven pavement, railroad tracks, speed bumps, or diagonal driveway ramps.

The Continental GT is available with a roll-control system incorporating computer-controlled front and rear anti-roll bars with electric actuators that adjust roll stiffness in real-time. The effect is flatter cornering and reduced body lean without the tradeoff of annoying side-to-side head toss over uneven surfaces. Occupant comfort is also enhanced by an air suspension system that absorbs sudden road impacts. Continuous damping control balances comfort and handling by individually adjusting the damping of each shock absorber in real-time. Driver-selectable driving modes include Comfort and Sport modes as well as Bentley mode (a blend of comfort and sport modality). Each provides different throttle response, shift timing, and damping settings as well as AWD drive torque distribution. In Comfort and Bentley modes, up to 62 percent of drive torque goes to the rear wheels, while as much as 83 percent heads to the aft end in Sport mode.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Driver-Assistive Systems

The Continental GT is available with a wide array of driver-assistive technology, although much of it is packaged in extra-cost option groups.

Available systems include traffic sign recognition, a top-view camera, auto emergency braking with pedestrian protection, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic monitoring, adaptive cruise control, active lane assist, park distance control, and a traffic assist system that helps the car follow preceding traffic in congested cities under 40 mph. An exit warning system alerts interior occupants if a vehicle or cyclist approaching a parked car from the rear would cause a collision if a door was opened. Also, an optional night vision system using an infrared camera can display vehicles, pedestrians, or animals outside the range of the car’s headlamps in the digital gauge cluster between the tachometer and speedometer.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Conclusion

Now in its third generation, the 2020 Bentley Continental GT blends evocative design, all-wheel-drive capability, and 200-mph performance in a stylish package that’s both epic and everyday-drivable.

Many other cars costing a fraction of the Bentley Continental GT have much of the same comfort, convenience, and tech content. But few, if any, do so with its grace and beauty.

Photo by Ron Sessions