2025 Bentley Continental GT Speed Is Mega Fast (2024)

The Parcmotor Castellolí race circuit, 45 minutes outside of Barcelona, isn't the first place we'd choose for a meet and greet with the next generation of Bentley's signature two-door grand-touring car, the 2025 Continental GT. The 2.6-mile circuit's 11 turns are drizzled across the mountainous terrain like caramel sauce on a couple scoops of Häagen-Dazs. And the Bentley is an estimated 5500-pound brute of a luxury coupe powered by a 771-hp plug-in-hybrid V-8, the first-ever electrified powertrain for a Conti GT. This is not exactly the kind of lithe, lightweight track weapon you'd envision clipping apexes at a place like this—or on any race circuit, for that matter.

We're here, Bentley says, because the several GTs on offer for a handful of familiarization laps are pre-production models, camouflaged to hide their styling details and not drivable on public roads. The camo will be peeled off in about a month when all is revealed at the car's official introduction. Squint at the skin-tight body wrap, though, and you can still make out the GT's basic lines and its family resemblance to the three previous generations.

What's more important, though, is what's hidden under the swirly stick-on cloak: the GT's new plug-in-hybrid propulsion unit, the first V-8 hybrid in the Bentley lineup—the Bentayga SUV and Flying Spur sedan plug-ins use boosted V-6s—and the first plug-in-hybrid powertrain in a GT. The new plug-in (PHEV) system replaces both the long-lived twin-turbo 6.0-liter W-12 engine that has delivered massive, velvety thrust since the GT began rolling into the garages of 1 percenters back in late 2003 and the nonhybrid twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 added to the GT family starting in 2012. Of the two engines, the 12-cylinder was always most closely identified with the GT, as its big horsepower and smooth, sophisticated manner best fit with the Bentley mystique. (That's us wiping away the tears as the 12-cylinder ascends to the big parking garage in the sky.)

The Conti's new electrified twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 powertrain comes courtesy of corporate cousin Porsche. The V-8 is virtually identical to the one used in the Cayenne Coupe Turbo E-Hybrid and Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid, right down to its turbo sizing. Here it's tuned to belt out 591 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The GT's electric motor—also identical to the Porsches'—is shoehorned between the engine and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and here supplies 188 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of push. Total system output is 771 horsepower and 738 pound-feet, increases of 121 horses and 74 pound-feet over the outgoing, nonhybrid 12-cylinder. The 21.8-kWh battery located in the rear of the floorpan is shared with the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, the upcoming top-shelf model.

All of that go power flows to the car's standard all-wheel-drive system, which incorporates an electronic limited-slip rear differential, brake-based front- and rear-axle torque vectoring, and a center differential capable of sending up to 100 percent of the power to the rear wheels. While Bentley has chosen to keep mum about the GT's styling, interior, and tech until the full reveal, it did open up about other components underpinning the new model beyond the hybrid system.

The GT's chassis is a mashup of the outgoing car's and new pieces required to house the hybrid hardware and rear-mounted battery. The 400-volt electrical architecture that makes it possible is all-new. The 2025 GT also gets new high-tech dual-valve adaptive dampers, which are said to provide a wider range of soft-to-stiff control and should enable both a plusher ride in Comfort mode and a tighter rein on body motions in the most aggressive Sport mode. Carried over from the third-generation GT—Bentley calls the new one the fourth gen—are the 112.2-inch wheelbase, basic suspension design, air springs, 48-volt active anti-roll bars, rear-wheel steering, standard iron brakes (16.5 inches in front, 15.0 inches in the rear, with slightly larger carbon-ceramic rotors optional), and summer tires: Bentley-spec Pirelli P Zero PZ4 275/35ZR-22 fronts and 315/30ZR-22 rears.

While the PHEV components come from Porsche, the Bentley engineers on hand emphasized that the tuning and calibration of the propulsion system is all theirs, aimed at keeping the car a sweet-driving, ultra-comfortable, long-distance cruiser—or more accurately, a cruise missile. Claimed top speed is unchanged at 208 mph, but Bentley says that the 60-mph time has been cut from 3.5 to 3.1 seconds, with 100 mph arriving in about seven seconds. We suspect that those numbers are conservative, so the hybridized GT stands a good chance of lunging to 60 mph in less than three seconds in our testing. Those are serious legs considering that Bentley says the PHEV hardware has added roughly 440 pounds to the sumo-class GT, bringing the big coupe to roughly 5500 pounds—just a couple of bags of lawn fertilizer short of what a Ford F-150 crew-cab pickup weighs.

Our brief time behind the wheel on the hilly Castellolí circuit was in the Continental GT Speed, traditionally the sportiest model in the line and the version that Bentley will offer at launch. Other trims will come later. Our stint was limited to just four laps—in the rain, no less, which turned out to be a positive as it allowed us to explore the nuances of the Conti's drive modes and its handling at the limit as we slithered around on the soaked pavement.

The GT's all-wheel drive and sticky Pirelli rubber enabled it to use its massive power to full effect as soon as it was pointed straight. It charges ahead from any speed, accelerating like a roller-coaster car plunging down a near-vertical drop—as you'd expect from a vehicle with 771 horses. At wide-open throttle and with a full battery the V-8 and electric motor are pulling together, with the gas engine exhaling a baritone rumble muffled just enough to sound rich rather than obnoxious.

If the Speed's speed wasn't a surprise, what was wholly unexpected was its athleticism. This elephant can tango. On the slimy track it seemed to shed a literal ton of weight, changing direction like a much smaller, lighter sports coupe—regardless of driving mode. It steered with nearly Porsche-like precision, bending cleanly and progressively into corners without so much of a wayward feint or dart. In Sport mode the Bentley deftly sent additional power to the rear wheels when the fronts started to lose grip and slid across the apexes, enabling us to dance the rear tires into delicate, easily balanced slides requiring barely any counter-steering to control. Stability control stayed in the background and stepped in only once, when the car jinked sideways abruptly over a sharp dip in the middle of a corner when we pushed too hard. It's not likely that any Bentley owners will lean on their GTs this aggressively, but it bodes well for how engaging the Conti will be on entertaining two-lane roads.

The GT's behavior in the city will only become clear once we drive it in the world of slow speeds and traffic. Its ride on the smooth track was supple without being floaty, but how it fares on rough pavement is an unknown. For now, we know that, in either the Comfort or "Bentley" mode—the one the engineers say provides the best all-around driving experience—with ample reserve in the battery, the GT moves off from rest under electric power. It'll stay there gaining speed steadily until the throttle is pushed past the 75 percent mark, at which point the gas engine kicks on with a harrumph and a thump that seem out of character with the otherwise buttery nature of the GT. There's plenty of torque—the aforementioned 332 pound-feet—to move the hefty coupe along at city speeds and all the way up to 99 mph. We expect the GT will be able to drive on electricity alone for about 25 miles. EPA estimates of fuel economy and MPGe are not available yet.

This first impression of the fourth-generation Continental GT Speed is that it will, like its predecessors, remain true to the grand-touring spirit of fast, sumptuously comfortable, long-distance touring cars for which it is named. It'll also be plenty fun to hustle down a twisty road. But it could do all that before it was a hybrid. Bentley admits that its reason for grafting PHEV technology into the GT isn't a response to customer demands or a quest for even greater performance as much as it is a desire to protect the GT's sporty but refined persona.

Thanks to electric drive, the greenhouse gases the Conti GT emits—particularly during governmental emissions test cycles—are drastically reduced. "Given tightening future emissions standards," said Markus Thiel, director of research and development, vehicle motion, "this future-proofs the engine through 2030." With the world turning more and more toward performance EVs, it's good to know that this gentle giant of a grand-touring machine—and its burbling V-8 gasoline engine—will be in our world a little while longer.