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Watch a Bentley Continental GT Speed hit 206 mph in Australia

The top speed listed on most cars is usually a rather theoretical affair. After all, where can you actually drive a car to its v-max, anyway? Well there are a few highways in the world – and really only a few – that will let you drive as fast as you can. One of them is in the Australian outback, so that's where Bentley took its new Continental GT Speed. The road in question is called the Stuart Highway. It's a 1,761-mile road which runs across the continent from Darwin in the north to Port Augusta in the south. That's about the same distance as driving from New York to Denver. Only unlike any of the highways you'd take to drive across America, the Stuart Highway has one long stretch of 120 miles between Alice Springs and Barrow Creek that is completely derestricted, and has been for the past two years since local authorities set about trying out removing the speed limit. To see how fast the new GT Speed could actually go in the real world, Bentley put Aussie touring car champion John Bowe behind the wheel and let 'er rip. The result is a top speed clocked at 206 miles per hour. That's pretty darn fast for any car, let alone one that weighs a massive 5,000 pounds. Its 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine contributes significantly to that curb weight, but with 626 horsepower and 607 pound-feet of torque on tap, it also has the muscle to keep the Conti pulling like a freight train all the way up past the double-century mark. Watch it unfold in the video above. BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT SPEED: VMAX IN THE OUTBACK - Continental GT Speed hits 206 mph (331 km/h) top speed on Stuart Highway, Australia - Northern Territory route one of only three derestricted roads in the world - Australian racing legend, John Bowe, takes Grand Tourer on extraordinary high-speed run - Continental GT Speed combines supercar performance with supreme luxury (Crewe, 04 November 2015) The 16MY Bentley Continental GT Speed has been taken to its top speed of 206 mph (331 km/h)* by Australian racing legend, John Bowe, on the derestricted Stuart Highway** deep in the Northern territory. The 635 PS (626 bhp), 820 Nm (607 lb.ft) W12-powered GT Speed Grand Tourer reached Vmax in just 76 seconds, covering a distance of 9.4 kilometres in the process. At top speed, the 6.0-litre twin-turbo Grand Tourer was covering a staggering 92 metres (or one football pitch) per second. John Bowe said: "This isn't a modified racecar; it's a luxurious grand touring road car fresh off the production line.

Bentley Continental GT commemorating Pikes Peak win is one green machine

Back in June, the Bentley Continental GT set a production-car record for the Pikes Peak hill climb, and now there's a limited edition to celebrate. Maybe the wait was so the brand's Mulliner division could work up a batch of the car's special green paint, which Bentley calls Radium. The green hue is taken from the hill climb car's livery, and it appears not only on the body, but also on the Pirelli P Zero tires and inside as contrast stitching, floor mat edging, and embroidery of Pikes Peak on the headrests. The not-quite-matching color on the brake calipers is Bentley's Acid Green. Besides Radium, the model also is offered in black. The special edition also features Pikes Peak graphics on the front fenders, a carbon fiber body kit, a black roof panel, black side mirrors, and 22-inch wheels also in black. Buyers can opt for Bentley's "100" grille (honoring the brand's centenary year), as pictured here. Besides the Radium green accents, the interior also comes with carbon fiber and gloss-black trim. A graphic showing one of five different sections of the track appears above the glove box, along with the record time of 10:18.488. Bentley's rotating center display also is included along with comfort-spec front seats and deep pile floor mats. All of the cars will be fitted with the 626-hp W12 engine. Pricing for the Pikes Peak limited edition depends on buyer specification, so there's no official MSRP. Nor is there a specific model name. But Bentley is saying that only 15 cars with this special set of extras will be built, and even without a name, it shouldn't be hard to distinguish them from other Continental GTs.

2021 Bentley Flying Spur Speed spied undisguised, may be PHEV

The 2020 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan was just revealed a few months ago, but its high-performance Speed variant should be launching very soon. One of our spy photographers caught what appears to be a Flying Spur Speed completely undisguised. It follows the pattern of past Speed models in terms of style, but it may be powered by a hybrid powertrain, which would be a first for the Speed line. When it comes to the design, the Flying Spur Speed is quite subtle. The body is pretty much untouched except for the black mesh grilles. All the chrome trim has been changed over to gloss black as well, just as previous Speed models have done. At the back, the car now features quad exhaust tips that exit through the oval outlets in the bumper. The exterior also leads us to believe this is a hybrid. Looking closely at the back, you can see the factory fuel filler door nestled in the top of the right rear fender. Looking over to the left rear fender, you can just make out yet another small filler door ahead of the taillight. This door doesn't appear on the regular Flying Spur, so we believe it's an electric charger port door. The question is, what hybrid powertrain could it be using? It's likely not using the V6 hybrid from the Bentayga, since we've established that this is a Flying Spur Speed, but Bentley doesn't have any other plug-in hybrid powertrains at the moment. It's possible it could use a version of the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid V8 powertrain, which makes 677 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque. That would be more power than the regular Flying Spur's W12, if a bit less torque. And of course Bentley could probably tweak it for a bit more power. Then again, maybe Bentley will adapt some hybrid tech to its W12. Whatever the case may be, this should be a very interesting car. And since this is just a high-performance variant that's clearly pretty far in development, we should see it officially revealed soon. It would make sense for it to be launched for the 2021 model year and shown within a year.