2014 Bentley Continental Gt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2018 Bentley Continental Supersports | More exciting than space travel

For the final song on their delightfully buoyant and mordant 1996 album This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, Pacific Northwest indie rock band Modest Mouse penned an even more cynical response to David Bowie's already nihilistic ode to interstellar flight, "Space Oddity" The song imagines the life of a lonely female passenger on a flight to some distant lunar satellite, lost in post-gravitational anomie ("She's the only rocketeer in the whole damn place/They gave her a mirror so she could talk to her face.") Dreading the endless blankness of her voyage as much as the senseless achievement of reaching its destination, the unnamed woman wishes she could just read a dime-store novel and return home. It is titled, poignantly, " Space Travel is Boring." We recently visited the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA's literal launch pad for the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttle. Since there are currently no rockets going up, Space Florida's Shuttle Landing Facility did us the favor and allowed us to use the 3.5-mile-long runway built for the Shuttle — literally, the longest stretch of underutilized, perfectly straight, perfectly paved roadway in the world — for a series of automotive maneuvers. Our vehicle of choice was the $293,300 2018 Bentley Continental Supersports. This was decidedly not boring. The Supersports is an enhanced version of an already extremely potent vehicle. Featuring an upgraded crankshaft, torque converter, and turbochargers for more power and improved power delivery, the Supersports' 6.0-liter W12 engine produces an even 700 horsepower, and 750 lb-ft of torque. That makes this the most powerful and fastest Bentley ever made. Sixty miles per hour is dispatched in 3.4 seconds on the way to a maximum velocity of 209 mph. The largest carbon ceramic brakes of any production car come as standard equipment, as do carbon fiber hood vents, front splitter and rear air diffuser, side trim, and a planed long-board of a rear wing. Handsome 21-inch lightweight forged wheels are also part of the package, though, really, weight savings is almost irrelevant in this vehicle. The Supersports weighs over 2.5 tons, or about as much as one of the tread belt shoes on the diesel/electric crawler used to tug the 70-million-pound Space Shuttle and its boosters out onto Canaveral's runway. We were tugged out onto the runway as well, though in a slightly different fashion.

What the heck is a Poker Run? And why did I do one in W12 Bentleys?

Looking for something more interesting to do with your car-loving friends than just standing around a parking lot on Saturday mornings drinking coffee? How about a poker run? Never heard of one? Neither had I until I received an invitation to drive a variety of W12-powered Bentleys on a “poker run” tour of greater Los Angeles. To be clear, you do not need Bentleys to do this, nor do you need to cycle through a variety of cars. You also donÂ’t really need to know how to play poker, which is good, since my knowledge of the game begins and ends with watching the crew of the Enterprise play it on “Star Trek.” This is what happens. Craft a four-stop route of wherever you may live or visit. Coffee or lunch stop, scenic overlook, tourist spot, friendÂ’s mansion, whatever. In this particular poker run, we would be going from the chic Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica (did I mention we were driving Bentleys?) to the Griffith Observatory by way of Beverly Hills, the Sunset Strip and Hollywood. WeÂ’d then drive across Highway 101 (an interstate-style road at this point in L.A.) to the Topanga Overlook in Woodland Hills, down to the Cross Creek plaza in Malibu, and out through the Santa Monica Mountains to Calamigos Ranch for lunch. You can see the route map here. Was it the most dynamic drive in the world? No, but we saw some stuff. And at each stop, plus at the start, we drew a card from a standard deck. With W12 Bentley branding on them no less. With a fifth and final card drawn at Calamigos, we discarded one to craft the best hand possible. The winner in this case would receive the first press loan of the limited-edition Bentayga Speed Edition 12, but you could make the prize whatever you want. I knew enough about poker (thanks Commander Riker) to know that my hand was probably not going to get it done despite an ace of diamonds and a joker. My other choices were 10 of diamonds, two of hearts and five of clubs. And no, bluffing isnÂ’t allowed even if it could be worked into this. Sure enough, I did not win. It was a fun way to spend the day, though, and an idea IÂ’ll try again sometime with friends. IÂ’m guessing we wonÂ’t be in a colorful collection of Bentleys, though, which is of course the other part of this story. You see, the venerable 12-cylinder Bentley is going away after 2024.

Bentley Bentayga by Mulliner is a one-off special edition with ties to horse racing

Not long ago, we featured the Bentley Bentayga Field Sports by Mulliner, Bentley's even more lavish companion that often adds a special touch to production Bentleys; earlier on, there was even a version aimed at falconers. Here's another one-off Bentayga special edition that looks just as ostentatious, simply called the Bentayga by Mulliner. Bentley says this Mulliner version has been inspired by horse racing, and it's been created to commemorate Bentley's partnership with racetrack operator The Jockey Club at the Cheltenham Festival. It has to be said, the Bentayga looks far better by itself than towing a horse box on the highway. The paintwork is a variation on British Racing Green, on this occasion called Spruce, and the cabin has been finished with a combination of saddle-colored leather on the seats and special tweed on the doors. The veneer is burr walnut, treated to resemble woodwork at The Jockey Club's private rooms, and branded Mulliner. As well as Cheltenham Racecourse, The Jockey Club operates 14 other horse racing venues in the UK, and it was founded all the way back in 1750. The 21" wheels on the Bentayga by Mulliner are the same, partially black ones that were fitted on the Field Sports. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga by Mulliner Image Credit: Bentley Auto News Aftermarket Bentley SUV Luxury bentley bentayga Mulliner