Bettering The Best

When technology meets tradition: this third-gen Bentley gets new underpinnings that make it a sharper, faster and even more comfortable and luxurious grand tourer than before

- Devesh Shobha

Zero to 100kph in 3.7 seconds.

Chances are, you may have heard of this figure on numerous occasions before; most likely while reading up on German sportscars and performance models. But, what if we were to tell you this could now be associated with a Bentley? A stock Bentley, that too. Yes, you can now have the finest of handmade British luxury peppered with astounding performance and new-found athleticism, all in one single package – the new Bentley Continental GT.

Before we get into the details of what makes the new Conti GT a fantastic, er, GT, let’s look at what makes it a fantastic Bentley. A car that was born in 2003 and revised in 2011, it had single-handedly saved Bentley from fading into the dark shadows of anonymity with almost 70,000 units sold globally to date. Sure, it’s a success story by luxury car standards, but its makers thought it was time the Continental GT was reimagined, and how. At first, the 2018 model may look a lot like the outgoing one with its long bonnet, flared haunches and a fastback tail, but it’s only once you spend some quality time with it, that you realise just how stunning a job its designers have done with this new model. It’s gorgeous to look at with its mature features, those signature Bentley curves and a derriere so sexy that even J Lo would turn green with envy. In fact, we drove it on British roads for a couple of days and the amount of attention it would get was simply mind-blowing.