If you own a modern Bentley and are sad that it doesn’t have any (or enough) carbon fiber, then you could be in luck. The posh brand has announced a new Carbon Fiber Styling Specification for the latest generation of Continental GT and GT Convertible. The important bit for existing owners is that the new parts can be retrofitted by a Bentley dealer.
According to Bentley, the new spec is a result of customer feedback and growing demand for personalization from its GT customers. The carbon fiber package debuted at Goodwood earlier in the year on an Orange Flame painted Continental GT Speed.
The Carbon Fiber Styling Specification, which would be a Carbon Fiber Package on any lesser vehicle, is made of: a carbon fiber front bumper splitter, a new diffuser, full-length side sills with metallic electroformed Bentley badges, and mirror caps. It comes with a gloss finish over the multiple layer material. For those getting ready to specify their new Bentley, the carbon fiber kit is available as a cost option through Mulliner for all Bentley models now. The retrofit to older rides, though, is limited to the Continental GT.
So people know this isn’t some cheap aftermarket carbon fiber kit, the badges on the full-length sills are engineered using a bespoke electroforming process to create “a jewel-like, faceted surface that catches the light and adds authentic visual detail.”
Every angle of the gorgeous new Bentley Conti GT Supersports you simply have to see.
According to Bentley, the previous Styling Specification was ordered on every one in four Bentley models. How much weight it actually saves is debatable, but it’s a slick look to add to a Bentley alongside other recent options like the titanium Akrapovič Exhaust or with the dark and brooding Blackline Specification.
The carbon fiber upgrades are, in reality, an aesthetic choice. The Continental GT is now a hybrid, meaning it carries some extra weight from the battery pack on an already heavy car. However, the 4.0-liter V8 Plug-In Hybrid system is brutally powerful in the GT Speed version we tested this year, and with numbers exceeding the previous V12 powerplant. In Speed trim, it makes 771 horsepower with 738 pound-feet of torque, while the base power is “only” 542 hp with 568 pound-feet.
Even these new “slow” models still get a V8.
It’s a big boy with a large footprint, but its hefty 4,773-pound curb weight is still lower than it should be. But, if you want a lightweight version with rear-wheel-drive and no hybrid help, Bentley recently debuted the Supersports as a 500-unit special edition. The Supersports was a version of Bentley’s 3 Litre performance car from the 1920s that won the 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as being the automaker’s first car to hit 100 mph.
The tribute Super Sports is based on the Continental GT, but Bentley says the stripped-down car weighs 1,000 pounds less than standard. It makes 657 hp and 590 lb-ft from just the twin-turbo V8. It will hit 62 mph in 3.7 seconds, but not quite get to 200 mph. Considering the original Supersports was the first Bentley to hit 100 mph, it seems like a missed opportunity for the new one to not be able to hit 200 mph.
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