Derek Bell runs the Bentley Continental Supersports at Goodwood [w/VIDEO]
Bentley Continental Supersports - click above for high-res image gallery
At the Geneva Motor Show in March, Bentley unveiled its fastest most powerful road car in its 90 year history in the form of the Continental Supersports. Besides significantly reducing the weight of the existing Continental GT, the Supersports marked the first step of Bentley's move reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, in this case through the use of ethanol as a fuel for the 6.0-liter twelve-cylinder engine.
The Supersports is the first flex-fuel vehicle from the British luxury marque. At this month's Goodwood Festival of Speed, Bentley asked repeat Le Mans winner Derek Bell to spend the weekend ferrying lucky passengers up the hillclimb course in a prototype at elevated speeds. While we couldn't be there to experience the ride for ourselves, Bentley has just released the next best thing – a gallery of high-res images and a video that you can check out after the jump.
[Source: Bentley]
PRESS RELEASE:
Watch the Bentley Continental Supersports fly with Derek Bell
15 July, 2009 (Crewe, 15 July 2009) The Bentley Continental Supersports, the fastest and most powerful car in the company's 90-year history, received the ultimate examination of its supercar handling and performance credentials when Le Mans racing legend and honorary 'Bentley Boy' Derek Bell spent the weekend driving the 621bhp Bentley at pace during the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The muscular two-seater, which delivers a 0-60mph sprint time of just 3.7 seconds and a maximum top speed of 204mph, produced a series of searing runs up the Goodwood Hill with Bell regularly pushing the car well-over the 100mph mark on a highly challenging course renowned for its narrow road and succession of tight corners and bends.
Designed and built at Bentley's Crewe headquarters, the Continental Supersports combines extreme performance with the pioneering use of FlexFuel technology in the luxury sector. The 6-litre W12 twin-turbocharged engine is capable of running on either petrol, E85 biofuel or any combination of these fuel sources.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aloysius Vampa 3:04PM (7/15/2009)
It's that road-hugging weight.
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Mike 4:16PM (7/15/2009)
Ha ha, road hugging indeed.
Is it an illusion or is that body roll really that bad?
Mike7 3:06PM (7/15/2009)
The original press and car show photos weren't flattering, but out in it's natural habitat (or at least what should be) I actually like it. It's not as pretentious as the regular car, a little more raw looking like an old W.O. Bentley.
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mapoftazifosho 3:12PM (7/15/2009)
Gloves and then no gloves...
We were watching two different runs...
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Torrent 3:14PM (7/15/2009)
That just gave me some good wood.
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FThorn 3:31PM (7/15/2009)
How many acres of straw (hay?) does it take to line that track? Must be gubmint subsidized.
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Franz 3:46PM (7/15/2009)
I have to admit I do love this car.
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Epyx 3:57PM (7/15/2009)
Derek Bell - I thought he played baseball? J/K Good old operation shut down. LOL
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Jason 3:58PM (7/15/2009)
It doesn't seem like physics should rightly allow anything that size to move that quickly in anything other than a straight line. Well done Bentley. Well done.
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TigerMil 4:02PM (7/15/2009)
Spilled my grey Poupon all over my knickers....dang.
This thing heels over like the Queen Mary!
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Other Man 4:04PM (7/15/2009)
Excellent sound.
This is more like what Bentley should be doing. This car brings them close to their roots, what Bentleys used to be.
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catchmyshadow 4:51PM (7/15/2009)
nice car, nice acceleration, nice sound!
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Colin 9:25AM (7/16/2009)
Needs more negative camber.
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Venom 8:35PM (7/15/2009)
This car seems kind of pointless to me.
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evan 11:31PM (7/15/2009)
I think any car that heavy is entitled to a little roll when diving into a fairly tight apex at 70 or 80 mph. Man, do I love these things.
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innoc3nt 3:29PM (7/18/2009)
Very impressive. I wonder if it could run with an M3 on a track.
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