Base 2dr Convertible
2012 Bentley Continental Supersports

Soaring Over New England In The World's Fastest Four-Place Drop-Top They were imaginary, nothing more than fabrications conjured to stimulate dreams. Highly decorated and embroidered with bright colors and tassels, the enchanting tapestries appeared everywhere in Arabian fairy tales. The capacity to hover effortlessly a few feet off the ground, or move comfortably and seamless between great distances at high speed, was all make-believe – items in a well-told fable. But the magic flying carpet really does exist. We recently traveled to New England to spend a weekend with the 2012 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible. At first glance, the range-topping droptop appears to be yet another Continental GTC. But looks can be very deceiving. The Supersports has been meticulously engineered to showcase the automaker's performance capabilities, yet it never forgets its Bentley DNA. The result is not only one of the most powerful cars on the road, but one of the most comfortable too. It is, for all practical purposes, a magic flying carpet. The standard Bentley Continental GTC, a convertible version of the popular two-door GT, is an amazing piece of machinery. In its most powerful iteration, it is fitted with a twin-turbocharged W12 generating 567 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. With a six-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive, there is enough motivation to move the 5,501-pound convertible to 60 miles per hour in about 4.5 seconds before it tops out at 198 mph. Plenty fast, but the $212,000 standard GTC has been engineered primarily to coddle. For affluent customers seeking the most capable droptop Bentley, and a factory-fresh way to differentiate themselves from their status-conscience celebrity neighbors, Bentley has created the Supersports Convertible. In a nutshell, the Supersports is what happens to a GTC after an extensive spa treatment at a racing shop. The Supersports is what happens to a GTC after an extensive spa treatment at a racing shop. First, some of the mass is addressed by fitting the Supersports with lightweight carbon fiber sport front seats (saving approximately 100 pounds). The already massive iron brakes are upgraded to standard carbon-ceramic rotors with four-piston monobloc calipers up front and single-piston sliding calipers in the rear (saving 44 pounds of rotating mass), and unique 20-spoke aluminum alloy wheels wrapped in 275/35ZR20 rubber are bolted on each hub (saving 22 pounds). The new curb weight is a slightly more palatable 5,280 pounds. Next, the Supersports receives a few mechanical and cosmetic tweaks. The Continuous Damping Control (CDC) air suspension system is retuned with stiffer bushings and the rear anti-roll bar is thicker. The steering response is also tweaked to provide better turn-in and control. The rear track is widened by about two inches and the car is dropped about half an inch (the rear quarter panels are flared slightly to accommodate the more aggressive new stance). The bright exterior trim is toned down to a 'smoked steel' finish, and there are larger twin elliptical exhaust tailpipes, a resculpted rear valance and a fixed spoiler on the decklid. Up …
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