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Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible review – 2.5 tonnes of feel-good factor

Amazing new V8 that will pootle the Bentley around town just as convincingly as it will roar around a track or over an alpine pass.
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19 May 2014

Bentley_Continental_GT_V8_S_convertible_review
It’s the most relaxed convertible we’ve driven – the ultimate success trophy

Business Car Manager Verdict

The Bentley is an unabashed trophy, particularly in convertible form.

It is also possesses lots of feel-good. It sits four-square and looks right from every angle, even with its otherwise enormous 21 inch wheels.

It’s a beautiful place to be and the attention to detail is reassuring, whether it’s the excellent sat nav or the right foot rest, which is brilliant once you settle into the adaptive cruise control on a longer journey.

This is the most relaxed convertible-with-the-roof-down-on-the-motorway that this reviewer has driven. Indeed, the fact that you can still hear the radio without straining the ear says it all.

Bentley_Continental_GT_V8_S_convertible_review
A beautiful place to be with impeccable attention to detail

The new V8 engine is a gem, especially mated to the eight-speed auto gear box. If you whisper around you simply get a bass-accented warble from the sports exhaust, but not so much that you wake the street.

Hold the car in gear using the paddle shift, through a tunnel or against a stone wall, you unleash a devastating sound track.

The ride quality is also very good even in full sports mode, unfeasibly so given the very low profile tyres and huge wheels and kerb weight.

There is a sense of occasion, as there must be at this price. You’ll know if the brand is a fit, now that it has that Premier League feel to it.

On the deficit side of the balance sheet, does it really need to be 2.5 tonnes?

That single stat betrays not only a very heavy car, but a very large car (smaller yet heavier than the Wraith, incidentally. The 7ft 3in width, including mirrors, renders the car an elephant on numerous British roads, let alone smaller lanes, where you don’t want to venture. While that is part and parcel a Bentley, it still seems unnecessarily biased towards the US market place.

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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