The 2009 Bentley Continental Supersports

Up until a couple of years ago few people would have associated Bentley with performance cars. For years they had been a company that produced luxury cars that were almost identical to those produced by their sister company at Rolls Royce. The result was a company that was struggling to make sales and in real trouble. However with the Continental Supersports they have shown that they are capable of building cars that combine both performance and luxury and carved out a new segment of the market for themselves.

It would be fair to say that the Continental Supersports saved the company. Up until its introduction the company was simply producing slightly cheaper versions of the Rolls Royce. However the Supersport changed this by building a car that was focused on both luxury and performance. The result is a car that is very impressive in both respects and that has led to a huge increase in sales for the company.

The thing that really stands out about the Bentley Continental Supersports is the engine. It is a six liter W12 that produces more than six hundred horse power. A W12 is an engine that has four banks of three cylinders rather than the two banks of six you would get in a V12. The advantage that a W12 offers is that it allows the designers more flexibility in how they distribute the weight of the car. The engine is attached to a six speed automatic transmission that also has a semi automatic mode. This is fairly common in top end sports and touring cars so in this regard it is nothing new. However the combination of the engine and transmission has resulted in the fastest car that the company has ever produced, capable of speeds of more than two hundred miles per hour.

The other area where Bentley have really made improvements are when it comes to handling. By no means does the car handle like top of the line sports car but it does handle very well for a luxury car. In general luxury cars don't handle all that well because of the need to have a soft suspension to keep the ride smooth. To a certain extent that is the case here. However the adjustable suspension does help in that regard. As does the effort to make the chassis stiffer which does really help with performance.

When all is said and done despite its high level of performance a Bentley is luxury car and this is what it will be judged on. In this respect it is very successful with all of the luxury and refinement that you would expect to find on a car that is the little brother of a Rolls Royce. However the new car has clearly shown that Bentley are capable of going their own way and building cars that are not just copies of those made by Rolls Royce.