2011 Bentley Continental GT

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Year	2011
Engine	6.0 L W-12 twin turbo
Transmission	6-speed, paddle auto, AWD
Max speed	198 mph
0-60 mph	4.4 seconds
Horsepower	567 hp
weight	-

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Ever since the Bentley Continental GT was first introduced in 2003 it has been one of the most popular sports GT cars on the market. Partly due to the prestigious nameplate, but also because you could take it on long trips and still get out at the end with your spine in one piece. It had a blend of performance and luxury which appealed to those with the money to buy one.

Now the new model has arrived, and it's one of the most comprehensively upgraded versions yet. There's new bodywork, new engine options, and new gadgets for the interior.

Styling
The styling of the 2011 Bentley continental GT has been thoroughly revised. It's still instantly recognizable, but now it has a more sleek, contemporary appearance. There's new sheetmetal all around - especially noticeable at the front, new headlights with LED daytime-running lights, and a new grille.

Aluminium Super Forming technology was used to form the front wings and the boot lid. This technique heats the aluminium panels to nearly 500 degrees Celsius before shaping them with pressurized air. By using a single sheet of aluminum, no seams or welding are required.

This highly advanced body construction technique allows for crisp, highly defined feature lines. The familiar shape, with the powerful rear wheel arches now have even sharper radii to create highly distinct surfaces on the 2011 Bentley Continental GT.

The classic Bentley matrix radiator grille is more upright on the new Continental GT, while the new headlamp design, in traditional four-lamp format, has intricate jewel-like detailing including striking, LED daylight-running lights.

At the rear of the 2011 Bentley Continental GT, the designers have integrated signature 'floating' LED lights which extend around the corners of the wings - emphasizing the coupe's width and purposeful stance. The track is wider by 41mm at the front and 48mm at the rear than the previous model. The bootlid design has a powerful 'double horseshoe' motif, which is similar to that of the new Bentley Mulsanne.

The shape of the 2011 Continental GT coupe's body is also more aerodynamic than its predecessor following extensive wind tunnel testing. In conjunction with a range of extensive underbody refinements the car’s coefficient of drag has been reduced to 0.33Cd, and the lift at the front and rear axles has also been reduced.

The new GT is specified with 20-inch alloy wheels as standard, with, for the first time on the Continental family, the option to upgrade to 21-inch designs. Three styles of wheel are offered - a 20-inch five-spoke version and two 21-inch Elegant and split-rim Sports variations, which come in a variety of chromed and painted finishes.

Drivetrain
The 2011 Bentley Continental is powered by a twin turbocharged 6.0 litre W12 engine which produces 567 horsepower and 700Nm (516 ft-lbs) of torque. However later in 2011 (for the 2012 Continental GT) a high-efficiency 4.0 litre V8 engine will also be offered.

The new 4.0-litre V8 engine will achieve a 40 percent improvement in CO2 emissions - however it won't be some sort of athsmatic, puny unit. The new V8 is being designed specifically by Bentley’s engineers to deliver all the oompf Bentley buyers will be expecting.

The W12 engine option will hussle the 2011 Bentley Continental GT to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, and haul it up to a top speed of 198 mph.

Power is directed to all four wheels though an upgraded six-speed Quickshift transmission, which can execute shifts in just 200 milliseconds.The redesigned gearbox also has the added ability to provide double downshifts (sixth to fourth gear, for example) and improves acceleration across the entire gear range. To cope with the additional power and torque, the planetary gear set of the transmission has also been beefed up.

Interior and Entertainment
The 2011 Bentley Continental GT features an advanced new touchscreen system with rich map imagery and a 30GB on board hard drive.

The 8-inch screen displays the car’s audio system, telephone, ride and comfort settings and the very latest navigation system, which uses both an in-car hard-disc drive and a DVD player to access route data. It also employs dynamic navigation to guide you around areas of heavy traffic, finds destinations using geo-tagged photos from an SD memory card and is Google Maps-compatible (market specific).

The infotainment system, with 7 digit postcode entry, uses a combination of touchscreen controls and classic knurled rotary switches to offer instant usability and crystal-clear feedback. The graphic interface of the screen is engineered in-house to ensure its visuals are completely in keeping with the style of the interior. Look closely and you will see that the knurled switches on the screen are ‘virtual’ echoes of the knurled switches below.

The Continental GT's new infotainment system also provides the ultimate in in-car audio entertainment. An eight-speaker sound system is offered as standard employing the latest Balanced Mode Radiator technology. These unique compact, flat-panel speakers provide exceptional clarity with a very wide frequency range.

An 11-speaker Naim for Bentley system - created exclusively for the Continental GT by British audiophiles Naim - employs revolutionary Dirac Dimensions digital signal processing. This industry-first technology creates a virtual ‘sound field’ independent of speaker layout to deliver concert hall-quality sound reproduction for every occupant wherever they may be sitting.

The GT coupe also benefits from telephone and music player connectivity, digital television (where available) and DVD movie playback. Music can be played and controlled directly from an iPod as well as from a six-disc CD changer, SD card reader or directly from the car’s hard-disc drive, which can store up to 15GB of music.

Darren Day, Senior Designer of the car said of the car's interior: "The new GT coupe interior combines form, practicality and innovation. Our task was to translate the original design sketches for the car’s cabin – which were quite extreme, almost revolutionary for a Bentley – into the final design. The result is a cockpit that moves the Continental GT on to the next generation."

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