Bentley Continental Supersports

The Continental Supersports is the fastest and most powerful Bentley ever. It is the extreme Bentley, a muscular two-seater that delivers supercar performance and a highly focused driving experience.

The Supersports is also the first Bentley capable of running on both petrol and biofuel, pioneering the use of FlexFuel technology in the luxury sector. This represents stage one of the company’s commitment to make its complete model range compatible with renewable fuels by 2012.

Available worldwide from autumn 2009, the Continental Supersports will be FlexFuel compatible in the majority of markets from launch with North American cars offering the capability by summer 2010, following regulatory approval.

The Continental Supersports began as an ‘under the radar’ project exploring the possibilities of weight reduction on the Continental GT but with more power and torque. A largely experimental process crystallised over a period of 24 months into an official new car programme, driven by the passion and enthusiasm of a small group of Bentley engineers and designers.

The results are dramatic. With 621 bhp and new ‘Quickshift’ transmission that halves shift times, the Supersports sets new performance benchmarks for Bentley. It accelerates from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds onto a top speed of 204 mph.

The Continental Supersports is capable of running on either petrol and E85 biofuel or any combination of the two. E85 biofuel can offer a reduction of up to 70 per cent in CO₂ emissions on a ‘well-to-wheel’ basis.  Well-to-wheel is a measurement of a fuel’s net CO₂ contribution to the atmosphere, not just tailpipe emissions. It is a way of quantifying how much CO₂ a fuel emits from its growth or extraction (well) to its combustion or deployment (wheel). It includes refinement, distillation and transport of the fuel.

The fuel supply system detects the blending ratio of the fuel in the tank and ensures that power and torque remain constant regardless of the ratio of petrol to biofuel. The result is seamless power delivery in the Bentley tradition.

The ‘Supersports’ name is inspired by the original two-seater 3-litre Supersports model introduced in 1925, itself an evolution of the 3-litre Speed. The lightweight, 85 bhp Supersports was the first production Bentley to reach 100 mph and was also renowned for the application of Le Mans-winning race technology.