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Bentley Bentayga interior teased in new video

The Bentley Bentayga is growing ever closer to launch, and we already have a pretty good idea of what the production version looks like. Now, Bentley is giving us a surprisingly detailed tour of the super-luxurious crossover's interior in a new video. The clip focuses on some of the plush CUV's tech and does so by actually showing it off in the cabin. We get a good view of the center console that includes a gearshift with the Brit brand's emblem on top, two cupholders and a rotary dial to switch between multiple driving modes. There are also some close-up shots of the Bentayga's instrument cluster with large, round dials for the speedometer and tachometer. Between them is a digital display that's teased here for the night vision system and later for the navigation duties. In front of the driver, a head-up display projects the nav and speed info, as well. For now, this is a pretty good idea of what to expect from the inside of the Bentayga. The crossover will be fully revealed later this year and will go on sale in 2016 with prices for some of them even above the Mulsanne. It'll ride on a platform shared with the latest Audi Q7, but the powertrain lineup will include a W12 at launch. A diesel V8 and plug-in hybrid version will likely join the range later.

Bentley unveils 202-mph Continental GT Speed Convertible

That purple haze all in your eyes is the 2013 Bentley GT Speed Convertible. The cynical view is, "Bah, take a GT Speed and cut the top off. There. Pass the salt, please...". But when you're Bentley, more than 90 years old, and charging these kinds of ducats, there's no reason to take the cynic's shortcut. So of course the GT Speed Convertible gets all of the Speed-family accoutrements: matrix radiator grille hiding a twin-turbocharged, 6.0-liter W12 with 616 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, eight-speed ZF transmission enabling 15 percent better fuel economy, beefier lowered suspension, larger rifled exhaust tips, inlet manifold finished in black crackle and a Mulliner Driving Specification cabin.
Among the many refinements added to the convertible, though, are neck warmers in the seats, the 21-inch wheels unique to this car, class-leading stiffness - admittedly, it's a very small class, but its torsional rigidity of 22,500 Nm/degree is only 500 Nm below that of the Lamborghini Gallardo coupe. The stiffening required to achieve that number will undoubtedly have something to do with the 485-pound weight gain over the GT Speed Coupe.
Still, when the GT Speed Convertible weighs 5,500 pounds, what's a few hundred between friends? More importantly, the weight doesn't scuttle performance: 0-60 comes in 4.1 seconds, a tenth shy of the coupe. The gap stretches as you approach The Ton, the GT Speed Convertible needing just 9.7 seconds to get there, the coupe just nine seconds. Trust us, though, everyone will be too busy blasting along to notice. Everyone will want to pack light, however, because the Speed Convertible loses 3.5 cubic feet of trunk space. It remains the fastest four-seat convertible in the world with a 202-mph top speed.

2015 Bentley Continental GT3-R First Drive [w/video]

Racecars break. F1, NASCAR, IndyCar, GT3 – you name it – every go-fast machine built for the track is living on borrowed time. So it wasn't a complete surprise when, after traveling halfway around the world to drive Bentley's Continental GT3 racecar, the darn thing unceremoniously blew its rear differential on someone else's hot lap. While mentally recalibrating to the idea that my only takeaway from the three day commitment might be frequent flier miles, I realized an alternate vehicle on hand could make the trip worthwhile: the roadgoing, not-so-evil twin to the all-out race machine, the 2015 Bentley Continental GT3-R. You can hardly blame Bentley for the failure to proceed. The Flying B has been performing swimmingly well in the Blancpain Endurance Series, scoring three wins in its debut season and racking up a respectable 2015 so far. The dropped, spoilered, and severely trimmed-down GT3 racer reflects a ruthless abandon of all things luxurious and civilized. Over 50 ECUs were ditched from the road car; the doors alone, which typically weigh a lofty 125 pounds apiece, have been trimmed down to a wispy 15. Yes, the race version is a fearsome, sexy beast – and yes, this was quickly proving irrelevant because that drive was simply not meant to be.The Next Best Thing It's hard to call a $339,725 exotic a consolation prize. Climbing into the roadgoing GT3-R reveals a dramatic departure from the standard issue Conti: Not only is the color scheme unexpected (acid green on black and grey), so is the choice of materials (carbon fiber, Alcantara, not an inch of wood veneer in sight). Some pesky legacy remnants remain (antiquated navigation system, some weirdly pedestrian VW-sourced buttons and switches), but there's also a smattering of sweet details (those famous organ stop air vents, the green center indicator on the steering wheel, the pleasantly gripped Alcantara shifter). In all, 300 examples are being built, 99 of which are destined for the US. Unlike the somewhat sonorous GT V8 S upon which it's based, the GT3-R's titanium exhaust enables an even more exuberant, unapologetic, voluminous roar. Those exhaust gases are summoned from the 592-horsepower, 553-pound-foot, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, which gains 71 hp and 51 lb-ft over the V8 S model it's based on.