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Bentley Continental GT Convertible is here, and it's a stunner

Bentley gave us a completely revamped Continental GT a short time ago, and now we get its airy twin, the Continental GT Convertible. Making its debut right before the L.A. Auto Show begins, the topless Bentley incorporates everything new and good about the redesigned Conti. It'll come with the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine making 626 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, just like the coupe. Acceleration to 60 occurs in a luxuriously quick 3.7 seconds before topping out at 207 mph. It's a convertible, but it sure won't be slowing you down any because of it. Styling for the drop top is elegant but doesn't distance itself much from the coupe beyond the obvious lack of a roof. That's totally fine, because the new Continental GT is stunning either way. Bentley has an option for old-school tweed lovers out there too: a roof made of the stuff. Details on how such a roof is possible haven't yet been spelled out, but we're guessing it isn't made of your traditional (not waterproof) tweed. Whether you choose tweed or some other more normal material for your roof, Bentley says it has better sound proofing to offer a three-decibel reduction of noise compared to its predecessor. It'll open in 19 seconds at speeds up to 30 mph. Like the coupe, the convertible drops a bunch of weight — it's now 20-percent lighter than before and 5-percent stiffer. Technology within the Convertible has advanced a few steps compared to the previous generation. The Convertible offers a rotating display in the center stack, so a driver can choose whether they'd like to see the 12.3-inch touchscreen or uninterrupted wood paneling. Bentley spared no expense on the real wood paneling either. Each car uses over 107 square-feet of the nicest lumber Bentley can get its hands on. A new neckwarmer is apparently warmer and quieter than before, and now it also has heated armrests. A couple different technology packages will be offered at launch. One is called "City," and adds hands-free trunk operation, traffic-sign recognition, city braking systems and a top-view camera. The other is called "Touring" and it tacks on adaptive cruise control, active lane assist, a head-up display, infrared night vision camera and pre-sense braking. Frankly, it feels like many of these options should be standard like they are on a $30,000 Honda Accord. All the other pertinent equipment is virtually identical with the 2019 Continental GT we already drove.

2021 Bentley Bentayga V8 First Drive | Not messing with success

The 2021 Bentley Bentayga V8 marks the first refresh for Bentley’s first and rather successful SUV. The company has sold more than 20,000 of them worldwide since its introduction just a few years ago. As such, Bentley didnÂ’t need to do much to keep it updated, nor did it. The refresh boils down to exterior and interior updates, and after spending some time with the updated Bentayga, it continues to be a brilliantly luxurious machine with impressive capability. The most obvious and significant changes are to the exterior styling, which has hardly been the Bentayga's strong point. There are new round headlights with a cut crystal design like on other recent Bentleys. The grille has been enlarged, and the front bumper has a sportier design with an integrated spoiler. On the side, the fender vent has been lengthened and mounted higher, while the rear now has slim oval taillights and oval exhaust outlets. Those taillights have the same kind of cut crystal design as the headlights. The changes are subtle but effective at sprucing up the Bentayga, but they also donÂ’t make existing Bentaygas look out of date. ItÂ’s a similar situation inside. The biggest changes are in the center of the dashboard. The upper air vents are thin and horizontal instead of circles, and they've been relocated with the dash clock to sit mostly on top of the dash instead of nestled into it. Below them is a larger, 10.9-inch infotainment system that spans the whole width of the center stack and looks better integrated than the old version. The back seats can be configured to have nearly 4 inches more legroom, and thereÂ’s a larger touchscreen remote and available rear air vents for the bench seat configuration. Beyond that, the interior is mostly the same, which is hardly a complaint. This is a Bentley, after all. Essentially every surface is wrapped in soft leather, adorned with rich wood trim or made of weighty knurled metal. And customers have access to a vast variety of colors and combinations to create a genuinely custom cabin. There are a few low-ish points. The infotainment system isnÂ’t the most responsive, and it can be a little tricky to find the menu you want. Also, and this is a bit of a car journalist nitpick, you can spot some bits pilfered from the Audi parts bin: the turn signal and washer stalks, the headlight knob, and the underlying menus and layout of the instrument panel.

Bentley W12 engine production will officially end in April 2024

We knew the Bentley W12 engine had an expiration date before, but it’s going to come up even quicker than expected. Revealed today, Bentley says the last W12 engine it produces will be in April 2024. ThatÂ’s only one year and a couple of months away! Previously, Bentley made it clear that it would only sell PHEVs and EVs by 2026, implying the W12 was done for. It wonÂ’t last long enough to bump into that 2026 limit now that the 2024 production end is set. By the time its end date rolls around, Bentley will have made over 105,000 W12 engines since the 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged unit was introduced for 2003. Each of those engines was hand-built by a team of craftspeople — Bentley says each engine takes approximately 6.5 hours to complete. Which Bentley models are going to be made available with these final W12s, you ask? The real celebration for Bentley is happening with the Batur, a small run of Mulliner coach-built coupes based on the Continental GT. Final validation just wrapped up for the Batur version of the W12, and itÂ’s the most powerful yet at 740 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. Versus the W12 found in other Bentley models, the Batur features reworked intake, exhaust and cooling systems along with a revised engine calibration. Unfortunately, all 18 Baturs (pic below) are already spoken for. If you still want a W12, Bentley says it has limited order slots left for the Continental GT Speed, Bentayga Speed and Flying Spur Speed. Additionally, Bentley will allow you to spec it in either the Continental GT Mulliner or Flying Spur Mulliner. No other new Bentley orders will be W12-compatible between now and production completion. The company warns that there are only a limited number of build slots left, so anyone still on the fence should act quickly if they want the W12.  Over the years, Bentley says the W12 has seen a 37% increase in power, 54% increase in torque and 25% reduction in emissions. The biggest changes came in 2015 when Bentley redesigned the engine “from the sump up” for the launch of the Bentayga SUV. As of today, there are 30 people involved in the engine assembly process. Bentley says it aims to retrain and redeploy all 30 into different positions once W12 production ceases Related video: 2024 Maserati GranTurismo walkaround