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Bentley seasons the Continental GT and Bentayga with carbon fiber pack

Because Bentley is Bentley, and nothing it offers is "regular," it has a different name for select features available on its vehicles. Rather than calling these options or packages, they are called "specifications." One of the specifications available on the Continental GT, Continental GT Convertible and the Bentayga is called the Styling Specification, and it brings gloss carbon fiber elements to these cars' exteriors.  Both the Bentayga and the Continental GT have numerous Specifications available for extra purchase. The Bentayga is available with a Blackline Specification, All Terrain Specification, City Specification, Event Specification, Smoker's Specification, Sunshine Specification and the Touring Specification. In addition to the Smoker's, City and Touring Specs, the Continental GT also offers the Diamond Knurling Specification, Mood Lighting Specification and Front Seat Comfort Specification. The Styling Specification, though developed to align with the vehicles' aerodynamics, are intended to create a visual impact, as the name suggests. This package uses high-gloss carbon fiber to shape a front bumper splitter, side skirts with metallic Bentley badges, a rear diffuser and the trunk spoiler. The Bentayga is slightly different from the Continental GT package, as it also features a bi-plane tailgate spoiler and rear screen strakes. Further options include carbon fiber front air blades, wing vents and mirror caps. The carbon fiber in the Styling Specification uses a 2x2 twill pattern with matching directional weave across every part. It is also hand-crafted in a way that the carbon fiber is mirrored at the center of the vehicle to create a balanced look that will please perfectionist minds. Bentley says the Bentley badges on the side skirts were created through 3D electroforming, which could generally be described as a more precise version of 3D printing. The badges were specifically designed to "minimize the risk of air bubbles forming in the lacquer overcoat" while introducing a textured look. The Styling Specification can be ordered for a new car or retrofitted on an old car. It will also soon be available on the Bentley Mulsanne. Related Video:

Bentley planning new Le Mans prototype for LMP2 class

Word has it that Bentley is planning a new Le Mans prototype racer. Speaking with Bentley chief Wolfgang Durheimer, Autocar reports that a new LMP2 project is underway at Crewe. The program would be run in-house instead of outsourced to a partner racing team. But while the prototype would likely use the company's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, the chassis by necessity would have to be outsourced: the three major sanctioning bodies recently got together to approve Dallara, Oreca, Riley-Multimatic, and Onroak exclusively to supply LMP2 chassis, so Bentley would have to base its design around one of theirs. The British automaker might have a number of reasons for restricting itself to the LMP2 class. Chief among them is likely the presence of both Porsche and Audi in the top-tier LMP1 category, and parent company Volkswagen's likely reluctance to send another one of its brands into the same fight. Another is budget: developing and fielding a competitive LMP1 program can be as costly as running an F1 team, whereas the prospect of sourcing and adapting an LMP2 chassis from an approved supplier would cost Bentley far less. But another factor not to be discounted is that Bentley may be choosing its battles carefully. Where the LMP1 prototypes are constricted largely to Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship of which it is part, there are several series that top out at LMP2 – most notable the IMSA SportsCar Championship where Bentley is tipped to focus first, but also in the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. In fact [SPOILER ALERT] an LMP2 entry just won the 24 Hours of Daytona for the first time, beating out the Daytona Prototypes against which they compete. Those are bragging rights that Bentley could be keen to capture, and if it plays its cards right, it could sit out the LMP2 class at Le Mans and in the WEC altogether, rather than compete for second-tier victory behind its big brothers in LMP1. That would make this program radically different from the last time Bentley built a Le Mans prototype. In the early 2000s, Bentley fielded successive versions of the Speed 8 (pictured above) with a little help from Audi, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in 2003. The company then shut down the program, only to return to racing with the Continental GT3, developed with longtime Ford rally partner M-Sport and offered to privateer teams.

Cheap shots in the 'cheap' Bentley: What can you get away with in a Flying Spur V8?

You know the feeling when you think you've finished something brilliant, then you sit down and take a look at it with fresh eyes and realize that, not only is it crap, but it was never really a good idea in the first place? That was me, a couple of weeks ago, as I was looking through the footage I shot while driving the 2021 Bentley Flying Spur V8. Yes, after seeing reactions to the car on social media, I actually thought it would be funny to do a tongue-in-cheek bit where I suggested that Bentley provide owners with a feature designed to help keep "poor" people away. It was a half-baked idea, conceived to be lighthearted and in a vague nod to British humor. The point was not to make fun of anybody's financial situation (except my own, in a round-about self-deprecating way), but the product turned out a bit, well, cringe-inducing. Out of selfish desire not to lose the work that went into it (or another opportunity to talk about this gorgeous car), I decided to repurpose it with some help from "Dr." Byron. As you can see, he's doing house calls now.  I've been reviewing cars for more than a decade now, and even with that much time under my belt, I can still count on my hands the number of truly remarkable cars I've had the chance to drive. This Flying Spur stands out as the most expensive, the most exclusive, and, well, pretty much just the most car I've ever experienced. As I alluded to in my initial write-up, this is the kind of car that causes somebody like me — a person of comfortably modest means — to rethink even the most fundamental aspects of an otherwise conventional road trip.  Over the years, I've had people compliment, degrade and otherwise question my life choices based on cars I barely put 100 miles on. It's part of the gig. I was once rather directly approached and asked for money while gassing up a 2012 Porsche Cayman; no "hello," no preamble, no sugar-coating. Just, "Can I have some money?" So no, that tweet didn't actually make me self-conscious about cruising around in such a valuable and exclusive automobile, but the mere act of driving it did, and the discomfort was even further juiced by my knowledge that what I was driving wasn't even the "expensive" Flying Spur. I found myself wanting to tell people, "Look, you really shouldn't be that impressed. This is the cheap one." The question follows thusly: What is a cheap Bentley, and why does it need to exist?