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2018 Bentley Continental Supersports | More exciting than space travel

For the final song on their delightfully buoyant and mordant 1996 album This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, Pacific Northwest indie rock band Modest Mouse penned an even more cynical response to David Bowie's already nihilistic ode to interstellar flight, "Space Oddity" The song imagines the life of a lonely female passenger on a flight to some distant lunar satellite, lost in post-gravitational anomie ("She's the only rocketeer in the whole damn place/They gave her a mirror so she could talk to her face.") Dreading the endless blankness of her voyage as much as the senseless achievement of reaching its destination, the unnamed woman wishes she could just read a dime-store novel and return home. It is titled, poignantly, " Space Travel is Boring." We recently visited the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA's literal launch pad for the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttle. Since there are currently no rockets going up, Space Florida's Shuttle Landing Facility did us the favor and allowed us to use the 3.5-mile-long runway built for the Shuttle — literally, the longest stretch of underutilized, perfectly straight, perfectly paved roadway in the world — for a series of automotive maneuvers. Our vehicle of choice was the $293,300 2018 Bentley Continental Supersports. This was decidedly not boring. The Supersports is an enhanced version of an already extremely potent vehicle. Featuring an upgraded crankshaft, torque converter, and turbochargers for more power and improved power delivery, the Supersports' 6.0-liter W12 engine produces an even 700 horsepower, and 750 lb-ft of torque. That makes this the most powerful and fastest Bentley ever made. Sixty miles per hour is dispatched in 3.4 seconds on the way to a maximum velocity of 209 mph. The largest carbon ceramic brakes of any production car come as standard equipment, as do carbon fiber hood vents, front splitter and rear air diffuser, side trim, and a planed long-board of a rear wing. Handsome 21-inch lightweight forged wheels are also part of the package, though, really, weight savings is almost irrelevant in this vehicle. The Supersports weighs over 2.5 tons, or about as much as one of the tread belt shoes on the diesel/electric crawler used to tug the 70-million-pound Space Shuttle and its boosters out onto Canaveral's runway. We were tugged out onto the runway as well, though in a slightly different fashion.

Ares Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne is the grand tourer we dream about

Bentley exited the grand coupe business when it made the last of 550 Brooklands models in 2011. The UK carmaker said it will make 19 examples of the Mulsanne Grand Convertible, but that doesn't count as a coupe. So when a U.S. Mulsanne owner wanted his Bentley with a roof but a touch less four-door-y, he went to Italian coachbuilders Ares Design. And not only did Ares do the thing, they did it magnificently. The resulting two-door is called the Ares Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne, and the first of them was just handed over in Beverly Hills in time for a Pebble Beach appearance. Modena-based Ares started with a three-dimensional scan of the sedan, then reworked that CAD file into the coupe they sought by changing just about everything behind the A-pillars. A reprofiled roof replaces the old one, and it falls into a new backlight and longer rear decklid. The engineers moved the B-pillars rearward to install longer front doors, and fabricated new side impact protection for the portals and rear quarter panels. New chrome surrounds on the windows maintain the look as if from Crewe. Yet because the roof and doors are made from carbon fiber, they contribute to the coupe's 992-pound overall weight loss compared to the donor four-door. Inside, Ares replaced the front seats with more rakish thrones, redesigned the interior trim panels to flow with the body style, and matched the wood and leather as if all were factory original. Under the unchanged hood, a tuned ECU means the 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 produces more than 591 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, both healthy improvements on the stock 505 hp and 752 lb-ft. Completing the transformation, the coupe sits 20 millimeters lower on "a sportier suspension." One report said that a friend of the California owner likes the car so much that a second two-door has already been commissioned. Ares charges $460,000 for the service, to start, and it takes about six weeks. And no, that price doesn't include the donor Bentley. However, that's a lot less than Bentley would charge to make the swap, since the carmaker won't make the actual car. The Italian firm said it wants to keep volumes "ultra-low," yet, "As long as [Bentley] don't make one, we will continue." Although we haven't spoken much of Ares here outside of their Tesla Model S wagon, the firm led by ex- Lotus boss Dany Bahar has kept busy in its four years of operation.

Bentley Bentayga has been refreshed for 2021, and you can win one here

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. Is that tax return or stimulus check burning a hole in your pocket? Why not spend some of it on a cause that could help both you and the Make-A-Wish Foundation? That's exactly what would happen if you entered this sweepstakes on Omaze. It’s a 2021 Bentley Bentayga V8 plus $20,000 cash, a prize worth nearly a quarter-million dollars, and there's no purchase necessary to win. The 2021 Bentayga features a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that makes 542 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque. That kind of power will propel you and up to four other passengers to a top speed of 180 miles per hour. If you so choose, you can tow up to 7,700 pounds, though we seriously doubt youÂ’ll see any of these at the boat ramp on Saturday morning.  Win a 2021 Bentley Bentayga V8 and $20,000 - Enter at Omaze The exterior obviously stands out, but with most luxury SUVs, the interior is just as important, if not more so. HereÂ’s what we had to say about the inside of the 2021 model, which was the first major refresh since the Bentayga was introduced in 2016: “Of course, the interior is arguably the most important part of a Bentley. The center stack gets a new look; Bentley has provided a new steering wheel, new door trims and completely new seats. ItÂ’s built around new tech, as Bentley has integrated its 10.9-inch touchscreen infotainment display in the center stack directly below the new air vent design and clock, fully spanning the width of the area now. This system adds wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Bentley has updated the carÂ’s USB ports to USB-C outlets. Bentley has also adopted the fully digital instrument cluster from the Continental GT and Flying Spur, which allows you to customize the screen to a number of different views. Even the rear seat passengers are getting an upgrade, as Bentley has added a larger rear seat touchscreen control tablet thatÂ’s faster than before. “There are some new convenience features added for the refresh, too. For example, the windshield washer jets are now integrated into the wipers and feature 22 heated washer jets in each arm. ItÂ’ll continue to be offered in four-, five- and seven-seat configurations.