Bentley Continental GTC - super luxury convertible for Vietnamese tycoons

The British luxury sports convertible uses a 6.0 W12 twin-turbo engine with 567 horsepower and an 8-speed ZF transmission.

In 2014, following Rolls-Royce, Bentley officially entered Vietnam, a young, emerging market with a large enough customer base. To test the Vietnamese tycoon's playing ability, Bentley Hanoi brought in the first two models: Flying Spur and Continental GTC.

The Continental GTC is essentially the convertible version of the Continental GT, the C in the car's name stands for Convertible. The Continental GT was first launched in 2003, and seven years later, Bentley introduced the second generation. In 2011, the British luxury car company introduced the second generation convertible model using a W12 engine.

Test drive Bentley Continental GTC in Hanoi. Photo: Tien Thanh

The Continental GTC inherits the typical Bentley design with a chrome-plated matrix grille and round headlights that have made the British luxury car brand famous. The entire body and hood are aerodynamic, with lines sloping back. The soft top is a 3-layer roof, opening and closing in 25 seconds and at a speed of less than 30 km/h. Developed in a sporty style, but viewed from any angle, the Continental GTC is still a true Bentley: British nobility.

The interior is designed for 4 seats, but Bentley seems to only focus on the front seats, spacious, comfortable, hugging and multi-directional electric adjustment, the dashboard is focused, oriented towards the driver. While the rear seats are cramped, the fixed backrests give space to the roof compartment and are not for people over 1.7 m tall.

The interior uses leather and precious wood paneling, decorated with traditional Bentley chrome details. The craftsmen stitched in contrasting white thread. Sit in the seat, adjust the posture, press the start button, the car vibrates slightly. The warm engine sound and the powerful sound coming from the 6.0 W12 twin-turbo engine urge you to step on the gas. The sporty exhaust sound is deep, not like a Ferrari's wind-tearing roar.

Luxury sports convertible coupe on the streets of Hanoi. Photo: Tien Thanh

Although it is a luxury sports car, the dashboard is not difficult to get used to after a while of confusion. Bentley's design experts have studied the user's habits quite carefully, so everything becomes simple but still luxurious. The dashboard has a classic, sporty design, integrated with a multi-information display screen. Press the B button on the gear lever, pull it to D, lift the brake pedal, and the car starts moving. Gently apply the gas, the throttle response is immediate. At first, the gas pedal is not proficient, the "beast" with 582 horsepower seems to be about to jump up.

If you keep your foot on the gas, the Bentley convertible coupe is just like any other car. Go to a place with no traffic, press the button to increase the stiffness of the suspension system, the 8-inch touch screen on the center console displays the adjustment +/- (increase/decrease) from Comfort to Sport. Put the gear lever in S, step on the gas, the sports convertible shoots like an arrow, the back is stuck to the seat, the feeling of dizziness. The sound of the engine roars, the exhaust sounds like cheering from behind, creating an indescribable excitement. Bentley announced the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.7 seconds, the maximum speed is 314 km/h.

In addition to increasing and decreasing the gears +/- on the gearbox, Bentley also integrates the gear shift paddles on the steering wheel, helping the driver focus only on steering control. Like other luxury cars, the Continental GTC's 8-speed ZF gearbox will automatically change gears when reaching the rpm threshold that the British car company has set for the controller.

The clock needle rose to 80, then 120 and almost reached 180. The dull engine noise seemed to urge the driver to step on the gas again. Besides the exhaust noise, the main sound entering the cabin was the sound of tires rubbing against the road. Because it is a sports line, the Continental GTC's steering wheel is quite heavy for first-time drivers. However, when driving at high speeds, the steering wheel does not gradually tighten with speed but remains the same as at the beginning, creating a feeling of insecurity.

Gradually reduce the speed to below 30 km/h, press and hold the soft top button. The Continental GTC's soft top quickly retracts in about 25 seconds. After the roof compartment lid is closed and the two side windows are raised, connecting to the windshield to form a U shape.

Bentley Continental GTC 2013 version. Photo: Tien Thanh

Bentley engineers carefully studied when lowering the roof, the luxury sports coupe still maintains aerodynamics, ensuring good sound insulation with the outside space. The car opened the roof and ran at a speed of 120 km/h on the Lang - Hoa Lac highway, everyone sitting in the car still talked and listened to music normally.

For those who do not hesitate to spend more than 10 billion VND to own a Continental GTC, refueling the luxury sports coupe is just a small matter. Bentley announced fuel consumption for this model is about 14 liters/100 km on mixed roads, 21.7 liters/100 km for urban roads and 9.9 liters/100 km on the highway.

The genuine Bentley Convertible has a length of 4,807 mm, a width of 2,226 mm, a height of 1,400 mm and a wheelbase of 2,746 mm. It weighs 2,495 kg. The car is equipped with a set of 20-inch sports rims with Pirelli Pzero tires measuring 275/40.

According to VNE