The Bentley Continental V8 Series has been unveiled a couple of days ago and will will have its official debut during the 9th of January 2012 at the Detroit Motor Show. The series will be powered by brand new VW 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engines, this happening for both the GT and the GTC models.
Bentley has never done anything like this with their cars, this being the first time ever in their history – a V8 under a Bentley Continental hood. Till now, their only propulsion solution was the 6.0-liter W12 engine, the peak of their technology.
The brand new engine develops 500 HP at 6,000 RPM and a whopping 660 Nm of torque from 1,700 – 4,000 RPM, enough to make you one with the chair you’re sitting on. The gearbox has is based on an 8-speed automatic system, the transmission also relying on an AWD Torsen differential with 40:60 front/rear ratio.
The acceleration from naught to 100 km/h is done in less than 5 seconds, with top speeds of over 290 km/h. The new innovations integrated in the engine are low-friction bearings, thermal management, high-pressure direct-injection system and partial energy recovery via a new charging system.
Upon all, the best feature this engine has is the possibility of auto-converting to a 4-cylinder one, during light loads, can decrease fuel consumption (up to 40% improvement) and lowers CO2 emissions, this transition being absolutely unnoticeable by the car’s occupants, as the British car-manufacturer declares. The car’s autonomy has been increased due to these processes to 500 miles (800km) on a single tank.
The looks of the V8 GT and GTC were festooned with a black gloss matrix grill, with chrome frame and central pod, a red enamel badge and black matrix lower front bumper split by into 3 sectors. The cars come with 20-inch standard alloy wheels, with the option to change them with 21-inch six-spoke Diamond-Silver or Diamond-Black ones. The muffler tips are the same old chromed 8-shaped pair pipes.
[CarScoop]
