Bentley, more than any other luxury-car manufacturer, has a genuine motorsport heritage, and after an extended hiatus it’s back, enjoying huge success in racing with its pared-to-the-bone Continental GT3, and naturally there’s a limited-edition road model “inspired” by the competitor. Only you’ll need to be quick, because nearly all 300 of them have been sold – even at an eye-watering Dh1.5 million apiece.
The National experienced a passenger ride round Yas Marina Circuit earlier this year, but as I pick up the key for an actual drive on the roads, I have to say I'm still confused by the GT3-R. I have spoken at length with Bentley's engineers over the past decade, and they've told me that what they would really love to do is design and build a genuine sports car. The Continental, in this guise, still doesn't cut it, and the GT3 racer that's gaining podium wins all over the world shares its overall body shape with this homage but little else. This GT3-R, Bentley says, is its fastest accelerating, most driver-focused model ever, but it has still missed a trick.
Outside, it’s all shouty, with aggressive-looking carbon-fibre addenda and silly green graphics that are more boy racer than Bentley Boy. The mesh grille and other inlets are mean-and-moody black, and the quad exhaust pipes at the rear look the business. It also sits 10 millimetres lower than the standard road car and has black painted wheels for added attitude. It’s as subtle as a sledgehammer in the face.
Bentley has reduced the weight of the GT3-R by 100 kilograms, and to help with that, the rear seats have been junked and there’s lightweight Alcantara covering vast swathes of its panelling. Trim pieces that are normally timber are now carbon fibre, and the seats are rather tasty bucket items. The colour scheme is garish, with shocks of bright green accenting the black upholstery, and there was never any option on trim colours. You get what you’re given, and that’s that.
But apart from the deletion of the rear seats (which, frankly, are not much use anyway), there’s little evidence that this Conti has been on a diet. Everything else – the whacking great stereo system, the electric seat heaters and motors, the double glazing, the thick steering wheel festooned with buttons – is here as you’d find in any of the company’s offerings. This makes no sense to me because, if Bentley had been serious about making this a celebration of its recent sporting prowess, it could probably have shaved another 100kg from its kerb weight.
Never mind, though, because under the bonnet is a twin-turbo V8 that generates more than enough oomph to keep me interested. With 580hp available with a squeeze from my right foot, and stiffer damper rates all round, this could be quite a weapon on the right road. So I take it to one.
What I discover is that the GT3-R likes the sound of its own voice. With reduced sound deadening, the deep baritone rumble becomes a full-on yell when you put your foot down, and once you remember to knock the shifter down a notch into Sport mode, the sonic delights are turned up to 11, replete with fake but welcome pops and crackles when you lift that foot off the gas.
The car feels entirely planted and keyed into the road surface, as it should. After all, despite its 100kg weight loss, it still tips the scales at a rather obese 2.2 tonnes. The four-wheel-drive transmission is variable and divvies up the torque with a rear bias so it does feel meaty, but – and I can’t think why – it still doesn’t feel all that fast.
The on-paper statistics claim a 0 to 100kph sprint from rest in just 3.8 seconds, and while it doesn’t hang about when you drop the hammer, it still manages to come across as a bit ponderous as it gathers pace. Granted, the outside temperature touching 50°C doesn’t help, but the expected rush doesn’t ever materialise.
Throw the behemoth into a sharp corner with the power on and it will break traction rather quickly, which comes as a bit of a shock at first, but you soon get used to it, and if you do overcook things, the huge retardation offered by the carbon brakes never fails to impress. Unlike the GT3-R as a whole.
Whether you or I like this car is irrelevant, because Bentley has more or less sold them all (there are five in stock at the Dubai dealership), but it remains a confusing proposition. It rides extremely well, and I can imagine long-distance cruises would be a joy. It feels impeccably well-built – as a Bentley tends to be. But the sheer thrills that could have been on offer had it taken the route Porsche plumps for with models sporting the GT3 moniker, are conspicuous by their absence. It’s still a mighty GT car, make no mistake, but if it was my money on the table, I’d go for a Continental V8 S and buy a Porsche Cayman with the change.
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