2025 Bentley Continental GT Hybrid First Drive: Speed Demon

• The Bentley Continental GT gets a big overhaul for 2025.
• The styling stays largely the same, based on what we can tell in these photos.
• A new V8 hybrid engine replaces the outgoing W12.

So, about that engine

The heart of the new Continental GT is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 paired with a 25.9-kWh battery pack and single electric motor. Surprise, surprise — this is the same powertrain used in the Conti's corporate cousin, the Porsche Panamera. Here, however, the gas engine is tuned to make 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, complemented by an additional 188 hp and 332 lb-ft from the electric motor. You can't just add the numbers of these two propulsion systems together to get the combined output — the max power outputs occur at different rpm — but nevertheless, Bentley says the GT Speed's total shove is a whopping 771 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. That's 121 hp and 74 lb-ft more than the outgoing W12-powered Speed.

That instant electric shove really helps launch this big boy — and when I say big, I mean big. Bentley estimates a curb weight of around 5,500 pounds; the new car is roughly 440 pounds heavier than its predecessor. Even so, the 2025 Continental GT Speed can sprint to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, or 0.4 second quicker than its forebear. That's Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS quick. Yowza.

Let's lap Parcmotor

I'd never heard of Circuit Parcmotor ahead of this event, and it didn't ring a bell for anyone I'd talked to, either. But this track, nestled in the hills outside of Barcelona, turned out to be a great place to test the Continental GT Speed. Quick uphill climbs let me make the most of the e-motor's torque thrust, while late-apex corners and a decidedly bumpy braking zone near the end of the back straight almost seem intentionally designed to upset most cars.

But the Bentley Continental GT Speed isn't like most cars. This is a 5,500-pound brick in a designer purse — an assault you don't expect. Driving in Sport mode, the rorty V8 engine is always on boil, and it sounds rad, too. Yes, I miss the smooth tidal wave of torque offered by the huge W12 engine, but the V8-powered GT has always been the athlete of the Continental lineup. That's only enhanced by the addition of electric power. I love you, W12, but your services are no longer required. 

The Speed's all-wheel-drive system can shuffle torque front to back and side to side with the help of an electronic limited-slip differential at the rear, so if you get on the throttle a little too early coming out of a tight left-hand hairpin, the Bentley will sort itself out without getting too squirrely. Reduce the intervention of the traction control and you can get the Conti's rear end to step out slightly, and a quick steering correction is all you need to rein this large lad back in. 

The GT Speed comes with the same Bentley Dynamic Ride 48-volt anti-roll tech you'll find in the Bentayga SUV, though in the Conti, it's matched with dual-valve dampers and dual-chamber air springs. This broadens the range between the suspension's firmest and softest settings and really works to control both compression and rebound over uneven surfaces — like Parcmotor's nasty back straight. 

Of course, exactly 0.0001% of all Continental GT Speed customers will ever take their cars onto a race circuit, and even that seems like a stretch. For owners in the real world, the new suspension tech will make the Conti GT more comfortable and better balanced while cornering along, I don't know, a luxurious Alpine road or 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.

Coming soon

Bentley will take the wraps off the 2025 Continental GT Speed coupe and GTC Speed convertible in late June, at which point I'll have plenty more to say. Expect pricing for the GT lineup to start in the $250,000 range, with the Speed commanding tens of thousands of dollars more. Not that it matters, of course; no one's pinching pennies to park a Bentley in their driveway.

There's still a long-standing stereotype that cars from companies like Bentley and Rolls-Royce are for people who'd rather be chauffeured, but I assure you, the new Continental GT Speed is squarely for drivers. To get in one of these and never sit behind the steering wheel would be a massive, massive disservice. And my guess is the rest of the Continental GT range will be every bit as good.