The 2027 Supersports Is Bentley’s First Real Track Star

The posh confines of most Bentleys make it easy to forget about the English luxury brand’s storied motorsports history. Yet drive the new Continental GT–based 2027 Supersports, with its street-fighter stance and chest-thumping exhaust note, and that heritage seems much closer at hand. As the company’s most driver-focused car to date, it forces you to reconsider big Bentley coupes in a more purposeful light.

Contemporary Bentley Continentals, the first of which debuted for 2003, have always been respectably athletic given their luxury-first mission. Two generations of mildly enhanced Conti Supersports have come before. There was even a more hardcore GT3-R model in the mid-2010s that paid homage to the brand’s sports-car racers of the period. This new Supersports, however, turns things up a notch or three, to the point that it ditches the Continental moniker altogether.

Business First

Gone are the driven front axles and bulky plug-in hybrid systems of its pedestrian kin, replaced by a straightforward rear-wheel-drive layout with pure internal-combustion power. That’s no small engineering feat, but it is the main contributor to the half-ton or so in weight that the Superports lost during its fire-and-brimstone transformation. We reckon that translates to a roughly 4500-pound Bentley—still stocky, but only a couple hundred pounds heavier than, say, a Mercedes-AMG GT63 coupe.

Under the hood is a familiar twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 lashed to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic. Yet, whereas this engine makes less than 600 ponies in other Continentals, the Supersports flexes 657 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, thanks to bigger turbos and the addition of variable valve timing, among other tweaks. A revised electronically controlled limited-slip differential, updated stability control programming, and a 0.6-inch-wider rear track help to manage that grunt. Still, due to its hybrid brethren’s all-wheel-drive traction and electrically assisted outputs that can reach 771 horses, we estimate the Supersports will need roughly a half-second longer to hit 60 mph, or about 3.5 seconds.

To help the Supersports look the part—and up its maximum aerodynamic downforce by more than 660 pounds over regular Contis—Bentley fitted a host of carbon-fiber pieces: deeper side sills, air-sculpting fender blades aft of the front wheels, a larger rear diffuser, and a fixed rear spoiler. Its roof also sports the carbon weave, and the redesigned front bumper dons larger cooling intakes, dive planes, and what Bentley says is the biggest front splitter it’s ever installed on a road car. Being a Bentley, the customization options are extensive, including bold exterior graphics and side-to-side color-fade paint jobs like on our photo car.

Despite losing its rear seats to a leather- and carbon-fiber-trimmed storage hold, the Supersports is as luxe inside as any other Bentley, with generous sound insulation, exquisite materials, and all manner of luxury accouterments. Its embracing performance chairs may be lighter and mounted closer to the floor, yet they retain heating elements and 11-way power adjustment. One of Bentley’s development parameters was for this car to remain comfortable enough to road-trip to track days. Which explains why its default Touring drive mode is relatively relaxed, picking up where the Continental GT Speed’s Sport mode leaves off. Only when you step up to its Bentley and Sport settings does it turn properly aggressive.

A Refined Brute

From what we can extrapolate from our limited time lapping WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the Supersports feels entirely domesticated. But it’s hardly soft when put to its intended use. Fire up its V-8, and an active Akrapovič titanium exhaust emits a baritone rumble that crescendoes to a brassy roar as the revs climb. On sound alone, this car makes quite an entrance.

Underway, it’s the most agile and engaging production Bentley we’ve ever driven. Where a heavier, all-wheel-drive Continental would exhibit pronounced understeer into the left-hand flick atop Laguna Seca’s famous Corkscrew, the Supersports turns in with determined verve. Its upgraded chassis—including revised tuning for its active anti-roll bars, adaptive dampers, air springs, and rear-axle steering—astutely manages directional changes and the unsettling of its suspension. That sheer stability, plus the helm’s responsiveness, made short work of the diving and deceptively fast Rainey Curve. Out of tighter bends, the e-diff could be felt checking the car’s tail as we unleashed the boosted V-8 over the track’s rumble strips.

Additional credit goes to our pre-production car’s optional 22-inch Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS track-oriented tires, sized 275/35ZR-22 in front and 315/30ZR-22 out back, wrapped around forged-aluminum wheels (same-sized P Zero PZ4 summer rubber is standard). Effectively arresting the car’s momentum are carbon-ceramic brakes with 17.3-inch front rotors clamped by 10-piston calipers; they’re the same massive stoppers that are optional on lesser Contis, but given the Supersports’ strict diet, they felt up to the task even after a hard day of lapping.

Sadly, a minder riding shotgun kept us from exploring the car’s ability to get sideways with the stability control deactivated. But push it too hard, and the rear end breaks away gently and predictably before the nannies step in. This is still a big vehicle that carries a lot of kinetic energy, which makes a patient, slow-in-fast-out approach the smarter play.

More, Please

The new Supersports ultimately is something that virtually all other Bentleys aren’t: fun to drive hard. While its lap times likely won’t rival those of lighter, track-focused exotics, it also isn’t as demanding to pilot. It is a driver’s car that brings a more exciting dimension to the modern Bentley experience. It’s also essentially vaporware, with production limited to a mere 500 (already spoken for) units, each costing $490,350 to start. Only about a third of those are earmarked for the U.S. market, so count your blessings if you catch one in the wild. Fortunately, as Bentley’s reps made clear, the Supersports may be the first result of the brand’s new way of thinking, but it’s not the last.

Specifications

Specifications

2027 Bentley Supersports
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe

PRICE
Base: $490,350

ENGINE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 244 in3, 3996 cm3
Power: 657 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 590 lb-ft @ 2900 rpm

TRANSMISSION
8-speed dual-clutch automatic

DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 112.3 in
Length: 196.4 in
Width: 77.7 in
Height: 54.8 in
Passenger Volume: 54 ft3
Trunk Volume: 9 ft3
Curb Weight (C/D est): 4500 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.5 sec
100 mph: 7.5 sec
1/4-Mile: 11.4 sec
Top Speed: 193 mph

EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 15/12/18 mpg

Mike Sutton is an editor, writer, test driver, and general car nerd who has contributed to Car and Driver's reverent and irreverent passion for the automobile since 2008. A native Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outdoors and complaining about the weather, has an affection for off-road vehicles, and believes in federal protection for naturally aspirated engines.