It's late at night and I decided to make a post out of what I'm usually doing this time anyway. Obsessively travelling from car website to website building my dream garage of BMWs, Ferraris, and Lotuses. Lotuses? Lotusesesessesssss? Loti? I think we'll stick with Lotus cars. Yeah...or Lotuses.
This inaugural Configuration of the Week features the
new Bentley Continental GT Speed cabrio.
Alright, on with it.
Maybe before I start on the car and what I did with it, I'll go over some specs.
Powertrain
6 litre W12
616 bhp
590 ft-lb
Drivetrain
ZF 8-speed automatic
Permanent 40/60 split all-wheel drive
Performance
0-60: 4.0 seconds
Top Speed: 205 mph
Weight
5,115 lbs
Price
$240,000 (est.)
There are two notable things I would like to bring up about the specs.
The first being that torque figure! Nearly 600 earth-reversing ft-lbs of torque!
Give me a sec to catch my breath after seeing how much torque this portly fellow has.
Okay, all good.
The other thing is how surprisingly balanced the power split between the front and rear wheels are. I would have expected something more along the lines 30/70 or even 20/80, but certainly not 40/60. Jeez Bentley, you may as well have put a center locking diff and low-rage gearbox in it. The first episode of the newest season of Top Gear further proves my point.
Let's get configurey!
We'll start with the exterior essentials; color, wheels, and options.
I honestly never cared much for green cars in any shade of the color, but recently I have began to like them, albeit in a dark hue. That's clearly where I have gone with this one in a classic dark green.
It may be a Briti...German car, but that doesn't mean its green color must be of the British racing kind. I went with
Cumbrian Green because simply it was the one I liked the most, duh.
The wheels are of some "Limited Edition Black Elegant" mumbo jumbo, but I liked them better than the other wheel option. Also fitted to the Bentley was the Classic Pack, which includes horizontal corner grille strakes, a front splitter, side sills, and a rear diffuser all to give the car a subtly aggressive look.
The optional
Convenience Package box was also checked including a rear parking camera, valet key, Bluetooth, and adaptive cruise control featuring Bentley's "Follow to Stop" system. Intriguingly, the last one is not available in India. It took me all of two seconds to realize
why.
Okay, I'm going to establish this right now. I like tan interiors, and hate black ones. Black is just...black. It has no feel, no character, no charm. I like tan, saddle, cream, and brown interiors because they go with everything, just like blue jeans. Yeah, black goes with everything too, but black isn't tan, okay?
In actual fact, precisely 92.53% of all future car configurations will have tan interiors.
On, or in rather, this car I went with
Saddle. Now, I could have the option to make the roof cover, door toppings, and dashboard a different color leather (perhaps a darker brown if I'd have gone that route), but that just didn't feel right. Especially with such a traditional color combination as dark green and saddle.
To spice up the cabin just a little bit, I chose the most likely popular option of contrast stitching in
Cumbrian Green. Sound familiar? Also, the embroidered "Flying B" emblem was placed on the headrests in the same color.
Motor Trend recently
asked if all-wheel drive convertibles made sense. They do if they have neck warmers! And this one has 'em. Other luxury interior options that were selected are massaging and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, removable stowage case (see that glorified eyeglass case in front of the armrests?), ultra-premium floor mats, and matching trunk carpet. Audiophiles should find solace in the Niam premium audio system with six-disc changer and a TV tuner for the infotainment system as well.
I firmly believe that wood is one of the most beautiful materials that mankind has ever mastered. In even its most basic and utilitarian form, wood is still one of the few materials left on this earth that hasn't been ruined by computer and technology intervention; it is still worked with by hand. Aside from home furnishings, no better example of how attractive wood can be exists other than in cars. Walnut, burred walnut, rosewood, ash, chestnut, oak, and sycamore are all common interior wood trims for luxury automobiles, but chestnut is what was decided upon here. It offered a wonderfully detailed swirled grain and a rich light color that slightly contrasts with the leather. As an interior trim, you bet I'm going to take wood every time I can.
Like what you see and want to do one of your own? Or do you just want to
try to outdo me?
Right
here is where you'll want to be.
Want to suggest a car for me to do? let me know!
Well, I certainly hoped you enjoyed this as much as my back didn't from sitting here for so long.
Until next time.
