Bentley’s ‘Balletic’ New Supersports Delivers a Smooth Performance

As the old roadster comes to life on a narrow hillside road, the cacophony of the 12-cylinder engine only amplifies my sense of exposure and vulnerability—and that’s just from the passenger seat. But then I’m riding shotgun in a 1925 Bentley Super Sports, the British marque’s first model to send the speedometer’s needle past 100 mph. For my turn behind the wheel, I don a helmet and make my way to another similarly monikered two-seater waiting in pit lane. Although the cars are only 50 yards apart, there’s over a century between them.

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Northen California hosts my introduction to the 2027 Bentley Supersports. Priced starting at $486,200 and limited to 500 examples, it’s only the fourth iteration of the nameplate. Unlike its earliest predecessor, the latest Supersports is both a dynamically souped-up and strategically pared-down version of the most recent Continental GT.

In this exclusive guise, though, it’s the only street-legal Continental to feature a rear-wheel-drive configuration. Its engine is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8—mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission—delivering 657 hp and 590 ft lbs of torque. And while the output is less than that of the current hybridized GT, the Supersports weighs a touch over 4,409 pounds; the only Bentley below that figure was from 1940. However, that reduced heft only enhances the vehicle’s gravitas with respect to performance, as I discover when approaching the track’s Corkscrew, renowned for an initial descent into seeming nothingness followed by a 59-foot elevation drop requiring precise and quick choreography.

Obviously, there are automotive dance partners far lither, but this is the most balletic non-motorsport Bentley you’ll find—its athleticism owed to lightweighting measures that include a carbon-fiber roof and the complete removal of rear-passenger space. In addition, composite aero considerations at the front, such as stacked dive planes, fender blades, and Bentley’s biggest production-car splitter to date, all complement the back end’s new diffuser and fixed spoiler. The result is a cumulative downforce touted as more than 661 pounds greater than that of the GT Speed variant.

Equally responsible for this Bentley’s milestone handling are the Supersports’ electronic limited-slip differential, rear-wheel steering, suspension aided by a 48-volt active anti-roll bar, and enormous carbon-silicon-carbide brakes. Those stoppers bite on 22-inch aluminum-alloy wheels dressed with, at least in our car’s case, Pirelli Trofeo RS rubber. Such impressively engineered checks and balances are fully appreciated when zero to 62 mph has been dispatched in 3.7 seconds, and the main straight’s terminus is approaching much faster than the car’s 192 mph top speed.

Exiting the still-baronial cockpit, defined by the automaker’s signature three-dimensional surfacing and peerless upholstery (hello, it’s a Bentley), I’m struck by the 100-plus years of automotive advancement experienced between this modern British muscle car and its bygone-era namesake. Yet from the golden age of the Bentley Boys to the marque’s current renaissance, the Supersports’ one constant is its role as the Flying B’s internal-combustion benchmark. Bravo.