Bentley Continental GTC: 'S' version is competent but confused

The ranks of top-tier convertibles with power and art deco-esque opulence to spare have thinned out in recent years.

Rolls-Royce stopped taking orders for the Dawn in 2022 and production of the Mercedes S-Class Cabriolet – an underrated gem especially in S560 guise – ended a year earlier. It leaves the subject of this week’s road test with the market for such cars almost entirely to itself.

Or at least it does if you’re not considering the latest Bentley Continental GTC in its subtly more sporting S specification, as we have here. True, Bentley also purveys its only convertible model in full-blown 772bhp Speed guise, but while the S makes less power, it utilises the range-topper’s sportier chassis tune, and for quite a bit less expense (£35,000 less, to be precise). It’s therefore a car you might just consider instead of an Aston Martin DB12 S Volante, Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet or Maserati Grancabrio Trofeo, which can’t necessarily be said of the standard Continental GTC – or the pricier Speed.

We will soon learn whether the S, as a sporting luxury plug-in hybrid convertible, really can compete so broadly, but it’s worth noting that the task of crafting a genuinely good open-air driver’s car from the tin-top Conti GT has, if anything, become harder of late. With the exception of the box-fresh Supersports, every model in the range is now fitted with Bentley’s hybrid powertrain. This is thought to add around 200kg to the kerb weight, thanks mainly to a 25.9kWh battery that contributes meaningful range.

Factor in the reinforced sills, cross-bracing and A-pillar support that any convertible of traditional construction needs and, in the case of the Conti GTC S you’re looking at a claimed kerb weight of more than 2.6 tonnes. Can such a machine, shorn of some rigidity and with priorities rightly elsewhere, really offer driving satisfaction as an alternative to others mentioned?

Design & styling

So what constitutes an S? These cars effectively combine the powertrain of the standard GT with the ‘Bentley Performance Active Chassis’ of the GT Speed. That means the new two-chamber air springs, the torque-vectoring rear electronic limited-slip differential, the ESC software, the front-rear clutch-based torque split, the active anti-roll bars and the new-for-S rear steer are tuned to deliver the additional control and poise of the flagship derivative.

It’s an arsenal of chassis tech that only the Porsche 911 Turbo S comes close to matching in this particular corner of the market. And it’s paired with Bentley’s ‘High Performance’ PHEV powertrain, which is pegged at 671bhp, rather than the ‘Ultra Performance’ version of the Speed.

Interior

The GT S gets piano black veneer and microsuede upholstery as standard, but the full range of leather, wood, carbonfibre and aluminium remains available for those who aren’t fans of dust and fingerprints.

This particular car is slathered in carbon along with ‘Beluga’ leather, with plenty of embossed S logos, and also has the Touring specification package at a cost of £6035. This adds adaptive cruise control, night vision and a head-up display. Bentley now offers a bewildering array of these packages, including a Smoker’s specification, with a solid ash can in the front and cigar lighters at both ends of the cabin. Talk about a blast from the past, but nearly anything is available if you’re willing to pay for it, and quite rightly.

We won’t retread our tracks after the full road test of the GT Speed last year, but it suffices to say that the ambience and material lavishness of the current Continental’s cabin remain a true highlight of any journey. There are endless switches, buttons and dials, and while the digital array has been updated, its physical presence is no larger than it was for the previous-generation car – a judicious approach on Bentley’s part and one that helps retain a pervasive sense of privacy and calm in a cabin that equally wants nothing for modern functionality.

As for ergonomics, our road test rule showed that the convertible suffers no shortfall in head room – front or rear – compared with the coupé. And while the rear window is smaller on the convertible, the sheer size of the Conti GT ensures the back of the car never feels unduly claustrophobic, as can often be the way in cars with folding fabric roofs.

Anyone wanting to maximise the sense of light and space could also select one of the lighter hues from the eight-strong range of roofliners on offer – Magnolia or Camel would do the trick. And there are plenty of exterior fabric choices as well, including a tweed (though pairing this with carbon exterior trim would be strange to say the least).

For a machine with deeply rooted touring credentials, where the GTC suffers concerns boot space. The floor is already high, with packaging considerations for an 80-litre fuel tank, the drive battery and what must be a substantial differential. The berth for the roof mechanism complicates matters further, to the extent that the official capacity of this shallow boot is just 134 litres. Rather implausibly, this is less than that offered by the frunk of a Ferrari 296 GTB, and is also less than what you will find in the similarly compromised Aston DB12 S Volante.

Engines & performance

Open-air driving suits this generation of Continental GT especially well. The hybrid powertrain has the ability to enhance your enjoyment of both the burbling V8 and, if you kill it by hitting the E-Mode button, the serenity of the countryside you happen to be passing through. In fact it’s difficult to say which scenario appeals more. While our car’s Akrapovic exhaust ensures you’re accompanied by an omnipresent and effervescent ‘dirty woofle’, as one tester put it, it’s undeniable that silently gliding about, roof down and in an indulgent degree of luxury and refinement, is also special.

That said, one frustrating quirk of the powertrain is that, unless you are in Sport mode, the engine can oscillate between action and dormancy too often, particularly if the battery’s state of charge is very low. If you’re simply pottering down a country road, the combination of having no roof and the Akrapovic exhaust makes the V8’s frequent start-up reports extra-intrusive.

More generally, and as we have found with other Bentleys of this hybrid era, the faint lack of transparency in the behaviour of the ever-adapting regenerative braking and the electric-assisted acceleration don’t entirely suit a car of the Continental GT’s ilk. Previous generations had a fantastic sense of refinement underpinned by a muscular powertrain of charming simplicity and consistency. It made them superbly drivable cars, and while these new PHEV models are far from problematic in everyday driving, there is something that feels a touch overcomplicated about their machinations when you’re simply getting from A to B.

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the level of performance on offer, either in terms of roll-on or standing-start acceleration. Our car needed 3.7sec to hit 60mph and just 8.4sec to hit 100mph. These are improbable figures for a five-metre-long convertible weighed down by an inordinate degree of leather and knurled metal, and while there will be some for whom the even quicker GTC Speed appeals more, there can’t be many of them among us.

Braking distances were a little longer than expected, and served as a reminder of the demands so much momentum puts on the Pirelli P Zero PNCS tyres. A figure of 47.8m from 70mph is 10-20% longer than you would extract from smaller and lighter rivals by Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin. Meanwhile, the 64.2m needed for the same metric in the wet is actually longer than our figure for the lighter-on-paper Land Rover Defender Octa. No doubt, the GTC should do better.

Ride & handling

While some car makers have moved into a realm where there is almost no discernible drawback to having the open-top option in terms of on-road handling, perhaps unsurprisingly Bentley hasn’t quite reached that state. As such, there are two ways of perceiving the Conti GTC, both of which are valid.

One says that this is a remarkably keen-handling machine given the forces involved and the sheer footprint of the thing. That it can be put down a reasonably smooth British B-road, at some pace, and provide a measure of satisfaction and enjoyment says a lot about the quality of the underlying engineering. The GTC finds an easy, reassuring on-throttle balance that marries with nearly unbreakable traction and invites you to uncork the V8 at will. With the roof down and the driver in the mood, it is thunderous entertainment and brutally fast point to point.

At the same time, the amount of weight involved, and the sheer scope of metalwork between the axles, soon puts paid to the idea of the GTC S as any kind of real driver’s car. Under duress the two ends don’t quite speak in unison, as they do in the coupé. It’s a characteristic you sense is exacerbated by the Speed-spec suspension, with its localised stiffness. We have previously described this set-up as a bit ‘terse’ on British roads and in this context it seems to highlight the limitations of the carved-open chassis.

Smoother Californian or European roads would no doubt be kinder to the GTC and the raw body control in Sport mode can still be something to behold, as can mid-corner pace when the rear steer transitions to stability-enhancing synchronisation with the front axle. But even then you might rue the current Conti GT’s strangely detached steering action, despite the weight being nicely judged. The tactility of the helm still can’t match that of pre-rear-steer-era cars.

MPG & running costs

he Continental GT wants to be the most luxurious option in the two-door sporting category, so it’s no surprise that the S is more expensive than alternatives from Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari. However, with it starting at a whisker over £235,000, the premium you’ll pay for the Bentley is perhaps not as great as you might expect, with the Aston DB12 Volante and Ferrari Amalfi Spider costing around £220,000. In other words there’s a straight trade-off here: the Bentley’s world-class opulence and refinement versus the genuine dynamic brilliance of the others. Arguably there is no wrong answer.

The Bentley is, of course, also a PHEV (not quite uniquely, because Mercedes-AMG will sell you an SL 63 S E Performance). The 25.9kWh battery pack provides meaningful range too: around 45 miles in the real world. It’s doubtful that the additional frugality the system generates over the long term will matter much to would-be owners, but the ability to slink away from home or hotel silently is a boon.

Verdict

As a luxury sporting convertible there’s little doubt the Continental GT, in fourth-generation guise, continues to hold monumental appeal. Perhaps even unique appeal, now that similarly large and opulent alternatives have fallen by the wayside. With the serious caveat that boot space is now smaller than ever, on account of the hybrid system, there are few better ways to take apart an hours-long drive or a flowing A-road in a bubble of refinement and opulence others can’t match.

That said, S treatment complicates things. With it, the GTC’s body control and accuracy is enhanced but not such that it notably improves the driving experience, given the obvious structural limitations. At the same time, ride quality, though very good, isn’t always at the level it needs to be. Our advice? Save ‘S’ for the coupé; leave the leisurely ‘C’ be.