Bentley Coninental Supersports
In February 2009, Bentley announced the production of Bentley Continental Supersports. The car was unveiled at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, announced to be available in autumn 2009 worldwide, while North American cars would be available by summer 2010.
The first Bentley capable of running on both petrol (gasoline) and biofuel (E85 ethanol). The car's 6.0 litre W12 engine was rated 630 metric horsepower (463 kW; 621 bhp) at 6,000 rpm and 800 newton metres (590 ft·lbf) at 1,700-5,600 rpm - using either fuel. The car has 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (0 to 62.1 mph) acceleration of 3.9 seconds, 0 to 160 kilometres per hour (0 to 99.4 mph) acceleration of 8.9 seconds, top speed of 329 kilometres per hour (204.4 mph), making it the fastest and the most powerful production Bentley ever. The Supersports is already known as the best handling Bentley. Bentley says the supersports can deliver 1.29 g forces on a 300-foot (91 m) skid pad, as compared to its sibling the Continental GT speed which can perform up to .98 g forces on a 300-foot (91 m) skidpad.
It includes a revised ZF 6HP26A tiptronic automatic with "Quickshift" system that reduces shift times by 50%, and enables double downshifts.[citation needed] The car uses a Torsen T-3 centre differential for the 40:60 rear-biased torque split for the four-wheel drive system. Other changes include revised Continuous Damping Control (CDC),[citation needed] 20-inch lightweight alloy wheels (with increased 25 mm (1.0 in) offset on rear wheels) with 275/35 ZR20 Pirelli Ultra High Performance tires, advancedBosch Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) with switchable Dynamic Mode, Carbon fibre-reinforced Silicon Carbide (C/SiC) ceramic disc brakes (the largest and most powerful brakes ever fitted to a production car),[citation needed] 110 kilograms (243 lb) weight saving over Continental GT Speed, automatic retractable spoiler (deploys at 80 km/h (50 mph)).[citation needed]
US model has MSRP of $267,000, with early vehicles not having E85 capability, which would be available in summer of 2010 for US market.
In April 2010, Bentley announced a convertible version of the Continental Supersports. Pricing starts at $280,400, and will go on sale in the Summer of 2010. The convertible gets the same engine as the coupe, but will receive a revised version of the ZF 6HP26 transmission with "Quickshift," cutting shift times by 50% and enabling double downshifts. The convertible also gets new, lightweight 20-inch alloy wheels that are 22 lb (10.0 kg) lighter than the standard wheel.
