Next Bentley Continental GT May Boast a 600-HP W-12 Engine

Its significantly lighter chassis has been co-developed with Porsche, too.


The next generation Bentley Continental GT will use the same 600-horsepower W-12 engine found in the Bentayga, Autocar reports. Like the outgoing Continental GT, a V-8 version will also reportedly be available, and while specifics on that new engine's outputs are unavailable, there should be a slight bump in power over the current 521 hp it currently makes. 

Furthermore, performance will be aided by a lighter chassis that's been co-developed between Bentley and Porsche. The new platform, dubbed MSB, is also employed on Porsche's new Panamera. The new GT will feature additional weight savings, too, in the form of mostly aluminum body panels as opposed to steel, which is what the current GT uses. As a result, the new Continental should weigh substantially less than the outgoing model—but according to Wolfgang Dürheimer, president and CEO of Bentley, the new Continental won't weigh less than two tons. That's still a lot of mass to carry around, but if Audi and Porsche can pull off heavy, high-performance vehicles, so can Bentley. 

Porsche carryover doesn't stop with the new GT's platform, either. Apparently, Bentley will introduce a new hybrid powertrain to the Continental GT lineup, which will be lifted directly from Porsche's V-6 plug-in hybrid powertrain that's currently in use in the new Panamera. 

While there's very little other information about the upcoming GT, rumors also claim its driving dynamics and characteristics are apparently superior than the outgoing car. So as you can imagine, we're pretty excited to get our hands on this Bentley as soon as possible.