On this episode of Ignition
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 As Americans, we tend to think of the British
00:05 as somehow more refined than we are.
00:07 Almost like everyone in Britain
00:08 is a character from Downton Abbey.
00:10 Refined, elegant, rich, wrong.
00:14 Britain's national pastime is going down to the pub,
00:17 having 15 pints, getting right pissed
00:19 and having a good rattle,
00:21 which is a sophisticated sounding way of saying,
00:24 go on to the bar, get drunk
00:25 and beat the (beep) of a lot of people.
00:26 They ain't no better than us.
00:28 They're savages.
00:30 (car engine revving)
00:31 Savage is with a veneer of class and sophistication.
00:33 And if there ever was a car to demonstrate that,
00:36 it would be the Bentley Continental GT3R.
00:38 It is the most bonkers Bentley ever.
00:41 (upbeat music)
00:43 (car engine revving)
00:49 (car engine revving)
00:54 (car crashing)
00:55 (laughing)
00:59 (upbeat music)
01:01 (upbeat music)
01:10 (car engine revving)
01:17 This is what a rich person's British hot rod looks like.
01:20 It is the Continental, so a rather large two-door coupe.
01:23 It has green stickers to accentuate
01:25 the sweeping character lines down its bulging flanks,
01:29 a carbon front splitter to clip off wayward peasants
01:32 just above their ankles,
01:33 and a carbon rear wing that wouldn't be out of place on,
01:36 well, let's just say it's completely
01:38 and totally out of place on a Bentley.
01:40 Black 21 inch wheels hide eight piston brake calibers
01:45 and 16 and a half inch rotors up front.
01:48 These are not brakes the size of dinner plates.
01:50 They wouldn't even fit in your kitchen cabinets.
01:53 Your kitchen staff would have to store them in the pantry
01:55 with the serving trays.
01:58 (car engine revving)
02:01 Like the outside, the cabin of the GT3R
02:03 is filled with green stripes just to confuse your valet.
02:06 And then there's the Bentley wood.
02:08 The interior of every Bentley starts out
02:10 with something like $400 worth of veneers
02:13 that are polished, cut, and fit,
02:15 and made beautiful and perfect.
02:17 And wood is one of the things that Bentley does better
02:20 than any other car company.
02:22 And that's why the GT3R
02:23 has absolutely not a single piece of it.
02:25 In its place is carbon fiber trim
02:28 that fills the cabin with squeaks and rattles,
02:31 the likes of which you haven't heard
02:33 since Daewoo stopped selling cars in America.
02:35 Oh, and there's no backseat
02:39 because you never look elegant
02:40 getting out of the backseat of a coupe,
02:42 even if it is the size of a house.
02:43 For its sportiest continental,
02:49 the best thing Bentley could do
02:50 is ditch the heavy six liter W12
02:53 and slap in a much lighter engine.
02:55 Audi's four liter quad cam twin turbo V8
02:58 from the RS7 should do the trick.
03:00 In the GT3R, it makes 592 horsepower
03:05 and 553 pounds feet of torque.
03:07 That's a skosh less than the highest output version
03:10 of the 12 cylinder, but the V8 weighs 70 pounds less.
03:14 Bentley says the GT3R
03:15 is the fastest accelerating Bentley ever.
03:18 It's certainly the quickest we've ever tested.
03:20 It rips off a zero to 60 in a stupid 3.3 seconds
03:25 and without even a trace of wheel spin.
03:27 Confession time about this engine's rating.
03:40 It's not actually rated at 592 horsepower
03:43 because it can only sustain that
03:44 for 15 seconds of over boost.
03:47 After that, the sad trombones come out
03:49 and it drops to 572.
03:52 But when you have this much power,
03:53 it's not really that much of an issue
03:55 because at 15 seconds of full throttle from a dead stop,
03:59 this 4,919 pound car is doing 135 miles an hour.
04:04 I think that's fast enough.
04:07 This thing is so nuts.
04:11 I haven't laughed this hard in a Bentley
04:14 since the first time I saw a GT Speed sticker price.
04:17 But unlike that car, this thing feels like a bargain.
04:20 And it's about 341,025 bucks, 70 bucks a pound.
04:25 I don't think you can buy a really good T
04:27 for that these days.
04:28 When was the last time you heard a Bentley
04:36 that sounded like this?
04:37 Because they don't and none has ever felt like this.
04:41 This drives unlike any Bentley I've ever been in before.
04:45 It just flings itself into corners,
04:47 throws itself just a little bit sideways
04:49 and then carries so much speed on the way out.
04:51 This is so stupid.
04:58 I want to meet the guy who did this exhaust tuning
05:01 because clearly he's nuts
05:03 or maybe he just hates his neighbors.
05:05 Either way, if he drives this, his neighbors hate him now.
05:08 It's nuts loud.
05:10 And the best part is every time you lift off the gas,
05:14 it does these ridiculous backfires to the exhaust.
05:17 It's like a rifle going off over and over again.
05:20 Oh, we've had another cold for shots fired.
05:22 Honestly, this is the shock of the automotive universe.
05:28 Some of the other special edition Bentleys
05:30 have kind of felt a little rip offy,
05:33 but this car is worth every penny.
05:36 But more importantly, it feels special.
05:38 It turns, it goes, it's got all this traction and composure
05:42 and it's got hydraulic steering.
05:44 Ye olde timey hydraulic steering.
05:47 That means it has feedback.
05:48 I know what's going on at the front axle
05:50 because I feel everything that's happening
05:52 through the steering.
05:53 I've missed you, my old friend.
05:55 I've missed you.
05:56 There's something wrong with modern cars
05:58 with this electric steering.
05:59 Yeah, they let the car park itself and do lane keeping,
06:02 but the trade-off is just not worth it.
06:05 This steering is so much better.
06:06 And it's not a stretch to say that this Bentley
06:08 probably has better steering feel
06:10 than any other new car in a dealership today.
06:14 That's (beep) up.
06:15 The engine is the heaviest part of a car.
06:21 So to help it handle well,
06:22 you want it to be in between the axles.
06:25 The Continental is based off an old Audi architecture,
06:28 which means that the engine is completely and totally
06:31 in front of the front axle.
06:32 Believe it or not, that big V8 is all right here.
06:36 It's so far forward that the front of the engine
06:38 is actually further forward than the headlight bulb.
06:42 That is about the worst place you could ever put an engine.
06:45 It would be like hanging a fat guy
06:48 off the front of a shopping cart.
06:50 I get up early every morning because of the glamor.
06:55 Let's go.
06:58 By the way, that black, it's really slimming on you.
07:02 Come on, mush.
07:04 Let's go, let's go.
07:05 Jesus Christ.
07:05 Turn, turn.
07:06 You stop when you drive.
07:08 (laughing)
07:10 Ow.
07:11 Ow.
07:12 That hurt.
07:14 So with the engine all the way out there in front,
07:18 this Bentley doesn't really want to turn in.
07:20 So what the engineers have done,
07:22 they've added torque vectoring by braking.
07:23 This is not torque vectoring.
07:25 This is a computer that grabs the inside rear wheel
07:28 when you turn in, just to drag it a little bit
07:30 and it helps fling the car into the corner.
07:32 Bentley says the GT3-R is motorsport inspired.
07:38 The reason they say that is because they've named it
07:40 after the GT3 race car.
07:42 That's not really a Continental.
07:44 That has a V8 put in the normal spot.
07:46 I think they moved it back like a good couple feet
07:49 versus where this engine is.
07:51 But if they say motorsport inspired,
07:53 I say it's time to go to the track.
07:55 Hello?
07:58 Goodbye, motorcyclist.
08:00 Ta.
08:07 Ride is very comfy, isn't it?
08:09 Even in super sport plus extra.
08:12 Well, it is a Bentley, so it's super sporty extra plus
08:15 hard riding suspension mode for a Bentley.
08:18 Right.
08:19 This V8 has cylinder deactivation
08:24 when you're driving it like a grandma,
08:26 which you're doing right now.
08:27 And it's rated at 20 miles per gallon highway.
08:29 I think you're getting 22.
08:31 That's incredible.
08:33 I know I'm going to regret saying this,
08:34 but give it some stick.
08:37 This is a good spot for it.
08:38 The shifter is for all of you there at home
08:43 and radio and TV like, I'm going to die.
08:45 This turn is so nuts.
08:46 This is that corner you hate, Jay.
08:47 This is the corner I'm scared to death of.
08:49 Turn nine at Willow Springs.
08:51 Really?
08:58 Yeah, there's a camber change in the middle of it.
09:01 No, not on a wall, no.
09:03 100 mile an hour exit?
09:05 Yeah, 120, 130.
09:07 Sixth gear.
09:08 Sixth?
09:10 Look how the all wheel drive puts the power down
09:14 in this short squirt though.
09:17 The all wheel drive system's really effective
09:19 at putting the power to the ground.
09:20 And it's the updated all wheel drive system
09:23 that sends 60% of the power to the rear
09:26 under normal circumstances,
09:28 but can send as much as 85 to the rear
09:30 when you're doing things like that.
09:36 So easy though, one hand.
09:38 Wow.
09:40 It's a very relaxed car to drive at speed.
09:42 Yeah, I'm relaxed.
09:43 If you don't ask for too much.
09:45 That not too much?
09:51 Hear that left front?
09:52 Very difficult car to get sideways.
09:57 Does have a tendency to understeer
10:00 when pushed really, really hard.
10:03 The Bentley is not a car where you want to spend
10:05 much time at the limit.
10:07 But look, 120, I can toss it in the corner.
10:11 You can?
10:12 We're doing 118 right now.
10:13 Oh my God.
10:14 And I can have a cup of tea in this hat.
10:16 We're always joking about the British and their tea.
10:19 The car is loads of fun.
10:22 The engine's fabulous.
10:23 The gearbox is fabulous.
10:25 It's not a track car.
10:26 I miss the apex in one every time.
10:28 Brakes are strong if you don't overtax them.
10:34 It's a car that is meant to be driven
10:37 only up to a certain level,
10:39 which is around 80, 85% of the limit.
10:42 I disagree.
10:43 I disagree.
10:44 Do you?
10:45 Yeah, you know why?
10:46 Why is that?
10:46 Because you're a nut.
10:48 Because you're dangerous.
10:49 Because you're a hooligan, Jason.
10:51 You know, you're flinging it into these corners
10:55 and you're not getting it sideways.
10:57 Come on.
10:59 I still didn't work.
11:01 I can't.
11:02 Down here, I can't.
11:04 You know why?
11:04 You're too good of a driver.
11:06 Yeah, I've practiced for years to do this right.
11:09 Here, watch.
11:10 Oh, God.
11:11 No.
11:14 Pathetic.
11:15 Pathetic, I'm sorry.
11:17 Now he's gonna scare me in the next corner.
11:18 I'm embarrassed, I have my head in shame.
11:21 If you would be so kind to allow me to drive it,
11:23 I will show you the wrong way to drive a Bentley.
11:26 And I will prove to you that it is possible,
11:28 though violent and stupid and dangerous,
11:31 to get this car sideways.
11:33 (car engine revving)
11:36 Shouldn't have that extra burrito.
11:48 Yeah, okay, yeah, we're good.
12:00 We're sideways.
12:01 Get that smug look off your face.
12:14 Oh, you okay?
12:16 Okay, I'm fine. CPR?
12:18 I'm fine.
12:19 We need to call a medic.
12:20 I will say right off the bat,
12:23 you do notice the weight distribution on turn in.
12:25 This has that torque vectoring by braking,
12:28 which is not torque vectoring at all.
12:30 Yes.
12:31 And if you're really rough with it, like I am,
12:34 you can really feel it grabbing that inside wheel
12:36 to try to induce yaw.
12:37 It definitely is grabbing brakes.
12:51 Oh, yeah, I feel it, yeah.
12:58 I'm very sorry, Randy.
12:59 Did you really intend to do three of those,
13:01 or is that just a death wiggle?
13:03 No, you know what's going on?
13:05 Death wiggle.
13:06 You know what's going on?
13:07 It's actually sending a lot of the power to the front.
13:10 So I can induce the slide like this,
13:12 and then it sends power to the front wheels
13:16 and pulls it through.
13:17 Yeah.
13:17 It's kind of the Audi way.
13:19 It's so safe.
13:20 Send that 85% back there and keep it there.
13:23 Keep it there.
13:24 You know what?
13:25 Send 100% of it back there.
13:27 (Randy laughs)
13:28 It is Scandinavian flingable, though, isn't it?
13:30 It is flingable.
13:31 Wow.
13:32 We know what it did in the figure eight, though.
13:35 We need a lap time.
13:36 Would you do that without doing
13:38 the Jason's stupidity sideways?
13:40 Absolutely.
13:41 (dramatic music)
13:44 (engine revving)
13:46 (bell dings)
13:50 (bell dings)
13:52 (engine revving)
13:55 (bell dings)
13:57 (engine revving)
14:01 (bell dings)
14:04 (engine revving)
14:07 (bell dings)
14:10 (engine revving)
14:12 (bell dings)
14:15 (engine revving)
14:19 (bell dings)
14:21 (engine revving)
14:25 (bell dings)
14:27 (engine revving)
14:31 (bell dings)
14:47 (engine revving)
14:51 (bell dings)
14:54 (engine revving)
14:57 (bell dings)
15:04 (engine revving)
15:08 (bell dings)
15:14 (engine revving)
15:18 (bell dings)
15:20 (engine revving)
15:24 We said the Bentley is loud, and we mean it.
15:35 It's so loud we got in trouble at the racetrack for it.
15:39 So to demonstrate, we have a decibel meter right here,
15:41 and we have a Cadillac ATS-V coming down the straight.
15:45 (engine revving)
15:48 Didn't even register.
15:49 Just ambient background noise, basically.
15:52 Now, coming up, we have a Porsche Cayman GT4.
15:56 Let's see what this thing does.
15:57 Sport exhaust, really loud.
15:59 (engine revving)
16:04 All right, that's loud.
16:05 94 decibels, which is probably also enough
16:09 to get you in trouble, but the Conti's coming.
16:11 (engine revving)
16:15 (laughs)
16:16 98 decibels.
16:18 The only way you'd ever get more loud and obnoxious
16:23 than that would be to involve an American.
16:26 (record scratches)
16:28 Tally-ho, mother(beep)ers.
16:30 (engine revving)
16:33 (bell dings)
16:39 This may be our favorite Bentley ever.
16:42 It's a full-on hot rod, but with a veneer
16:44 of class and sophistication.
16:46 A very, very deep veneer, of course,
16:48 but just enough of one to subtly mask the fact
16:50 that it's completely obnoxious and utterly ridiculous.
16:54 And that's as British as it gets.
16:56 Remember, the Brits do comedy better than anyone else,
16:59 and not regular old comedy, but absurdist comedy.
17:02 You've seen "Absolutely Fabulous," "Faulty Towers,"
17:05 "Monty Python."
17:06 The Brits are unbeatable when it comes to being silly,
17:09 and the GT3-R is the silliest car you can buy.
17:11 Well, you can't buy it, and I can't buy it.
17:14 Only 300 of them are being built.
17:16 99 are coming to the USA, and they're all spoken for.
17:19 Besides, it's a third of a million bucks.
17:21 But for all that laughter,
17:22 that strikes us as a mere pittance.
17:25 Hey, Carlos.
17:27 Yeah, man, I'm good.
17:29 Yeah, listen, I never thought I'd say this,
17:32 but I kinda miss working with (beep)
17:35 (laughing)
17:37 (laughing)
17:40 Can we just, like, take it and steal it?
17:43 Mexico's only, like, two hours that way.
17:45 Take it, we'll split it.
17:47 It's like 170 grand each.
17:49 I can do a lot of damage on that.
17:51 That's like 10-year salary for me.
17:54 I have a rather fast motorcycle on our rear end.
17:57 Hold, please!
17:59 Gang, hold!
18:00 Gunfire!
18:00 (motorcycle revving)
18:02 It was, someone left the iPad out in the rain.
18:07 I don't think I could take it,
18:09 'cause it took so long to bake it.
18:10 Yeah, okay.
18:11 As long as we're on the same page.
18:12 And you'll never have that recipe again?
18:14 Again?