Driving a Bentley is always special, even when it’s another variant of the familiar Continental GT line, but our V-8 S test car’s stunning Quartzite paint stopped us in our tracks. Keys in hand, we had to fight the urge to drive the thing and instead deployed folding chairs to stare at it like gentry taking in the Preakness Stakes. Of the Continental’s sea of paint options, this might just be the fairest of them all.
Mixed with the V-8 S black-mesh grillwork and red accents, the hue lends the now-familiar Continental shape a timeless feel. Every S gets dark Beluga-colored trim for the rocker panels and fascias, exclusive 20-inch wheels, and red-painted brake calipers. The eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive, and twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 carry over from base V-8s, although the S’s engine is tweaked for 21 more horsepower and 15 more lb-ft of torque for totals of 521 and 502.
