Bentley's most radical Supersports yet is lighter, leaner, and looks like a muscle car

Bentley has revealed the new Supersports, a car that began life as a Continental GT Speed before going on a crash diet that drops the weight by almost half a tonne.

Serious chunks of the drivetrain have been removed, including the GT Speed’s hybrid system and its 25.9 kWh battery pack. The Supersports is also the first member of the Continental GT to be rear-wheel-drive instead of four, saving further weight, and the standard car’s small rear seats have also been ditched in pursuit of lightness.

Further weight-saving includes the use of a carbon roof, forged wheels developed with Manthey Racing – a company best known for modifying track-ready Porsche 911s – and a full-length titanium exhaust system by Akrapovič.

While weight is down, downforce is up, by a claimed 300 kg over the GT Speed. Described by Bentley as “the most purposeful Continental GT ever,” the Supersports has a new bumper integrating the biggest front splitter ever fitted to a Bentley road car. There are also carbon fibre dive planes, side sills and fender blades, plus a rear diffuser and fixed rear wing.

Inside, a pair of new sports seats are positioned lower than before, while the small rear seats of the Continental GT have been replaced by a carbon and leather shell. Rear cabin sound insulation has also been reduced, and the sound system has been reconfigured for the new two-seat layout. Although not a stripped-out road racer, the Supersports is available with monotone, duo-tone or tri-tone interior specifications with extensive use of leather, carbon fibre and a type of suede Bentley calls Dinamica.

Although missing the Speed’s hybrid system, the Bentley Supersports retains its 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine and redeveloped eight-speed double-clutch gearbox. Maximum power is a claimed 666 PS (657 horsepower) and there’s a muscular 800 Nm of torque. Although still in development, Bentley says the car will hit 62 mph in 3.7 seconds and have a top speed of around 192 mph. Both of these fall slightly short of the heavier but hybrid-assisted Continental GT Speed – but that’s not the point of the Supersports.

“More important than the headline figures,” Bentley says, “will be how the Supersports behaves dynamically.” To that end, this is the first road-going Continental GT to be rear-wheel-drive. The track of the rear wheels has been increased by 16 mm over the standard car, while an electronic differential between the wheels is assisted by torque vectoring. This individually controls the rear brakes to improve steering sharpness when entering a corner, and again when seeking traction at the exit.

The standard car’s rear-wheel-steering is retained to further aid low-speed agility and high-speed stability. Calibration of the steering, suspension, traction management and stability control systems are all-new for the Supersports. The latter can be adjusted from fully-on, to a Dynamic Mode that allows some limited oversteer, and to fully-off. This, Bentley says, “can provoke the Supersports into significant but highly controllable oversteer.”

Despite the massive weightsaving, Bentley hasn’t skimped on the brakes. Instead it has fitted “the largest automotive braking system in the world,” comprising a set of huge, 440mm carbon-silicon-carbide discs and 10-piston calipers at the front, plus 410 mm discs and four-piston calipers at the rear.

Bentley says just 500 individually-numbered examples will be made. Order books open in March, with production beginning towards the end of 2026. The price hasn’t been revealed yet, but for context the GT Speed starts at £236,600.