2025 Bentley Continental GT review: Fast forward to the future

[JANDA BAIK, MALAYSIA] Driving the new Bentley Continental GT in V8 hybrid form made me feel like a gust of ancient flatulence. It’s not that Bentleys are for the elderly (I’ll have you know Kylie Jenner has owned a couple), but that I was there at the rebirth of Bentley as we know it today, all the way back in 2003 when the first Conti GT burst from the womb. How is it possible that the grand tourer-supercar-luxury parlour mash-up is already in its fourth generation?

The new Continental’s great-grandfather certainly had a point to make when it came out. Bentley had just had a messy split from Rolls-Royce, after ending up in Volkswagen’s hands while BMW snatched the rights to the Rolls trademark. The new owners were determined to kick things off with a killer car, and poured £63 million (S$108 million) into modernising the factory in Crewe, just over England’s border with Wales.

When I went to poke around the place, it was clear that Crewe’s new custodians had done their sums. The Continental GT, they told me, was aimed at people with a net worth of US$3 million and up, excluding their primary residence (multiply that figure accordingly if you live somewhere with import duties, like here). Bentley figured there were 1.5 million such individuals worldwide at the time (being seven years old, Jenner presumably had yet to join their ranks).

To tempt them, the first GT was an unapologetic machine. A mighty 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 with 558 horsepower gave it ballistic acceleration. It also made the Bentley more powerful than every Ferrari on sale at the time. Every car’s cabin had 24 leaves of identical wood veneer from 80-year-old trees, and needed at least 10 cowhides. Every steering wheel had exactly 234 stitches.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the W12 is gone, murdered by tightening emissions standards. To move with the times, Bentley plans to launch a plug-in hybrid or fully electric model every year until 2035. The current range will soldier on with plug-in tech, which is where the new Continental GT V8 Hybrid comes in.

Priced at S$1,208,000, it’s the entry-level version, sitting below the more muscular Speed variant, but it’s still instantly recognisable. Like Porsche’s 911, the Continental has evolved without really losing its essence. It still has its impossibly long bonnet, low roof and voluptuous rear.

Yet, this is the first Bentley since 1959 with two headlamps instead of four. The lamps’ “cat eye” flourishes add a hint of Dua Lipa – sultry, swoopy, slightly dangerous, though somewhat less menacing is the plastic grille. I would have preferred mine in metal, although pedestrian safety dictates otherwise.

What hasn’t changed is the sense of heft. The car weighs nearly as much as two hot hatches, and yet I discovered on the winding roads to Janda Baik, at the foot of Genting Highlands, that the Bentley is more gazelle than rhino.

Driving it still feels like sitting in a lounge chair strapped to a rocket, but when the road starts jinking left and right, the Continental follows every curve with shocking composure – no body roll, no hesitation, no flabbiness. That’s down to four-wheel steering, active suspension and active roll bar systems that all work in concert. If there were a Nobel Prize for defying physics, the chassis team would have won it.

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The hybrid system is equally impressive. A 4.0-litre V8 and electric motor deliver a mighty 680 hp, enough to launch this mobile palace to 100 kmh in a scintillating 3.7 seconds. And yet, the Conti can also glide silently for up to 84 km on electricity alone, thanks to a 25.9 kilowatt-hour battery hidden in the boot. You can even hit 140 kmh without petrol, though the plug-in tech is more about compliance than trying to rival Tesla. In hybrid mode, the switch between petrol and electricity happens seamlessly.

Inside, a tasteful blend of digital screens and physical switches (for proper tactility) sit within a cabin rich with endless customisation possibilities. Between upholstery colours, embroidery and trim materials (not to mention bespoke exterior paint), you can spend vast sums to make your Bentley just so, which is really the pleasure of buying one.

The boot is disappointingly small, at 260 litres, and the rear seats feel more confined than before. I suppose there are other Bentleys if you want practicality. But is the Continental GT a sports car? A mile-munching limousine? A glamorous electric vehicle for the extremely wealthy?

All of those apply, but it’s ultimately still a definitive Bentley, made by people who know exactly what they want to achieve. That much was true of the first Continental GT, but the new hybrid does illuminate a promising path for Bentley’s electrified future.

Bentley Continental GT V8 Hybrid Engine 3,996 cc turbocharged V8 Engine output 519 hp, 770 Nm Electric motor 190 hp, 450 Nm System power/torque 680 hp, 930 Nm Battery type/capacity Lithium-ion/25.9 kWh Charging time/type 2.75 hours (11kW AC) Electric range 84 km (WLTP) 0-100 kmh 3.7 seconds Top speed 270 kmh Fuel efficiency 10.3 L/100 km (combined, estimated) Efficiency 19.8 kWh/100 km (estimated) Agent Wearnes Automotive Price S$1,208,000 without Certificate of Entitlement Available Now