Sur La Terre - Issue 11 Doha (Dec10)

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sur la terre unique rides

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easily tell the difference between this and its bigger brother, the GT Speed. Bentley does all this without sacrificing the interior comfort of the Supersports, which is much roomier than other cars in its class. Implementing a combination of soft-grip leather and Alcantara - a first for Bentley - I felt as snug as a vixen in a skintight cat suit! Enjoy that mental image.

< With bentley, it’s always a driving experience >

Much like the TV doctors that rebuilt the afflicted astronaut mentioned above, the Supersports designers spared no expense (as is evident in the near US$270,000 asking price) in making this the final answer in Bentley butt-kickery. Simply put, the W12 engine in the Supersports is, bar none, the most powerful thing that the folks at Bentley have ever implemented in their cars. Incidentally, it’s also the most efficient, reducing CO2 emissions by 70 percent and is the first Bentley to run on either petrol or bioethanol fuel, which is great. Go planet. Now, back to the power...

called “smoked steel,” which not only uses technology that has, until now, only been applied in jewellery making, but also sounds like an amazing 1970s blacksploitation movie starring somebody with a name like “Thaddeus Diamond.” With all of these changes, plus switching the cockpit to a two-seater with carbonfibre framed seats and no back seat, the Supersports saved about 110kg (243 lb) in weight. Granted, that doesn’t seem like much, but in its handling and power, you can

As you can see, “super” doesn’t seem to adequately sum up what it feels like to drive this Bentley, and to be completely honest, if my heart didn’t beat with such unflinching pluck, I’d almost call the experience a bit ... daunting. However, just like any arch-villain worth his weight in adimantium death-bots, it was up to me to truly test the power and responsibility of the Supersports, which is exactly why Bentley invited Sur la Terre to the Yas Marina F1 Circuit in the first place. As The Fantastic ‘Tache (which is what I now call myself), I was definitely put through my paces that day, and was forced to partake in things like speeding around tightly cordoned corners and performing emergency evasive maneuvers, like dodging imaginary lorry accidents and slaloming through narrow lanes of pylons. These ventures would have been Herculean (even for someone like The Flash), if it wasn’t for the aforementioned control that the engine provides, not to mention the Continuous

At its core, this vitriolic 621 brake horespower, twin-turbocharged, 12-cylinder, 6-litre power unit allows a nigh-unfathomable 800 Newton metres of torque; more than enough to make even the most hardened haste-based hero blush. Just like The Flash, whose reflexes are as sharp and lightning-quick as his analytical mind, the unbridled potency of the Supersports is similarly tempered through the new Quickshift transmission, which reduces shift time by 50 percent and allows the car to silkily hit 60 from zero in 3.7 seconds (0100km/h in 3.9 seconds), and makes the climb to its top speed of 204mph (329km/h) almost unnervingly smooth. Of course, to help facilitate its fastidiousness to being fast, Bentley stripped off any chrome or detailing on the Supersports. Instead of impressing with needless bulk (on an already bulky family), designers used a lighter finish

< The 1930s Bentley Blower, still looking good for its age >


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