Bentley Continental GTC 2013 review

It used to be that when you want to try the great outdoors, you go hiking. You carried your own canvas, set it up somewhere, hoping it wasn't infested with snakes, and then burned your food in the most fickle of stoves, the fire.

This is how the campsite appeared, in which the toilet block appeared. It should have been a good idea, but not because of the incessant sound of the generators. A similar "catch-22" is facing convertible manufacturers. Remove the roof and the hard metal canister that was a car becomes a wet mass of uncertainty.

These are the car equivalents of camping: they seem comfortable - say, four seats and a secure folding metal roof - but actually ruin what they set out to make acceptable. You have wind in your hair but you can't enjoy it because the ride quality is unbearable and your knees are pressed to your chin.

I'd rather hide behind a tree, and luckily some convertibles still do. For example, the Lotus Elise is a loud and uncompromising sports car with a roof from the 1950s scout manual. It's as damp as the environment you're in, a two-man bivouac on wheels.

Or, if you're going to make this experience luxurious, at least do it convincingly. When we talk about tents, it's called "glamping" - glamorous camping. You are, of course, in the untouched natural wilderness, but always close to a comfortable bed and a coffee maker. When we talk about big convertibles, it's called the Bentley GTC.

VALUE

If the $1,075,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead is the Everest of convertibles, then the GTC is K2. Not the tallest, but head and shoulders above all but one. The version I rode with the new V8 engine starts at $407,000.

After some essentials were added, such as high-pile floor mats, a knurled shifter, and diamond-stitched upholstery, it cost $497,288. The next most expensive, Maserati's Grancabrio costs well below $338,000.

The BMW M6 convertible costs $308,500, while Mercedes' most luxurious four-seat convertible is the $500 E188,635, which won't give a self-respecting glamper altitude sickness. You can buy a convertible Aston DB9, Jaguar XK or Porsche 911, but only if you know exactly what you need for seating. The back is beautifully padded parcel shelves.

Design

Bentley rear seats are cramped for adults, but at least usable by people of some size. And if the cabins of his rivals are luxurious, then the luxury rises. Bentley likes to say that if a piece of trim looks like wood, it's wood, and if it looks like metal, it's metal.

It's rare these days, but it's something more. The clip looks like metal. At the GTC, every detail could be made from an expensive watch strap. As if to prove it, there is a small Breitling badge on the dashboard. A nice touch, as is the silent silver lever that moves the seat belt within reach. Did I mention the knurled shift knob? Few cabins are so beautiful.

The roof is large and slow to operate, at around 25 seconds. It does not open on the fly and the wind deflector must be manually installed. A bit old-fashioned, but without that, the cabin remains pretty laid back and not bad otherwise. The closed, narrow roofline gives the car great proportions and well insulates the cabin.

There are rollaway beds with less upholstery. This is the second generation of the GTC and follows the coupe from almost two years ago with a few minor changes. So modest that at the time it seemed a little underdeveloped. This is especially true on the exterior, where sharper lines need sharp visual memory to distinguish them from the original.

But this is even more true in one important area: the control screen. It shares this with other brands in the Volkswagen group, and even two years ago the modernization was not up to par. Perhaps it won't matter, because other impressions are stronger. Few cars are proud of their weight these days because they shed every ounce imaginable to improve fuel economy.

TECHNOLOGY

Sure, it feels better balanced than its nose-heavy predecessor, which was only offered with a huge 6.0-liter turbocharged 12-cylinder engine. This upgraded engine remains available for another $42,500. But even for an icon that loves extremes, now it looks like overkill.

The 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 is shared with Audi and I expected it to be a bit louder, especially with the roof down. But it has plenty of power for a car that's easy to drive thanks to plenty of low-end torque. GTC picks up speed with inevitability, like a locomotive.

Then it is easy to exceed the speed limit. It accelerates from 100 to XNUMX km/h in five seconds, which is incredibly fast for such a heavy car. As a mark of efficiency, fuel-saving features such as direct injection and the ability to deactivate half of the cylinders while driving are used.

The new eight-speed automatic also helps, though it's not the fastest-changing transmission. Eight - a lucky number for Bentley - is also the number of pistons on huge brakes. They work, fortunately.

DRIVING

So, even more than usual, Bentley can make other cars feel like toys. He has substance. Already after a few hundred meters behind the wheel, this solidity gives out a badge. Blindfolded (thought experiment!) I think I can tell what it is just by how it feels on the road. Few convertibles drive this well, and only the occasional slight shudder reminds you that this is an imperfect world. One that you can carelessly ignore.

Because it's asphalt imperialism at heart, this 2.4-ton British Expeditionary Force, and it gives the driver a certain road swagger. You become a hun in a pith helmet. It's because it's good to drive. Bentley claims it's the world's stiffest convertible and the suspension engineers must have been thrilled. You feel the weight in corners, but it gets the job done, and the chassis is surprisingly thin and subtle in the signals it sends to the rider. Huge tires and four-wheel drive, divided in a ratio of 40:60 front and rear, add to its main capabilities. If you drive fast, you feel like you've learned how to juggle stuffed balls.

VERDICT

I have already confessed in these pages that I do not like convertibles. But now I understand that it must be one extreme or the other. If I'm going to connect with nature, it has to be hardcore. Or hedonistic. And few do it as well as this Bentley GTC.