Bentley Super sports Goes RWD With 657 HP V8
Bentley Super sports Sheds 1,000 Pounds & AWD to Become a Rear-Drive Track Monster at 657 HP
Bentley engineers removed hybrid components and all-wheel drive, creating a lighter, more dynamic Continental GT variant.
Normally, engineers look for ways to pile on cool new technology when developing a hot new model. But Bentley engineers initiated development of the 2026 Super sports with the opposite approach: What if we took away the all-wheel drive and hybrid-electric powertrain components?
The result is a 657-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8-powered rear-drive hooligan that demonstrated its capabilities on the undulating surface of Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
This is far removed from the usual terrain for Bentley’s prestigious Flying Spur limousines, which might normally be seen shuttling the rich and famous to Hollywood red carpet events or Beverly Hills boutiques.
Lightweight Design Meets Powerful Performance
The result is Bentley’s first car weighing less than two metric tons in decades. In old money, that still comes to more than 4,400 lbs. The Supersports demonstrates that it was worth the effort. Bentley has made Supersports before, including on previous Continental GT platforms. Those recent efforts may have been less true to the racecar-for-the-street ethos of the original 1926 Bentley Supersports, but the latest edition upholds that philosophy.
Most of the car’s weight loss came from the removal of some heavy components, but engineers went after mass wherever they could find it, substituting carbon fiber for heavier materials in the roof and mirrors, titanium for the exhaust system, and forged aluminum for the 22-inch wheels. They also deleted the rear seat.
Bentley touts the Supersports’ 4.0-liter engine as all-new, but in fact it is more accurate to call it a unique new variant on the existing engine architecture. That includes larger-diameter single-scroll turbochargers and a dual-mass flywheel, along with massaged parts throughout the engine that result in 657 hp and 590 lb.-ft. of torque.
