The new Bentley Continental GT Speed, driven by Hollywood actor Idris Elba, breaks the ‘Flying Mile’ record of Sir Malcolm Campbell on Pendine Sands (Wales). Prior to this, the record was set in 1927 in Napier-Campbell Blue Bird clocking 281.31 kmph. However, this time Elba rolled the speedometer to a speed of 290.26 kmph, as verified by the UK Timing Association. Expressing his views after achieving this feat, Elba was quoted as saying, “I'm absolutely elated to have broken the 'Flying Mile' at Pendine Sands. It’s an honour to have taken on the challenge, and to successfully follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Sir Malcolm Campbell.”
Bentley Continental GT Speed comes equipped with a 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 engine, having the potential to churn out a maximum power of 624 bhp with 820 Nm of highest torque. In order to transmit the produced output, the car features a new 8-speed ZF gearbox with cutting-edge engine management software. With these outputs, GT Speed has the potential to accelerate between 0 and 100 kmph within mere 4.2 seconds, clocking a highest speed of 331 kmph.
It must be noted that the aggressive stance of Bentley GT Speed is strategically toned down to the road surface by cutting-edge engineering with anti-roll bars, up-rated springs and bushes. The height of the car has also been reduced by 10 mm at both front and rear, along with reworked steering system and electronically controlled damping.
Interestingly, the tidal conditions were quite challenging for Idris Elba, and despite the mentioned hardship the erstwhile record was broken in the shooting of a four part series of Discovery channel – Idris Elba: No Limits. The series will be aired in July 2015.
