Bentley beefs up its range with new hybrid options, power hikes and bolder design

Off the back of Bentley’s recent launch of the new Bentayga Speed – which took place in Montana – the British marque chose to hang on in the Big Sky state and showcase the rest of its range. This ‘Range at the Ranch’ programme was an opportunity to roll out the latest model-year updates – in trim, tech and power – across the Continental GT, Continental GT Convertible and Flying Spur models.

True to the promise of a more varied and choice-filled range, the company has effectively doubled its output with the introduction of a High Performance Hybrid option across the entire range. Aside from the aforementioned Bentayga Speed, the whole of Bentley’s core range is now hybridised, pairing a V8 with a plug-in system for the best of both worlds. The HPH variant has a combined output of 680 PS and slots in below the 782 PS Ultra Performance Hybrid unit that came along last year.

After a day of long-distance, high-speed driving across Montana’s varied and wonderful wilderness, I got the chance to sample each of the new arrivals, thoughtfully lined up for us outside the log-cabin-on-steroids that is the Montage Big Sky hotel, about 50km south of Bozeman. Once over the candy-coloured selection, which included a rather seductive Flying Spur in Cumbrian Green over Opalite and a shimmering Cricket Ball Satin GT, it was time to put in a few laps of the locality. In reality, this meant dodging the construction traffic as the high-end Big Sky Mountain Village development continues to expand.

As a result, it was rather a sedate drive, a chance to marvel at the evolution of the mountain-side McMansion, as well as the almost total domination of the full-size SUV and pick-up truck on the state’s roads. In comparison, even the mighty Flying Spur saloon comes across as somewhat small and svelte.

As it happened, the Flying Spur was my first choice, an example finished in Cumbrian Green over Opalite (the duo tone paintwork is a £22,000 Mulliner ‘Personal Commission’ extra). The interior, with its dark walnut veneer, also didn’t disappoint, reaffirming Bentley’s mastery of cabin design. Few cars synthesise digital dashboards with physical controls with such elegance, although the limitless trim and colour options need careful design guidance if they’re to stay within the realms of good taste.

Outside, the Flying Spur retains the double headlight arrangement recently forsaken by the GT. As a result, the Spur looks a little bit more traditional than its sportier two-door sibling. To be honest, I prefer this original lighting arrangement over the Batur-inspired front end of the GT and GTC, even though the rest of these cars is pretty much unimpeachable.

With the new High Performance Hybrid system, this stately limousine can hit 60mph in just 3.8 seconds, thanks to the combined shove of V8 and electrons. It’s whisper quiet too, with an ambience and practicality that makes one wish to be a titan of industry swanning between HQ, penthouse and private jet. Almost.

Ride and steering belie the heft of these large cars (despite the scale of everything else on the road), thanks in part to the long list of tech that includes rear steering, air suspension, and active anti-roll bars. Point any one of these machines into a corner at speed and the electronic tussle swiftly and imperceptibly with the laws of physics, ensuring you come out the other side without breaking a sweat.

In contrast to the Flying Spur's discreet dispensation of velocity, the GT and GTC present themselves as the more personal, sporting options. There’s still a clear difference between variants, from the ‘basic’ car to the performance-focused Speed and the more luxurious Azure and Mulliner models, but in truth they all operate within a pretty narrow bandwidth. No one is going to feel especially short-changed by the differences.

It also means that the ‘base’ model – a rather inappropriate term for a Bentley – is practically all the car you’ll ever need. The mechanical differences are a question of tuning, not components, each weighs in about the same, and you’ll need to splash out for notable options like the Naim-powered audio (£7,000+) and the beautiful rotating display (£5,000+).

Ultimately, despite the impressive reserves of power and performance on offer, one of the most notable aspects of the latest crop of Bentley’s is the EV-only range. At around 50 miles, it’s more than capable of providing zero emission day-to-day driving (the average distance of a UK car journey is around 19 miles), whilst the ability to charge up the battery whilst on the move makes it easy to switch to EV mode when you enter a city or low emission zone.

Is this electrification by stealth? Bentley was one of the first manufacturers to make a big commitment to EVs, a promise that has been lightly rolled back in the face of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. What we do know for certain is that the first pure electric Bentley will surface next year and that it won’t simply be an electrified version of a current model. For the time being, Bentley continues to make a solid case for the supremacy of the luxury hybrid.

BentleyMotors.com, @BentleyMotors