Bentley Continental GTC (2011-2018) Review

Obviously you need to have a healthy bank balance: there’s no such thing as a bargain Bentley. But it’s easy to see where your money goes – if you’re looking for one of the world’s finest luxury drop-tops, the Continental GTC ought to be right up your street.

Both engines are incredibly powerful, and the four-wheel-drive system deploys this power completely without fuss or hesitation. It’s a potent long-distance tourer, and one that asks for little effort from its driver.

The real highlight comes when you drive it more slowly, though. Even with the roof down, the interior is a haven of isolation and decadence, feeling fit for royalty (and more than likely earning you a few glances from passers-by).

It really depends how bespoke the original owner wanted the interior – and how much they wanted to spend. Bentley builds all its cars as custom creations, and if you really want to go all-out and make a machine worth a quarter of a million pounds, you can. If you want the coupe version, you'll need the Bentley Continental GT (2010-2018).

The core of the Continental GTC range is the W12 engine. This is a unique Bentley motor and is so popular, it’s helped the firm become the biggest manufacturer of 12-cylinder engines in the world. There’s nothing like it, particularly the souped-up Speed version.

Truth be told, there’s nothing like its thirst either. You can almost literally watch the fuel gauge go down. Even if you have the means to afford this, the frequent refuelling stops will become tiresome.

That’s why our favourite Continental GTC is the V8, which has a charismatic feel of its own. It’s still beautifully refined, of course, but the more focused throb of a throaty V8 seems more fitting for a Bentley. It’s hardly any slower than the W12 either – you still have an excess of power – and there’s the added convenience of almost 50 percent better fuel economy.

Rivals at this end of the market are a select bunch indeed. There’s the Ferrari California and its Portofino successor, for those who want a more vibrant interpretation of four-seat luxury motoring. There’s also the Rolls-Royce Dawn for even more exclusive open-top British decadence. And straddling the two somewhat, there’s the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante.

The Porsche 911 Cabriolet is very much a 2+2, rather than a proper four-seater. But it’s such a popular supercar, it’s hard to ignore. There’s also the Mercedes-Benz SL: it’s cheaper, and only seats two, but has built such a reputation over more than four decades that it will frequently be considered an alternative.  

There are few cars built to a higher standard than a Bentley. Quality is of the highest order – the leather covering almost every surface, for example, is a rich treat to the touch, and Bentley has an entire division in its Crewe factory dedicated to crafting wood veneer. The amount of work that goes into a Bentley interior almost makes the cars seem cheap.

This is a car that weighs a mammoth 2.5 tonnes, but it’s easy to sense that a lot of that weight has gone into interior fixtures and fittings, which are made from materials designed to last a lifetime. Few cars feel this robust.

This hand-finished machine is almost guaranteed to have a flawless finish, with an interior as perfect as the deep, rich paintwork and chrome on the outside. The Volkswagen parts it calls upon for minor controls are also better quality than many of its peers. It makes a Ferrari feel flimsy in places.  

It’s the sort of car where you’ll focus on the details, because they’re so gorgeous. Do so and you’ll discover quality in depth, from the tactile knurled knobs for the climate control and steering wheel rotary dials, to the perfectly-oiled, hushed motion of those air vent knobs.

Infotainment is pure Volkswagen Group – the same top-end system you’ll find in expensive Volkswagens and Audis. This is not meant as a criticism: it means Bentley buyers get to enjoy the latest standards in infotainment technology, complete with crisp and detailed route guidance and full connectivity with the latest devices. From the 2014 facelift, the system became fully touchscreen-functional. 

You can pair it with some premium sound systems, including a genuinely breathtaking Naim audio setup. Look for the logo on the door speakers to see if it’s fitted. Better still, simply play some music – you won’t believe your ears. 

Perhaps the biggest grumble with the infotainment is that, despite a bit of a Bentley makeover, it still shows its Volkswagen Group roots in some of the menus and page displays. Again, if you’ve come from a Volkswagen Golf, you’ll instantly know how to use it. And while this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is a rare area where Bentley perhaps doesn’t quite offer the high-end experience you would expect.  

The Bentley Continental GTC is an enormous car on the outside. It is more than 4.8 metres long and almost two metres wide – something you’ll certainly be aware of when threading it down a narrow country road. In the front, though, you feel the benefit of this, with an abundance of space.

The seats are mounted high, the automotive equivalent of thrones, and give a commanding view down that fluted bonnet. The range of adjustment is considerable – all via electric assistance, of course – and we’d recommend using the memory settings to save your favourite driving position once you’ve found it. Repeating it again if someone else drives it takes an age, so numerous is the array of adjustments.

However, for such a large car, rear space perhaps isn’t as palatial as you’d imagine. Sure, it’s much bigger than the usual sports car norm, and will take adults in tolerable comfort. It’s just that those in the front may need to compromise a little to free up enough legroom for passengers. Our top tip, when carrying four, is to simply lower the roof, which eradicates the cocooned feel they get with the soft-top up, and also makes it easier for them to clamber in and out – the front seats are so large, they do get in the way a bit.

The boot is on the small side for a large car, because that enormous roof has to fold away somewhere. With it down, load capacity is just 210 litres, expanding to 260 litres with it up. With such large alloy wheels as standard (even the smallest are 20 inches), you don’t get a spare, but Bentley does fit rear ISOFIX mountings so you can fit two child seats at the snap of a finger and thumb.

The W12, a gigantic 6.0-litre motor hand-built in Crewe, is the core version, and serves up an almost other-worldly combination of grunt and effortlessness. It runs near-silently, responds without hesitation, and propels you towards the horizon on a never-ending surge of acceleration. Naturally, the standard automatic gearbox never jars, either.

Indeed, the trickiest part may be keeping your speed down to remotely legal levels. As its name suggests, the Speed is even quicker, with stupendous acceleration and 205mph bragging rights that feel entirely feasible on a German autobahn.

The V8 has a slightly sportier feel. It’s barely any slower, but is a bit more driver-focused – it likes to rev more and, roof down, the raspy exhaust note is entertaining. It also likes to use more revs, so drivers may be encouraged to switch the automatic gearbox into manual mode and play with the paddle shifters behind the wheel.

The paddle shift levers themselves are, in typical Bentley fashion, massive and extremely over-engineered – and all the better for it. Oddly, they’re fixed, so don’t move with the steering wheel, but they’re so big, you shouldn’t have any trouble reaching them. Earlier generations of Continental GTC used a six-speed automatic, but we prefer the eight-speed auto that came later (all V8s use the eight-speed).  

Refinement really is the name of the game here, both with the roof down and up. With the soft-top raised, it’s hard to tell any difference in noise levels versus the Continental GT Coupe. Perhaps there might be the odd ‘whoosh’ from a passing truck, but otherwise it’s still a haven of serenity.

There’s little tyre roar – quite an achievement, given the size of the wheels – and the only engine noise that does filter through is so enjoyable and rich, you really won’t mind. Turn on the stereo to drown it out if you wish.

Roof-down refinement is on another level to most open-top cars. Bentley has ensured wind doesn’t buffet or blow occupants around, and those massive front seats do a brilliant job of cocooning passengers from passing air. Keep the double-glazed windows up and noise levels are fine even at speed, meaning you can have the roof down on a motorway in comfort. And on twisting roads, it means you can enjoy more of those beautiful exhaust noises as well.

From 2014, a neat All-Seasons Specification became available, which included neck warmers, a heated steering wheel and a removable wind deflector.

Bentley fits a comprehensive array of safety equipment, including all-round airbags and the cream of Volkswagen Group safety assist systems. Highlights included automatic seatbelt tensioners that hugged passengers more tightly in extreme conditions, while rollover protection front and rear is suitably substantial.

The Continental GTC’s dynamic abilities help enhance its safety credentials, too. The four-wheel drive system gives assured driving in all weathers, and the engines are powerful enough to get you out of trouble. Just be careful they don’t get you into trouble in the first place…

The 2014 model onwards gained a rear parking camera – a useful feature in a car this large – and a clever valet key, so you can restrict the speed and other functions when handing over the car to a parking valet.

Insurance group 50 for all Bentley Continental GTCs is a given. It will be a bit more expensive to insure than a Continental GT too, given the perceived extra security risk of a soft-top over a metal roof. V8 models will be a little cheaper than the stock W12, and Speed models a little more expensive. However, no Continental GTC is going to be cheap to insure.

Pick out the very highest VED road tax band, and the very highest annual payments, to find out how much you’ll spend to tax a Continental GTC. Even the V8’s CO2 emissions, which are 40 percent better than the W12, are still high enough to incur steep tax bills. There’s no escaping it: taxing this open-top Bentley will cost hundreds.

Even worse are the bills for W12 cars registered from 1 April 2017, which still fall into the highest band – meaning an annual road tax bill of more than £2,100. The one saving grace is that V8s, courtesy of their 254g/km CO2 emissions, just escape the punitive ultra-high payment. Their annual liability is a mere £1,850…

All Bentley Continental GTC come with sumptuous soft leather hides offering a choice of 17 colours and six colour combinations. Every conceivable extra is fitted as standard, meaning the options are largely focused on what sort of materials you want to deck out the interior – such as the choice of seven different wood veneers or an array of other materials including carbon fibre.

Speed versions have a sharper exterior appearance courtesy of a front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser and 21-inch alloy wheels: standard models have 20-inch rims. They get a monotone interior with contrast stitching, plus beautiful diamond quilted leather.

Bentley later introduced a Mulliner Driving Specification trim pack. This also included diamond quilting, plus a tactile knurled gear lever, drilled pedals and ultra-special ‘jewel’ fuel filler cap.