long-term test review Bentley Continental GT

A three-year pre-owned Conti has joined the fleet with a healthy 21,000 miles on the clock. Autocar editor-in-chief took the keys.

Do not forget: pull the lever right back, "advises the Chairman of Bentley and CEO Wolfgang Durheimer, because I'm ready to drive away from the busy Crewe company working in the 21,000-mile, 12-plate Bentley Continental GT V8 Autocar will run for the next six months." This is the best way to hear music from the exhaust

Has a well-earned reputation as a kind of press-on of the driver and he was referring, of course, for the extra performance and agility is available if you pull the transmission selector elegant Bentley knurled a straight back through the drive to Sport rearmost position. Do this and all forms of words, such as the muscles of athletes getting ready for the race: the steering got a little heavier, throttle response gets sharper bit, eight-speed automatic holds gears a little longer and, once you are given 500 bhp twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 head, exhaust emits a rumbling earthquake remind away.

substantial and expensive as this. It seems more appropriate to glide silently into traffic, not least because I was just talking to people who are given a car - Mark Keeping, head of Bentley Pre-owned, and Chris Gretton, used the sales manager of a car in Bentley Birmingham, which will look after our car.

This car already has the three-year ownership of a fastidious Bentley-owning property developer under its belt. Crewe is well known for selling all manner of bespoke configurations to buyers of new cars, but it is also keen to emphasise the desirability and good value of its approved used cars, which are obviously built to give of their best for much longer than the average first-ownership cycle of 32 months.

Because the car is approved for up to 11 years old come with warranty, my eyes at least, pretty much indistinguishable from new. And, of course, there is money to be saved. Conti our new £ 125 000, now priced £ 89,950 before bargain, which locates in the zone for those who might consider good-specced BMW and Mercedes coupe - both of which can be expected to recede value much faster than the Bentley three years.

Bentleys are always very well equipped. We only have two additional outside wheel and body mods: Bentley emblem embroidered on the front seat and vehicle tracker.

As explained, I was afraid the car might be a bit too dark: Onyx body color, Beluga hides and wood veneers in a dark Fiddleback described as Eucalyptus. I have never been beaten in a black-on-black. But the color of the exterior has a luster and depth of the night-and-day different from solid black.

Hide interior is a kind of charcoal, again with a special sheen finish and depth far beyond the darkness. And Fiddleback Eucalyptus turns mahogany as the depth and quality, with a very beautiful grain. Bentley said many owners spend time looking at cars because they are built on the line, and this is why.

A return trip to London is easy, Bentley purring along with traffic and shows just under 30mpg on the trip computer (next work: assess the accuracy). And the car looks calmer and more mechanically sophisticated than the GTS I remember, maybe because it's some time since I've driven one and cars from manufacturers such as Bentley fussy tend to move on.

Two of the invention, so far, has given me pleasure. First, that the V8 is a gem such as mechanical repairs. Sure, you can refine it with the Sport button - and I do, sometimes - but there is great pleasure in silence and smoothness, as well. For comparison, the original W12 engine tends to be color 'buzzy' in some of the rev range, although we obviously apply standards nitpicker here.

Even more important to me, and I suspect many smart owners, is that the Continental GT does not suffer from the high noise level of street dogs are so many German cars being developed today. Tires only really audible over the worst kind of broken asphalt, and even then it was still the best car with a 0-60mph sprint time of 4.6sec and a top speed of 190mph I know. And quality ... if not for the numbers, you will have a very difficult time knowing it is not showroom fresh.

Car: Bentley Continental GT

Need: Luxurious and easy, hide the age and mileage enough to justify that the former prices are still significant.

Run by Autocar since: December 2015

Bentley Continental GT V8 Coupe

New Price (2013) £ 125,000; The price is now £ 89,950; Mileage 21 082; Option (2013 prices) sevenspoke £ 3,220 21in alloy wheels, carbonfibre Mulliner Styling Pack £ 6780, £ 455 embroidered Bentley emblems, a vehicle tracking system £ 1,320 26.8mpg economy; Load None;

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