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-   -   2015 Supersports (https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/bentley/308139-2015-supersports.html)

ek1 05-16-2013 06:54 PM

2015 Supersports
 
Finally!

http://www.4wheelsnews.com/new-bentley-continental-supersports-will-arrive-in-2014-with-650-bhp/

stevenrmusic 05-17-2013 06:08 AM

Nice, thanks for posting. It says, "To reduce the weight, Bentley is planning to put in carbonfibre body panels, lightweight composite seats and maybe stripping out the rear seats to create a two-seat cabin". If they can get her down to 4500 lbs i'd be impressed. Am guessing 5200 is what they are shooting for though.

ek1 05-17-2013 06:24 AM

The current Supersports is 4940 lbs, so I really hope they are not shooting for 5200 :)

They can easily replace the front fenders, the hoo..sorry, the bonnet and the trun...sorry the boot lid with carbon fibre pieces. Those are standalone parts. If they want to do something awesome, they can do a carbon fibre roof - even BMW is doing that on M cars these days.

jaspergtr 05-17-2013 06:40 AM


Originally Posted by ek1 (Post 3850396)
They can easily replace the front fenders, the hoo..sorry, the bonnet and the trun...sorry the boot lid with carbon fibre pieces. Those are standalone parts. If they want to do something awesome, they can do a carbon fibre roof - even BMW is doing that on M cars these days.

It sounds like there is an identity crisis about what the car lineup is trying to be.

Is this because people are complaining when drag racing their Bentleys (or better yet, road racing), that they wish they'd have 100 less lbs?

I can understand incremental changes, and the desire to increase mileage / performance. I applaud Bentley for not sitting still while the industry moves on (a la Aston Martin). But I'm curious what the desired effect is (not just weight savings, but the purpose of the car).

stevenrmusic 05-17-2013 06:47 AM

Well, the 'power wars' are on and losing weight is always a good thing provided it doesn't kill the great reliability.

black penguin 05-17-2013 06:57 AM

They need to lose even more weight, like Range Rover did.

mburnstein 05-17-2013 10:43 AM

don't see the need to strip luxury out of the cabin to save weight
 
Better for them to add more HP if possible with GT3 tricks but keep cabin luxury the same

jaspergtr 05-17-2013 11:54 AM


Originally Posted by mburnstein (Post 3850617)
Better for them to add more HP if possible with GT3 tricks but keep cabin luxury the same

This was my thought. Thanks for articulating it better. :D

mburnstein 05-17-2013 11:58 AM


Originally Posted by jaspergtr (Post 3850684)
This was my thought. Thanks for articulating it better. :D

you are welcome! I like my 2011 Supersports with the luxury seat just fine!

ek1 05-18-2013 10:56 AM

4 Attachment(s)

Originally Posted by jaspergtr (Post 3850401)
It sounds like there is an identity crisis about what the car lineup is trying to be.

Is this because people are complaining when drag racing their Bentleys (or better yet, road racing), that they wish they'd have 100 less lbs?

I can understand incremental changes, and the desire to increase mileage / performance. I applaud Bentley for not sitting still while the industry moves on (a la Aston Martin). But I'm curious what the desired effect is (not just weight savings, but the purpose of the car).

I my opinion, there is no identity crisis at all. In fact, it's more of going back to the roots. From the beginning, Bentleys were about performance (without compromising luxury). Between 1923 and 1993 Bentley participated in 9 Le Mans races and won 6 of them. In between, they also set new speed and endurance records. I think that releasing a few high-performance models (i.e. Supersports & GT3) falls perfectly in line with Bentley's heritage and definitely helps their image.

Replacing several body panels with carbon fibre will not change the appearance of the car a bit, but it will decrease the weight, which is a win-win.

As far as racing Bentleys is concerned, who in your opinion Bentley was targeting when they released the Supersports? Theoretically, anyone who is looking for prestige, luxury and comfort will be satisfied with a standard GT and those who want "just a bit more of everything" will be perfectly happy with the GT Speed. I am sure there are people who bought their Supersports because it was the fastest Bentley ever, and it's unique in it's own right, etc., but I got mine because it's like a Swiss army knife. It can get me to the office during morning rush hour quickly - few people dare to cut off or tailgate a Bentley. After a long day in the office, I can set the suspension to "comfort", turn on the massage and have a relaxing drive home. On a weekend, I can go to a track day and out-drive people with dedicated "sport cars". I can take my kids to school, take friends to dinner or pick someone up at the airport (with luggage). In the winter, I can throw a set of winter tires on, raise the car up and go skiing to Vermont. All in a single car, without compromise. I applaud Bentley for making a Supersports and hope that the next one will be even more awesome (more power, less weight, better suspension).

Speaking of track events, I went to a Bentley Driving Experience at Lime Rock earlier this week and drove a few different cars. During an autocross in a 2013 GTC, the body roll was atrocious and the car just plowed (see pics). Driving a 2013 GT Speed around Lime Rock felt much better, but the car I was in did not have carbon ceramic brakes and I felt the difference immediately. Engine power and cornering ability also felt different (worse) than my Supersports. Again, different strokes for different folks.

You also correctly pointed out that Bentley is not sitting still when it comes to competition. Everyone knows that 0 to 60 figures are meaningless most of the time (as it relates to real world driving anyway), but they certainly earn publicity when it comes to comparisons, etc. When Supersports was originally released in 2009, very few real life cars could do 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds. Things are a lot different today, when a 4-door family sedan (MB E63 AMG) can do it in 3.4 seconds, Bentley needs a quicker Supersports to distance itself from the pack.

Based on what I hear, GT3 will be produced as well. It will most likely be priced over $500K and will serve two purposes. First, it will serve as a test bed for new technologies and second, it will serve as a "halo" car, associating the brand with racing again, bringing publicity and helping sales (i.e. "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday").

Wedgeduck 05-19-2013 11:43 AM


Originally Posted by enjoythemusic (Post 3850388)
Nice, thanks for posting. It says, "To reduce the weight, Bentley is planning to put in carbonfibre body panels, lightweight composite seats and maybe stripping out the rear seats to create a two-seat cabin". If they can get her down to 4500 lbs i'd be impressed. Am guessing 5200 is what they are shooting for though.

I believe the SS is built like this already except for the carbon fiber hoods , bumpers, and trunk. You know they will charge. Also the current SS rear seat deleted and carbon ceramic brakes weigh in at 4750. Our stock GT weighs in at 5150lbs. About 5 thousand bucks of lithium ion batteries and she can lose another 60lbs. It cost to make this girl lighter. But the performance is there.:)

stevenrmusic 05-19-2013 12:08 PM

Ek1, excellent post and agree on many fronts. As far as 06 GT versus 07 GTC in handling, the difference is big. The GT felt far better IMHO.

F430Spider 05-24-2013 11:14 AM

Worst write up I ever read

stevenrmusic 05-24-2013 12:12 PM

Do tell F430 as would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

ek1 05-26-2013 01:48 PM


Originally Posted by Wedgeduck (Post 3851882)
I believe the SS is built like this already except for the carbon fiber hoods , bumpers, and trunk. You know they will charge. Also the current SS rear seat deleted and carbon ceramic brakes weigh in at 4750. Our stock GT weighs in at 5150lbs. About 5 thousand bucks of lithium ion batteries and she can lose another 60lbs. It cost to make this girl lighter. But the performance is there.:)

Curious where you got the 4750 Lbs figure? Quite a few web sites on the Internet list the curb weight at 4940 Lbs:

http://www.edmunds.com/bentley/conti...res-specs.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...rsports-review

Wedgeduck 05-28-2013 02:18 PM


Originally Posted by ek1 (Post 3857475)
Curious where you got the 4750 Lbs figure? Quite a few web sites on the Internet list the curb weight at 4940 Lbs:

http://www.edmunds.com/bentley/conti...res-specs.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...rsports-review

Back seat delete. Carbon fiber seats. Carbon ceramic brake rotors. Then I guess if Bentley is running her weight at 4940 she is then a cow. I am lighter than that with my rear seats intact.

Dr.Disaster 05-28-2013 04:03 PM

Just getting to this thread but good reading with questions of ideology. For fun ek1 and playful banter I did not think of Bentley as anything but an ole geezer car being totally ignorant(surprised--- not)of the performance past. Please pray tell which was the performance car of the past? I found discontinued models like, Azure, Brooklands, Arnage, State Limousine, T1, T2, S1 and the MK VI Saloon. Which ones are the hod rods?hilarious No wonder I thought Bentely was Geezerville.;) With the introduction of the Continental GT they finally put out a car for the sporting driver.

I like to see the company put out geezerglides, GTs and super cars. If put to the real test I would bet they are more interested in selling cars $ than building brand identity.:D

I do wonder if the GT lost 1200 lbs would it drive like the car we love?

stevenrmusic 05-28-2013 04:22 PM


Originally Posted by Dr.Disaster (Post 3859068)
I do wonder if the GT lost 1200 lbs would it drive like the car we love?

Hmm, that brings the fat pig down to a svelte 4000 lbs. Nope, still a bit of a porker, but far better P2W and am sure the tires/brakes would be far happier too. Now if you got that 800TQ/HP and 4000 lbs... that would be something fun :D

Wedgeduck 05-28-2013 09:09 PM


Originally Posted by enjoythemusic (Post 3859090)
Hmm, that brings the fat pig down to a svelte 4000 lbs. Nope, still a bit of a porker, but far better P2W and am sure the tires/brakes would be far happier too. Now if you got that 800TQ/HP and 4000 lbs... that would be something fun :D

Would 4700lbs at 850hp count?hilarious

Dr.Disaster 05-29-2013 07:00 AM

With a big weight loss we all know the performance would be up but I was more referring to the luxury ride quality. Would the solid and planted feel of the car go away if she lost to much fat? I may be the odd ball:rolleyes: here but I think the weight actually helps define the car and make it what it is, a luxury grand tourer.

Wedgeduck is perverting the car making it into what it was not supposed to be. Don't get cross there my Ca. buddy I'm a bit of a perv too.:cool:

Wedgeduck 05-29-2013 08:12 AM


Originally Posted by Dr.Disaster (Post 3859508)
With a big weight loss we all know the performance would be up but I was more referring to the luxury ride quality. Would the solid and planted feel of the car go away if she lost to much fat? I may be the odd ball:rolleyes: here but I think the weight actually helps define the car and make it what it is, a luxury grand tourer.

Wedgeduck is perverting the car making it into what it was not supposed to be. Don't get cross there my Ca. buddy I'm a bit of a perv too.:cool:

hilarious She is still fat Doc. The handling feels nifty on corners. The weight is a bit better on gas mileage . I experimenting on how she handles as a four seater lightening up. I wanted to strip her down later and roll cage her, then then that air ride system has to go. So much work. Fun , but costly.

GCBC 05-29-2013 08:13 AM

Bentley can do what they please with the current line but if they want to increase market share they NEED to get that SUV in showrooms. The new cgt v8 is as good as a car can get.

Wedgeduck 05-29-2013 11:48 AM


Originally Posted by TheYoungConnoisseur (Post 3859552)
Bentley can do what they please with the current line but if they want to increase market share they NEED to get that SUV in showrooms. The new cgt v8 is as good as a car can get.

They do need that SUV.


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