All language subtitles for Supercar.Superbuild.S01E03.Aston.Martin.V-12.Vantage.S.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] For generations

Bentley has ruled the
world of luxury saloons

by being bigger, faster, and
louder than the competition.

- It's beautiful, it's luxurious,

it's fast, and it's expensive.

That's rarefied air.

- [Narrator] For over a decade,

the Continental GT has been
the brand's signature machine.

Once it was the fastest 4C
production car in the world,

hitting a top speed of
318 kilometers an hour,

combining competition-level performance

with luxury worthy of royalty.

- The proudest achievement

was producing a car for
the Queen of England

in the same year as winning Le Mans.

- [Narrator] However,
the platform has aged.

- Car's had an extremely long
shelf life, it's ancient.

- [Narrator] Competitors are
nipping at the company's heels.

- The world is catching up quickly.

If Bentley doesn't keep innovating,

then they'll have a problem.

- [Narrator] The brand's answer
isn't to reinvent an icon

but to refine it,

creating their most powerful

and fuel efficient machine ever,

the Continental GT V8 S.

(dramatic music)

The Continental GT V8 S

is the latest Bentley to
wear the red flying B.

A subtle insignia that
hides in plain sight

but the red badge means
only one thing, speed.

With 521 horsepower on tap,

the GT V8 S is the most
powerful entry-level variant

of a machine that's over a decade old.

In 2003, the Continental GT

emerged as the ultimate
dual threat supercar,

exuding high-end luxury
and total performance.

- It was a real bold move to
decide to go for luxury coupe

for the brand to set up
the start of the brand

and the reset, the Bentley
2.0 phase of the brand.

- Bentley came into this segment,

there was really nothing

that competed against the Continental GT.

It sort of opened up
a new segment up there

between 150 and $200,000 that
ruled for many, many years.

- [Narrator] Single-handedly,

the GT resuscitates the
grand touring genre.

- It was about creating
a really special coupe,

two plus two seater,

which was combining performance

with an incredible driving experience.

- It was really a coming
together of two worlds,

the blending of the luxury world
with the performance world.

It was a real breakthrough car for us.

- [Narrator] Almost overnight,

the machine becomes an automotive icon.

- When it entered the market in 2003,

it changed the perception of
the whole brand completely.

- [Narrator] Part supercar
and part super saloon,

the machine quickly
increases sales fivefold.

- The change was dramatic
from where it was

producing just around 2,000 cars per annum

to producing just over 10,000 cars.

- Continental was a play
for volume by Bentley.

This was a car that was more affordable

and also an everyday livable car.

- [Narrator] The GT's
success traces its roots

back to a formula that's
nearly 100 years old.

- That special combination
of the performance,

luxury, and practicality.

That's what makes the Bentley GT an icon.

- [Narrator] A mantra where
bigger is always better.

It's an ideology that
hearkens back to W.O. Bentley,

the man who founds the company in 1919.

- W.O. Bentley created
relatively big cars.

He was of the opinion that if
the car is not fast enough,

I have to put a bigger engine in.

- [Narrator] When the
brand reboots in 2003,

the team doesn't start with the engine,

but rather the shape of the car itself.

- It started with a blank sheet
of paper, believe it or not.

The styling of the car

certainly dictated quite
a small engine bay,

so we had to come up with an engine

that would package in
that tight engine bay

and produce the power and torque

that one would expect from a Bentley.

- [Narrator] Packaging
concerns lead the team

to create a unique W12 engine.

- The W12 is an interesting engine

and its layout is not really
shared by anything else.

The W12 is two VR6 engines

which are staggered.

When you combine two of them

it's four rows of cylinders
basically, that's the W12.

- [Narrator] But age has a way
of catching up with beauty,

no matter how powerful it is.

- It's not a particularly
efficient design.

It doesn't fit into the modern world

in the way that some smaller engines do

because it doesn't get
the greatest fuel economy.

- [Narrator] The once
emboldened Continental

is now on borrowed time.

- When we entered the market
with a Continental GT,

it was unique.

Today, there are probably
10 or 20 competitors.

- [Narrator] Younger, lighter,
and nimbler challengers

have started to steal its thunder.

For years, Rolls Royce was
the brand's main rival,

but now a variety of marks

have Bentley in their crosshairs.

- So there's no time for us to sit still.

- [Narrator] The high-end posh society

that the original machine
targeted has changed.

- Consumers can be very fickle.

After a while, if
something stops being cool,

they're gonna move on to the next thing.

- [Narrator] Rising fuel
costs have also challenged

the very foundation of the brand.

- They're in a very difficult position

that they've been very
successful in this car

and there's a lot of people

who want this car the way it is,

but they still also
have to keep it modern.

- [Narrator] In order to remain

at the top of the GT category,

Bentley has to do two contradictory
things at the same time,

increase power and slim its flagship down.

- Bentleys have never been lightweight,

they've never been small cars.

They weigh as much as a lot of SUVs

but they make up for
that with a lot of power.

- [Narrator] Reworking
the Bentley archetype

is no small feat.

- For a brand like Bentley,

very important

to understand how to transfer
this rich history into today.

- [Narrator] Now it's up to
Luc Donckerwolke head of design

to bring the classic Conti
shape into the modern age.

- It's an industrial process

relying on artistic
communication language,

which is drawing.

- [Narrator] To get modern,
the team goes back in time.

They start the new model's revision

by sketching lines on paper.

- It's really important,

it's what we call the
power line in the haunch.

Those two lines are the DNA of the brand

and they're really present
in different orchestration.

- [Narrator] The brand's strong history

is a blessing and a curse.

- We don't want to make a retro car

but we want to anchor it in the past,

in the traditions of the company.

- [Narrator] Designers
labor to push the edge.

- This wow effect you get when
you see that car first time

is coming from the styling.

- [Narrator] Tradition
takes a dramatic sidestep

towards new tech

inside the Bentley visualization suite,

a state-of-the-art facility

where a simple sketch on a napkin

can become a life-sized
three-dimensional model.

Exterior designer Gareth Thomas

is tasked with tweaking
the car's classic lines.

- Once we've developed the sketch,

we'll work with the the CAD model

and that's where the
exciting bit begins really.

- [Narrator] His team sculpts
the next generation Bentley

using next generation technology.

- You can see the CAD one-to-one scale

of the Continental GT.

- [Narrator] Within this virtual

photo realistic environment,

parts can be tested for
both look and functionality.

- [Gareth] It's really important
that what we are designing

isn't just fantasy.

The CAD data is a really important

crucial part of of the design process.

It's from this CAD data

that the actual parts are manufactured.

- [Narrator] Designers can
test each particular piece

for size, shape, and surface quality.

It's like a video game for creativity.

The new headlamps become
one of the key parts

to move the machine into the modern era.

- The challenge is always

how to do this in a modern interpretation

and to to keep the the design fresh.

The development of LED technology

is certainly allowing us to do that.

- [Narrator] The LED
lights and glass covers

are created with a click of the mouse.

Beyond the face,

the body lines are
virtually refined as well.

- The reflections is how
you read the surfaces

of the car itself.

- [Narrator] Reflections are
key to all great supercars.

But Bentley's sense of time

is based on a classical philosophy.

- The shape is orchestrated

by those really sharp and precise lines.

There's a rhythm like in orchestra

where you have one
instrument after the other,

so you have the violin
stopping and then you have,

you know, the other instrument
that is basically starting

picking up in a rhythm.

This is orchestrated by volumes,

by concave and convex surfaces,

which gives this richness of the form.

- [Narrator] By utilizing
the latest technology,

designers have modified the
classic look of a Bentley.

Nearly 100 years ago

in the British town of
Cricklewood in North West London,

a railway engineer
makes a fateful decision

to build engine parts out of
aluminum instead of cast iron.

His name, W.O. Bentley,

a man notorious for building
the biggest engines around

and the most efficient.

- W.O. Bentley in 1919

wasn't all about just big cubic capacity,

he was all about
technology and efficiency.

- [Narrator] W.O.'s early engines

offer cutting edge technology.

His power plants feature overhead cams

and twin carburetors.

- It was more about torque
rather than big displacement.

- [Narrator] W.O.'s genius
starts with engineering,

but it crosses the finish
line thanks to promotion.

He realizes it isn't
the power of his pistons

that attracts buyers,

but whether or not they
win on the racetrack.

- In the late 20s

a group of rich Brits
called the Bentley Boys

would take their giant
imposing massive Bentleys

to the 24-hour Le Mans race
in France and race their cars

and party and it was a
whole lifestyle thing,

and they would win.

- [Narrator] Five Le Mans victories later,

Bentley Motors is world renowned

for handcrafting luxurious
high performance machines

that win.

(uplifting music)

In 2003,

Bentley introduces the reborn Continental

with a new W12 power plant.

It wins critical acclaim

but time moves fast, even
faster than a Continental.

What was once deemed an
exceptional piece of engineering

is now a liability.

- The Continental had always
been built on the W12,

but obviously with fuel
efficiency and regulations

we needed to downsize.

- [Narrator] Brian Gush, the
current director of Motorsport,

is one of the key engineering members

tasked with finding

a more environmentally friendly solution.

- We had to produce an engine

that was worthy of being
called a Bentley engine

that provided that effortless torque.

- [Narrator] Gush and his
team turn their attention

to the smaller twin turbo V8.

- The four-liter twin turbo V8

gives us a similar feeling
with a lot less capacity.

- [Narrator] At first,

the new V8 sucks down
fuel at an alarming rate,

so engineers turn to a new technology.

- Using cylinder deactivation,

dropping onto four cylinders enabled us

to drop the fuel consumption.

- [Narrator] Disengaging the cylinders

shuts down half of the engine

during moments of low demand,

turning a V8 into a V4.

- It's part of modern reality
that all car companies

need to consider smaller
models, smaller engines,

more fuel efficient vehicles.

- It's got decent fuel
economy for something this big

and this heavy and this powerful.

- [Narrator] The new V8 engine

is far more fuel efficient
than its predecessor.

That doesn't help the
Continental save weight

and the heavier a machine
is, the harder it is to stop.

- An equal match for the
Bentley's engines are its brakes.

It's got huge, huge carbon ceramic rotors.

They're basically as big as
an economy car's entire wheel.

- [Narrator] The Conti needs large brakes

because the machine

deals with a tremendous amount of energy

during heavy braking.

Automotive brake systems
transform the car's movement

or kinetic energy into heat.

At 100 kilometers an hour,

a maximum stop for a
1,600-kilogram vehicle

generates enough electricity

to keep a 100-watt light bulb
lit for an hour and a half.

The Continental GT weighs
over 2,250 kilograms.

- From our top speed to standstill,

the brakes have to deal with
10 megajoules of energy.

- [Narrator] 10 megajoules is enough power

to keep an average family
home going for six hours.

- These massive, massive
carbon ceramic brakes

that you can just dump
a ton of speed into them

and they're unfazed

by the fact that the car
weighs 5,000 plus pounds.

- The largest disc brakes on
a passenger car in the world.

Well, that's another
unique Bentley development

which we're particularly proud of.

- [Narrator] At 420 millimeters,

each carbon ceramic disc brake
uses eight piston calipers

and is the size of a deep dish pizza.

- If you go fast, you've gotta stop fast.

(mid tempo music)

- [Narrator] While
torque-fueled performance

has been a Bentley trait
for nearly 100 years,

if it wasn't for the
craftsmanship behind the badge,

there'd be just another sports car.

- For a brand like Bentley

with its rich history
of nearly now 100 years,

it is very important to
understand what are our DNA.

(mid tempo music)

- [Narrator] Today that DNA is found here

inside the Bentley
factory in Crewe, England.

Built for WWII,

the factory is entrenched in
the history of British motoring

and engineering.

- Nothing would prepare
you for working in Bentley.

The processes, the materials we deal with

are completely different to anywhere else.

- [Narrator] This is where the
brand's coach-building past

combines with modern technologies

to create the new Continental GT.

- Continental takes
about 120 hours to build.

It feels very high, particularly
from the car industry,

but the difference here is at
Bentley we make everything.

- [Narrator] Unlike most car factories,

at Crewe there are individual shops

devoted specifically to wood,

leather, and the famed
Bentley power plant.

- It's about the art of
transforming those materials

and putting them together into a car.

- [Narrator] Keeping all
those substances in check

starts inside a unique
laboratory run by Helen Davock.

She and her team use a variety of machines

to test each material
to its absolute limit.

- Our job quite simply is
to make the best products

even better than they already are.

- [Narrator] Materials which
range from manmade metals

and glass compounds to the
tactile parts of the interior.

- Wood and leather are natural products,

maybe many people don't
realize the technology

that goes into them.

- [Narrator] Everything in the vehicle,

from the steering wheel to the iPod drawer

is built for maximum durability.

- On the outside, it simply
looks like a piece of wood

but actually when you
look at the science of it,

it's a multiple layer construction.

(mid tempo music)

- [Narrator] There's only
so much real-world testing

that can happen in a lab,

so the team consistently tests materials

in the world's harshest environments.

- [Helen] We take whole Bentleys

and we leave them in the desert

for literally years

and all they do is sit in the
hottest environments and bake.

We're expecting this
wood, a natural product,

to last that kind of environment.

- [Narrator] High-tech science

that begins in a very
old-school wood shop,

where 167 artisans craft some
of the finest pieces of wood

in the world.

- Currently we're taking
about the top 10%,

between 10 and 20% of the
top veneers across the world.

- [Narrator] The veneers
are made from wood

that is sourced around the globe.

There are 14 types of wood
and nine veneer options.

(soft music)

Each layer must first be bulk cut to size

before it can be perfectly matched.

- A lot of the parts we use at Bentley

actually require mirror matching.

This is where we'll edge and joint

one side of the veneer
to create a mirror image.

We'll flip the pieces over,

create a nice mirror image
into the center of the part

when it's pressed onto the part.

- [Narrator] Next, the wood is
coated with a strong adhesive

before being pressed onto the parts.

It takes seven hours to make one piece

and there can be up to 33 wooden
pieces in each Continental.

- Extreme heat and extreme pressure

for about five to 10 minutes

actually allows the veneer

to permanently bond to the substrate.

- [Narrator] The pieces are sanded lightly

to remove any impurities,

then they're ready for lacquering.

- What it actually gets is five
layers of polyester lacquer.

We'll actually take the surface,

similar to the sanding stages
we'll use grades of paper.

Gives it this very kind
of dull matted finish.

- [Narrator] After the lacquer is applied,

the pieces are polished.

- We'll take it onto our
high-powered speed polishing mops.

Shine it up using a series
of wax movement techniques,

which actually gets any little
scratches or ripples out.

- [Narrator] The final piece
is more mirror than wood.

However, the treatment
isn't only for appearances.

Each coat creates a
microscopic protective barrier

against heat and corrosion.

While some pieces are pushed
to their limits outside,

others are heated to their core
right inside the laboratory.

- So what we've got here is
a thermal cycling chamber.

This machine goes perhaps twice as hot

as the hottest day you
would get in the desert,

to as cold as the coldest parts of Russia.

- [Narrator] Leather elements

are verified for wear resistance.

- What we're interested in
obviously with this machine

is wear resistance.

We'd expect more than
20,000 in and outs of a car

would be something nowadays
say that this would ensure.

- [Narrator] Metals are tested

to remain durable and
aesthetically pleasing.

- This is a salt spray cabinet,

which we use to accelerate
corrosion environments.

- [Narrator] Each wheel

is drenched in a copper
accelerated salt spray

with an acidic pH of
3.2 for several hours.

That's 80% of the acidity
in a single can of soda.

- What's really important for us

is that the Bentley that
leaves the factory today

looks as good for our customers
with many years to come.

It's an extremely harsh environment

that we expect all of
our wheels to perform to.

Quite frankly, if they don't
meet that requirements,

they won't be used on a Bentley.

- [Narrator] Once materials
have been tested and approved,

it's time to put them into production

inside a factory

that not only creates
cutting edge machines.

Eight years before Bentleys
were manufactured in Crewe,

these brick walls were constructed

to harbor the ferocious thunder

of 27-liter fighter plane engines.

- Crewe was built in 1938 as a factory

to build 12-cylinder Merlin engines

to power the Spitfire
and Lancaster planes.

- [Narrator] The Spitfire
was one of the fastest

and most victorious
British airplanes in WWII.

It's a heritage valued by the craftsmen

who today build more W12 engines

than any factory in the world.

Since 1946,

the brand has built over
66,000 12-cylinder engines.

- [Interviewee] Kept the building the same

and just renewed the
technology that's inside them.

- [Narrator] Merlin
12-cylinder aircraft engines

produced over 1,000 horsepower,

not a far cry from today's
Bentley 12-cylinder engine

which musters up an air
worthy 616 horsepower.

- We build more 12-cylinder engines

than all other manufacturers put together.

- [Narrator] The engine block
begins its journey to the line

on a tool slightly more sophisticated

than the ones used in the 1930s.

- So the first job we do

is we take the engine out of (indistinct),

lift it across onto one
of these machines here.

- [Narrator] The machine is an AGV

or automated guided vehicle
and it allows engine builders

to move the massive blocks with ease.

- We then separate the bed
plate from the main crank cage.

Now we fit a crank shaft.

This is the first stage

which will give an
engine its main identity.

- [Narrator] Each step is done by hand.

- For the next part of
building a Bentley engine,

we rotate the engine
around and we apply oil.

This is the first time
oil touches the engine.

- [Narrator] Now the engine's
ready for its pistons.

- We then automatically
build up the pistons.

So each engine has 12
pistons, 12 con rods,

and also 24 different bearings.

So all of those are built automatically,

as you can see in the machine there.

- [Narrator] The machine
connects the piston head

to the con rod

far more precisely than a human.

- When they finish the process,

this will have a complete set of pistons.

One of the main
difference, as you can see,

if you look on the top of one
of the pistons, it's not flat.

What it means is that we can
get the best compression ratio

on the engine itself.

- [Narrator] The higher
the compression ratio,

the better the fuel economy.

(mid tempo music)

Once the pistons are
done being fit by hand,

the engine goes through an
automated sealant process.

- And we do that for a variety of reasons.

One's volume and also for quality.

It also gives us a very consistent product

every single time.

The process we've got here
is where we set the timing.

So what we have all the cam
shafts on the top of the heads

and we have these devices on the end

to allow us to change the characteristics

and the amount of torque

that the engine's
producing at any one time.

(mid tempo music)

- [Narrator] Timing is
important for the engines

and the line itself.

There are 21 stations

installing nearly 700 parts
inside of each W12 power plant.

Depending on demand,

nearly 250 engines can come
off the line in a single week.

- Every 16 minutes

we have a brand new engine
come to the start of the line

and a completely finished engine

comes off the end of the line as well.

- [Narrator] That engine
is the most powerful W12

in the automotive world.

But before the engine is
completed, it must be engraved.

- This stage here,

this robot will give the engine
its unique engine number,

so that will go with a
vehicle identification number

and make up the history for the car.

Most challenging station on
the line is this process here,

so this is fitting the loom.

The loom's always
particularly difficult to fit.

It requires the operator

to know exactly where each
and every single connector

is gonna go to on the end.

- [Narrator] The loom
looks like one piece,

but it's actually comprised
of dozens of wires

that allow the high-tech engine

to communicate with the
cutting edge electronic system.

Installing it is a time-tested
process created by workers

who are sometimes
generations in the making.

- We've been building engines
here now for 75 years,

so it's really not that
uncommon to see fathers,

sons, and multi-generations coming through

and learning how to build them.

Every single engine we produce,

we bring it into one of these test cells

and then we run it for 21
minutes to check the power,

check there's no leaks,

make sure the engine
is perfect every time.

- [Narrator] Hot testing
an engine like this

is the equivalent of a 16-kilometer drive.

- [Interviewee] We value the fact

that we can test every single engine.

We do it because every
single engine we build

is a supercar engine.

- [Narrator] High performance

is only part of the supercar equation.

- What you'll see here at our facility

is craftsmanship on a mass scale

and we've got a staggering
choice of options and colors.

- [Narrator] There are 13
standard leather options

to choose from

and each one is matched

by a nearly endless
number of exterior colors

in the Bentley paint shop.

- We've got a a massive color palette.

We can offer a range of
around 150 colors here.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Each
Bentley will be decorated

with nearly 45 kilos of paint.

When the body is finished being colored,

it's clear coated and then baked.

Only then can craftsmen begin to apply

the classic Conti shine.

- The mirror finish is
what sets the Bentley apart

from the rest of the manufacturers.

- [Narrator] Craftsmen use a variety

of different levels of sandpaper

to remove microns of paint.

- It's where we take a normal paint finish

and we convert it with our
process into a Bentley finish.

- [Narrator] Great finishes

are only half of the Bentley story.

To stay competitive,

Bentley must put greater
emphasis on subassembly

than anyone else in the business.

- In the rest of the industry,

about 90% of the people
work on the body of the car,

work on the car itself.

Here at Bentley, we've
got a complete shift.

80% of our people work on the
parts that go into the car,

rather than working on the car itself.

- [Narrator] It takes over
700 outside contractors

producing 18,000 parts

from 32 countries on six continents,

to supply the Bentley factory.

- It's very challenging

because actually you're your own supplier.

If things aren't right,

we've gotta put it right

and this is the area we'd
start in an area like this.

Thankfully, the quality levels
coming outta these areas

is just what we expect for a Bentley.

- [Narrator] Beginning with the unique

Bentley steering wheel.

- This is Noel Thompson.

Noel's one of our master craftsmen.

One of the special tools that
Noel uses is actually a fork,

and it's a fork

that gives us this very
unique pitch between stitches

on a steering wheel.

- [Narrator] Each handcrafted wheel

can take up to four and
a half hours to finish

and to contrast stitch the entire cabin

can take over five hours.

Part of that cabin
includes handcrafted seats.

- At the moment we're in the
seats technologies for leather.

- [Narrator] Seat construction
is a four-step process.

Cut,

(dramatic music)

sew, build,

and cover.

- Here you'll see that
we inspect the hide.

This will be selection through
the different grades of hide

that we would be using for
different areas of the seat.

- [Narrator] Selecting the correct pieces

for just a single set of seats

can take almost two hours.

- Six inspection tables
on average per week

would go through 4,000 hides.

- [Narrator] It takes five hours

to complete a full set
of seats for each GT.

Every phase is meticulously done by hand,

(upbeat music)

except for one very special station

where a robot sews 5,000 stitches

to craft a single bee for the headrest.

- If I was gonna stitch that by hand,

I would say that'd take you a good week.

- It's essentially what the
Bentley heritage is built on.

Very traditional materials

assembled in a very traditional way.

It's more akin to furniture making

than it is to making cars.

It's much easier to use the fake stuff.

It's a real challenge,

particularly when it's
a lot more competitive

than it was say 30 years ago.

- [Narrator] While the interior
sub assemblies are finished,

a brand new engine is being
prepped for installation.

The question is whether or not
it's too late for the mark.

(suspenseful music)

The Continental GT has been in
production for over a decade.

In the supercar realm,
that is an eternity,

especially in a changing world

where fossil fuels are on the run.

Bentley's solution, offer
customers two engine choices,

their famed W12 and a new V8

that's more fuel efficient.

Both engines enter production

on the very same powertrain line.

- We're in the engine preparation area.

We've made these engines
that you can see behind us.

We've got the V8 engine

and the big powerful six-liter W12 engine.

(mid tempo music)

- [Narrator] Technicians
fit exhaust pipes, shocks,

and brakes.

Once prepared,

the power train is ready
to be bolted to the body.

- This is where we wed
the powertrain with a car,

and this is really where
everything starts to happen

in the car plant because this is critical.

(uptempo music)

- [Narrator] Just 25 bolts secure the V8

into the engine bay.

- When you're dealing with
a high power performance car

like a Continental, this is critical.

Every one of those screws has gotta be

to the right tightness.

- [Narrator] Monitors record the torque

and angle of each screw to ensure quality.

- We won't allow any car to pass forward

with a screw that isn't
tightened to the correct torque.

- [Narrator] The engine marriage
is one of the key stations

inside the 150,000 square
meter final assembly area.

(mid tempo music)

- The build hall in any car
plant is really the heartbeat.

This is where it starts its build process.

So this is its journey
from being a body shell

to a full car.

- [Narrator] It takes 104 hours

to build just one Continental GT.

- The production line essentially

is very similar to other car plants.

The difficulty we've got at Bentley

is we mix three different models together.

- [Narrator] Assembling
multiple models on one line

exponentially increases
the need for efficiency

and organization.

- You can imagine

the material that goes
into a two door coupe

is very different to a convertible,

which is different again to a four door.

- [Narrator] They install the radiator,

headlights,

body panels,

bumpers,

and wheels.

Then all the natural materials

that have been painstakingly
sourced and tested converge.

One of the last stops is the
handcrafted steering wheel.

- We're on checkpoint eight.

Checkpoint eight is important
in this assembly process.

This is the last process before
a car leaves the factory.

- [Narrator] The latest incarnation

of Bentley's signature
Continental is complete,

but does shaving weight

and adding fuel economy
make for a better Bentley?

In 1950, Bentley debuted
the R Type Continental.

Many regard it as one of the
most elegant cars ever made.

The R Type propels the brand

to the forefront of the luxury auto realm.

More than half a century later,

Bentley finds itself at
a similar crossroads.

(soft music)

(mid tempo music)

- The whole car industry has
moved on leaps and bounds,

so what we don't do is
sit back on our laurels.

- [Narrator] Bentley's solution

is the brand new Continental GT V8 S,

a lighter, smarter,

and hopefully quicker
machine for the modern world.

- V8s still have their own mythos.

People still associate them
with big power and fast cars,

but they're not quite as prestigious

as a 12-cylinder engine.

- [Narrator] It's a myth born
during W.O. Bentley's day,

but today being answered
in a very different way.

- The V8 is a little less special

in some people's eyes,

but when you look at the
power this thing makes

and what it's capable of,

you're not missing out on anything.

- [Narrator] The V8 S roars

to the tune of 521 horsepower

and the machine offers
502 foot pounds of torque

which provide the classic Bentley growl.

The new twin turbo V8 takes the GT

from zero to 100 kilometers
in just over 4.5 seconds.

- The funny thing about
Bentleys is you get in them

and you say, okay, it's 4.6
seconds to 60, that's quick,

and then you realize it's like
sitting in your living room

and having your living room
go from zero to 60 at 4.6.

- [Narrator] Continue
to keep the pedal down

and you'll reach 160 kilometers
an hour in just 9.2 seconds.

- They just keep going
and going and going.

It's not the zero to 60,

it's the 60 to 120 and the 120 to 180.

They just never stop.

- [Narrator] The machine's top speed

taps out just a shade under
309 kilometers per hour.

- So you have a little
V8 with turbos on it

pushing something the
size of a small house

at 200 miles an hour or near there.

- [Narrator] At 100 kilometers an hour,

the massive 420-millimeter brakes

bring the GT to a complete
stop in 32 meters.

- You can make a 5,000-pound car

do anything you want it to do,

as long as you upsize all the
components, tires, suspension,

and of course brakes.

Something's gotta scrub
all that speed off.

The beauty of the Bentley brakes

is that they just kind of feel normal.

There's nothing really special
about the way they feel

except that they stop a 5,000-pound car

the way most brakes can
stop a 3,000-pound car.

- [Narrator] From inside, the V8 S

is all classic Bentley from top to bottom.

- There's a reason why
Bentleys are very expensive,

and part of that comes
from the craftsmanship

that goes into building those interiors.

- [Narrator] At 157,000 euros,

the GT V8 S isn't for
the conservative crowd.

However, the price tag is justified

by its rare combination
of speed and luxury.

(dramatic music)

- It may not be the Bentley
way to do something smaller.

- [Narrator] The change in size

is something W.O. Bentley
would've agreed with.

- We create good car, a fast car,

and, at least in terms of the GT,

I think the best in its class.

We stick to these basic
statements of W.O. Bentley

and do it in the more modern way now.

- [Narrator] Like W.O.'s first engine,

the new GT is a clever step
towards a smarter future

for one of the world's most
renowned British icons.

- As long as the
downsizing happens in a way

that's not offensive to Bentley's
brand, hey, bring it on,

especially if the cars are faster.