Alongside the Bentley Continental GTC 2012 we've already reviewed not long ago, the British luxury car manufacturer presented the Bentley Continental GTC W12 2012 earlier this year, boasting a tuned-up beefier engine, a higher top speed and better handling.
As its title suggests the GTC W12 sports a 6.0 liter twin-turbocharged W12 engine able to develop 567 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque which is quite a difference compared to the 500 HP and 487 lb-ft of torque developed by the 4.0 liter V8 engine. On the other hand the GTC W12 goes from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds, 0.1 faster than the 4.0 liter variant and has a top speed of 195 mph, 15 more than the 4.0 liter engine.
The 6.0 liter W12 engine has been coupled with a ZF "QuickShift" 6-speed automatic transmission, but unlike the one found on the 4.0 liter variant which has a torque bias ration of 50:50, the gearbox found in the W12 now splits the power 40:60, with 40 percent going to the front wheels and 60 percent going to the rear wheels. This change helps the GTC W12 in the corners by minimizing understeer.
Furthermore, the W12 comes with 15.9 inch front brakes and optional 274/35ZR21 Pirelli PZero tires that can bring the GTC W12 2012 to a halt from 60 to 0 mph in 108 feet.
On the exterior the new Bentley Continental undergone numerous changes but the more visible ones include the LED running lights and a redesigned front grille.
On the interior the convertible comes with a wide variety of soft-touch leather hide colors -seventeen of them to be more exact- with six color split combination. Other features include the Bentley Neck Warmer system which blows warm air at your neck while driving top-down, a 30 GB touchscreen infotainment system featuring satellite navigation and Google Maps, an optional Naim audio system that comes with Dirac Dimension digital signal processing and 10 speakers, DVD movie playback and a six-disc CD changer just to name a few.
As far as pricing goes the Bentley Continental GTC W12 2012 has a base price of $218,395, making it roughly $29,000 more expensive than the V8 variant, and a whole lot more expensive than some of its key competitors including the 2012 Audi R8 Spyder and the 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo Convertible. Throwing a fun fact in the equation, although the 2012 BMW 6-Series Convertible is not nearly as powerful as the GTC W12, the latter is roughly $137,000 more expensive than the Bavarian rear wheel drive convertible.
