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Chasing V-Max in a Bentley Continental GT Speed
As the Bentley nears 200 mph I focus solely on its fundamentals: steering, engine, brakes, and the view ahead. Suddenly, it feels race-car basic in here. The hand-made, leather-lined cabin is long forgotten. The two-lane Australian public road stretching out ahead of me is straight, but its surface is uneven. Each dip causes the wheel to kick back and the car's line to drift. Nerves make me want to strangle the rim, and it's a conscious effort to keep my grip loose.
The throttle requires the same constant attention to hold wide open. The noise and the sensation through my backside tell me that the 626-horsepower, 6.0-liter W-12 engine is starting to labor, so I must be getting close to 206 mph, or whatever the Continental's top speed is in these conditions. My gaze is fixed out through the bug-flecked windshield, and I have no desire to follow my progress on the dials. I ought to be able to see 3 miles to the horizon, but there's a solid heat haze in front of me, so it looks like I'm constantly approaching a crest. The pilot of the helicopter overhead tells me the road is clear, but my instinct for self-preservation would prefer visual confirmation. I'm also hyperaware of the brake pedal because I would very much like to use it.
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