Great color. Very rich looking. Congrats.

 

Have you thought about the Flying Spur??

 

 

Very nice! How is the power compared to your SL?

 

NICE! Love the interior!

 

Very nice.

I think the Bentley Continental GT will be my next car... My only concern is that Bentley is now a Volkswagen more or less

 

I’d not only thought about it but had a deposit on the Flying Spur. My wife and I attended a showing of the Spur last week, which I thought was absolutely gorgeous: much better in person than in pictures. She, however, thought it looked like the kind of old man’s car her father might drive. The dealer had the nautic blue spur sitting next to an identically colored GT. She loved the look of the GT, as did I. It was one of the color combinations I had been playing with on the configurator all along (as I mentioned in a thread started by Lovinsl600). The car had just come in without a buyer’s name attached. We bought it on the spot, once my wife agreed to open up garage space by trading her Carrera 4S. Because we have a two month old baby daughter, our rationalization was that a baby seat fits better in this car than in the back of my wife’s Porsche. My buying this car is actually good news for my Mercedes dealer, because it means our S500 sedan will likely be replaced by the next generation S Class rather than by a Bentley. This is good because I'm beginning to really enjoy our S500 again, now that it hasn’t broken down for nearly a year.

 

That is one sweeeeeeet ride!

 

Give us your comparison thoughts on the Bentley versus the SL600. I know they are different cars, tell us anyway. These kind of reviews by owners are always superior to those from critics. When you spend your own money to drive something, the view tends to be different. Thanks.

 

congrats!! Crazy color combo! i find it funny that if i dont see a black or silver one its a totally different color, how many colors are in their pallet?

anyways enjoy and let us know your thoughts

 

I recently test-drove the Bentley. For the size and weight of the car the power is unbelieveable.

 

 

I have seen that color combo. It is gorgeous!

 

Colour is nice when it is new - but i would like to see you try to keep that interior clean after a year or so I have siam interior which is darker than that and after a year it is hard to keep it clean - i think for my next year i will go for a dark brown interior.

 

First, I should be clear that I’m trying hard to respect the break in period. I have not floored the accelerator on this car and cannot yet say how quick it is, although I think it is clear that my tuned SL600 is quicker.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the car, while my wife is over-the-top ecstatic. Let’s go over it item by item.

Unlike some reviewers, I think the Bentley is really fun to drive, but not in the same way as the SL and certainly not in the manner of a true sports car. While an SL55 feels good on an autocross course (I tried it at an AMG Challenge event) and I could see myself trying to autocross an SL600, the notion of autocrossing the Bentley seems absolutely ridiculous: the car is clearly meant for straight lines and sweeping curves, not slaloms and chicanes. Nevertheless, the car does sweeping curves beautifully. First of all, the feel of the steering is excellent, with (to my taste) just the right amount of road feel and resistance. For me, the steering on the SL600, while nicely weighted in a turn, is a little numb and overboosted near the center. The hand-feel of the large-diameter, thick-rimmed leather wheel is also very good, better than the wood wheel on my 600 and in my opinion, better than AMG’s sport wheel on the 55.

Second (and this was a surprise) the engine sound is better in the Bentley. Even in that well-insulated cabin, I find the tone more resonant and musical. This is true despite the fact that I installed a Brabus exhaust on my SL. In the SL there must be a resonator upstream of the mufflers that cuts out most of the sound. It’s a joy to hear the Bentley running through the gears. I had feared that the strange W configuration of the cylinders would yield an odd sound, but it sounds just like a V12 should, pretty similar to an Aston DB7 I once had for a weekend. Of course Ferrari enthusiasts might disagree.

Third, I think the programming of the 6-speed automatic transmission is a little better than the 5-speed on my SL. Shifts feel a little quicker and their timing is more natural. The Bentley’s sport mode (the last position of the shifter on the console) keeps the engine between two and three thousand RPM, where it’s responsive and sounds great. I haven’t played with the paddle shifters much (since I’ve had the car for a day and a half) but they are well-executed ergonomically.

Fourth, the throttle response is just right, half way between the mushy throttle of the stock SL600 and the hair-trigger throttle of my Renntech-tuned SL600. Of course the best throttle response of all might be the SL55.

Fifth, the ride is very good. At the standard setting it feels firm or firmer than the 600, yet soaks up the bumps of bad pavement very well, better than the 600. I do not miss the SL’s active body control in the driving I’ve been doing, which is not near the limit. The sport setting on the Bentley is not as stiff as the AMG sport setting on an SL55.

Finally, the chassis of the Bentley, is very, very stiff. It feels like you’re driving a very high-powered iron brick, which I think is actually a good thing. In this sense it reminds me of the solidity of my old R129 SL, only more so. Of course the SL600 is a convertible so you have to forgive the squeaks, but the Bentley is rock solid. The doors are much heavier than the SL’s and the sound insulation is better, although as I said, the car lets more of that fine engine sound into the cabin.

So as far as driving goes, the Bentley yields a very well-executed sporty luxury experience, not a sports car experience. The SL600 is a sporty luxury car that tries harder than the Bentley to be a sports car, while the SL55 nearly succeeds.

As far as the rest of the experience goes, I think the Bentley wins hands down, except that it’s harder to be inconspicuous in the Bentley. Both exterior and interior are gorgeous. I think the GT, and in particular the Flying Spur, each look better in person than in pictures. The seats are more comfortable than the SL’s. The paint quality is better. The fit and finish is very good, although in fairness, the seam connecting the top of the hood (bonnet) with the grille varies very slightly in width in my car. The carpet is plusher. The leather is not as pliable as the soft nappa leather in the 600, but it has a very good texture and feel. The book-matched veneers are more interesting than Mercedes’ wood and there’s more of it. The AC vents and controls are well-made aluminum, not metalized plastic. The ‘organ stop’ AC controls feel great to slide.

All this is to be expected with a Bentley, but one pleasant surprise is that the Bentley’s (Phaeton’s) electronic controls are more intuitive than the SL’s. I wish the car had satellite radio and distronic but otherwise, everything’s there. The CD changer is conveniently in the glove box, not the trunk. The audio quality of the stereo is much better than the SL's, and as good as any Lexus. The low-beam headlights also seem a little brighter, with a softer cut-off.

Last but definitely not least, the dealer experience has been quite different so far. With Mercedes, a surly service rep sends you to the waiting room for stale coffee or to the rental lot, as if they are doing you a favor by letting you pay for a temporary car. With Bentley, the new car was delivered to my home, with the promise that they will drive the forty miles to pick it up whenever it needs maintenance. Given what I’ve gone through with Mercedes, this alone seems worth the price of admission.

 

I too was looking at the Bently GT but for different reasons. Mine had to do with being sick and tired of Mercedes.

I loved the Continental GT and agree with everything you are saying from the day that I had a GT to drive. I loved the Continental GT but still wanted the sports car feeling so I went with the Aston Martin Vanquish S.

One thing you might check is that I do know for a fact that the 2006 Continental GT's are going to have SIRIUS satellite radio so maybe there is a way to add it to your car.

Good luck and great write up.

 

Thanks! I forgot to mention the Bentley’s worst flaw. The windows use metalized glass for sun protection, but there is no metal-free spot for radio transponders as in my S500. Hence the electronic pass for the bridge into Boston, and worse, the garage pass in the office building downtown, won’t work unless I open the window and hold the boxes outside. I’m glad I didn’t intend this car to be a daily commuter.

 

Thanks for the early observations. Keep us posted once you are past the honeymoon and the break in period.

 

Great write-up, thank you. The Bentley has the combination of traditional craftsmanship (which will show up in the wood and leather) along with the donor technology from VW, interesting that the Bentley is doing far better than the Phaeton on which it is based.

A couple of questions.

The glasshouse seems quite small in relation to the rest of the car. Does it feel at all claustrophobic in there?

Once criticism made of the car is the size of the gas tank and therefore range between fill-ups. Have you found this a problem or is it too early to tell?

I expect that driving the Bentley gives you a much greater sense of occasion than the SL.

 

Thank you for your kind comment. The front and side outward visibility is good: neither my wife nor I feel claustrophobic at all. The view out the rear window is narrow and low; however, because the cabin is long, the rear three-quarter blind spot is pretty far back. Over-the-shoulder visibility for on-ramps and the like is very good: better than in a sedan with a B-pillar. Also, the natural seating position is high relative to the SL, which adds to the sense of openness and relates to the fact the car has a high center of gravity, detrimental to sports-car handling. The high view and insulated cabin also makes it seem like you’re traveling slower than an SL going the same speed. And of course, SLs feel like they’re moving slower than ordinary lower-performance cars.

I’m still on the first tank, but the display shows 15.6 MPG (US) so far. This was all driven on suburban roads and motorways. I’m sure city driving would lower the average. I don’t recall exactly, but I think the tank is 23 US gallons.

Yes, the sense of occasion is vastly greater, although right now it’s an unfair comparison because of the newness of this car compared with my poor old (well, one year old) SL which I bang through Boston potholes on the way to the office every day.

 

Nice review...
I think if the Mercedes lineup consisted of the E(Cls),S,Sl, and CL the overall dealer experience would be a much better one. I think they have diluted the value/prestige offering cheaper versions of their cars.
Of course the Bentley is a heck of a lot more money than the Sl, so it SHOULD be more plush and have a higher quality than the SL.

My service experiance at my dealer was mixed bag this week... I couldnt get over to pick-up my nor could my girlfriend. I ended up sending my mother to get my car and she had to wait 30 minutes before the car was brought up, the service writers except two were gone. No one could find the paperwork on my car...
I think MB needs to send some people out to the Aston, Bentley, and Lexus dealers and see how they run their service departments. My best service experience thus far has been at my Chevy dealer. I had an issue with my fog lamps and they sent a tech to MY HOUSE with the parts and he fixed it on the spot.... hows that for service!
I think anytime you spend over 50K for a car you should receive a high level of brown nosing and a s s kissing.

 

It's not just the dealers, it's the company as a whole as well. That's for another argument however

Why the GT and not the 612 Scag?

 

Didn’t even consider the 612. This was an impulse buy instead of the sedan. I’m sure the 612 is a fine car, but not a pretty one. One of my business partners has a 456. Now *that* was a pretty car. The one Ferrari I desire is the new 430; however, I have no more garage space and shouldn’t spend all my money on cars. I’m very happy with what I’ve got!

 

Fair enough. I was just trying to start a conversation. I don't like Ferrari's anyways.