A test of character on the Transfăgărășan

The Bentley Supersports crackles with the heat of a wild chase. There were plenty of bends. The tyre temperature reads 76 degrees in the front right tyre and 81 degrees in the front left. The professional knows straight away that there were more and sharper right-hand bends. We’ll keep the rear axle figures to ourselves. This Bentley is the first Supersports – and thus also the first Continental since its market launch in 2003 – to feature pure rear-wheel drive. 666 PS. Only a mischievous soul would read anything diabolical into that.

Far more interesting than the answers the Supersports has provided so far is, in any case, the question it poses: how little comfort can a Bentley tolerate? It is a radical question that perhaps not everyone dares to ask so openly. Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser joined Bentley as CEO. From Porsche. A background in motorsport. The mastermind behind the 918 Hybrid. Not only did he voice the question, he also immediately tasked a team with finding the answer. And quickly, at that. The Bentley engineers took a Continental GT and stripped out everything that wasn’t absolutely essential for pure driving. In the end, even the name ‘Continental GT’. And lo and behold: this Bentley revealed a whole new character. Highly dynamic. In terms of longitudinal stability during acceleration, as well as in the other two disciplines: braking and cornering. Extremely precise and fantastically balanced, because: a 4.0-litre V8 biturbo instead of a heavy twelve-cylinder engine, no hybrid technology, no rear seats, a carbon-fibre roof, and sports bucket seats without a massage function. Around half a tonne lighter overall. This Continental was – there’s no other way to put it – super-sporty.

And only a Bentley of this calibre can seriously set off on the legendary Transfăgărășan. Built between 1970 and 1974 under Ceaușescu, blasted through the rock using around 6,000 tonnes of dynamite, officially to link Wallachia with Transylvania, but unofficially also intended as a military retreat route in the event of a possible Soviet invasion. The highest point is at 2,042 metres at Lake Bâlea. It is only open to traffic from June to October. 

The Transfăgărășan rose to fame in 2009 when it was declared the ‘best road in the world’ by ‘Top Gear’. Clarkson compared it to ‘every great bend on every great racetrack, lined up one after the other’. This was both a blessing and a curse. Tourism increased sharply. And with it, the brown bear population. It is estimated to have risen from 2,000 to around 20,000. There are signs warning people not to feed brown bears with pizza.

Enough about culture. Back behind the wheel, before this story starts to veer off into idle chatter. Because that’s exactly what this Bentley doesn’t want. The timelessly elegant Continental silhouette bears the serious spoiler insignia of hard-nosed motorsport discipline. Beneath this façade lies an iron will: a performance machine. So, full throttle. And controlled risk.

It’s immediately apparent: whatever it does, it does it right. With this car, it’s less about driving than about physical presence. The Supersports is an industrial product that’s exceptionally effective on the road. It’s a natural leader, in the truest sense of the word. And it takes that role seriously.

The test drive forms part of a larger event on the Romanian mountain passes, which were specially closed off by the local police for this purpose. Angelos Sfakianakis, Retailer Marketing & Comms Manager, has invited several dozen customers and dealers to experience Bentley’s new performance culture. The slogan: ‘Speed Society’ encapsulates the brand’s new identity. “The Bentley Supersports is back. It was built for true motoring purists. Bringing that to life was the aim of this event,” says Sfakianakis. The Supersports is intended to herald a turning point in the storytelling of the brand, which is over 100 years old, whilst at the same time marking a return to its original values, as once established by the competitive spirit of the legendary Bentley Boys. Faster than a train. You’ll remember. So Bentley realised that luxury alone isn’t cool. But just being cool isn’t cool either. A stark paradox, certainly. Yet one that becomes clearer with every hard-braked corner, with every acceleration out of a bend. It’s about letting off steam, maintaining the tension, feeling the resistance in the steering wheel – a resistance you can actually feel.

And in the end, it’s the images, above all, that linger.