Video: Bowe hits 330 with Bonkers Bentley

Date: 05.11.2015

Touring car legend and Unique Cars mag road tester John Bowe has busted the 200mph mark in the Northern Territory with a top-speed run in a Bentley Continental GT Speed.

Said to be in the condition you’d get one out of the factory workshop, the car claims  a monster 820Nm of torque and a slightly less startling 626hp. The 6 litre twin-turbo W12 powered the car to 206mph or 331km/h on a cleared section of the Stuart Highway.

John Bowe said: "This isn’t a modified racecar; it’s a luxurious grand touring road car fresh off the production line. It took us a little over a minute to go from a standstill to 206 mph. That’s extraordinary. Even when you break through the 200 mph barrier, the GT Speed just keeps accelerating."

Here are a few fastoids for the cupboard train-spotters among you:

The Stuart Highway covers a distance of 2834 km from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Port Augusta, South Australia – approximately the same distance as London to Istanbul or New York to Denver. In October 2013 the local government announced a trial period of reverting to an open speed limit on the 200km stretch between Alice Springs and Barrow Creek.

At Vmax the 2016 Bentley Continental GT Speed is circulating 216 litres of coolant through its engine and radiator per minute; drawing over 4700 litres of air through its radiator each second; and using 80 per cent of its engine power just to overcome aerodynamic loads.

Edit: This video since has been removed from youtube, more info here.

Unique Cars magazine Value Guides

Sell your car for free right here