626bhp Bentley breaks Flying Mile record

The new Bentley Continental GT Speed piloted by Hollywood actor Idris Elba breaks the historic ‘Flying Mile’ record on Pendine Sands, Wales. The previous record was set by Sir Malcolm Campbell back in 1927 in his trusty Napier-Campbell Blue Bird at 281.31kmph. Elba achieved a top speed of 290.26kmph which was verified by the UK Timing Association.

Although the tidal conditions turned out to be challenging for Elba and the team, but despite the hardship the record was broken during the shooting of an upcoming four part Discovery channel series, Idris Elba: No Limits due to air in the month of July 2015.

The Bentley responsible for this feat has a 6.0 litre twin-turbo W12 engine developing 624bhp of maximum power and a humongous 820Nm of peak torque. Harnessing all that oomph is brand new 8-speed ZF transmission with close ratios and state-of-the-art engine management software. The GT Speed sprints from a standstill to 100kmph in a mere 4.2 seconds, and the acceleration ends at 331kmph.

Achieving his record breaking feat, Elbastated, “I'm absolutely elated to have broken the 'Flying Mile' at Pendine Sands. It’s an honour to have taken on the challenge, and to successfully follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Sir Malcolm Campbell.”

The high power of the Bentley GT Speed is carefully brought down to the road surface by cleverly engineered chassis with up-rated springs, anti-roll bars and bushes. The height too has been lowered by 10mm both front and rear along with re-tuned electronically controlled damping and steering systems.