2006 Bentley Continental GT Birkin Edition by MTM

[Big Daddy]

The German tuner MTM made a special package for customers who want more power from the Bentley Continental GT. With recalibrated engine electronics and optimized exhaust system, the twin-turbo W12 engine delivers 650 bhp at 6150 rpm and 587 lb-ft at only 1650 rpm. A set of MTM "bimoto" wheels and a suspension kit rounds up the package. In Germany, the package costs $28,000.

More photos RSportscars.com

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

How does it put nearly 600 ft-lbs of torque down at under 2000rpm?

 

[Big Daddy]

Most likely the twin turbos?

 

[DSK]

Just the other week we hired a Bentley Continental Flying Spur, which is a basically a 4 door saloon version of the Continental GT.

Its a pretty decent vehicle, that handles itself quite well and had quite a few of those modern age electronic gizmos that keep you occupied [80?]

Performance wise it does provide the torque and power without effort and doesn't make any drama even once you start to hit 140/150mph, it just keeps pulling quietly. But having said that, it wasn't blisteringly fast, just pulled well, but I was expecting the grunt to be more eager. So this new german package should help give the Continental a bit more of that edge that it needs.

I can't say it was faster than a 4.2ltr v8 400bhp supercharged Jaguar I test drove recently but the Jaguar was limited to 155mph as most UK spec vehicles are.

 

[tool fan]

I still don't like the car, pictures or in person. I personally think it is ugly as hell. But to each their own.

 

[DSK]

I still don't like the car, pictures or in person. I personally think it is ugly as hell. But to each their own.

As you say each to their own, everyone has different taste. I have to admit though, I never liked the look of this car on TV, but in person its look quite good, as what appears as a curve on the top of the wings and bottom of the door windows isn't a curve, its more of an arch. But the back end of the car is plain and boaring.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I still can't see how the tires can last with 600 ft-lbs of torque available at the slight blip of the throttle...

 

[MrElussive]

I still can't see how the tires can last with 600 ft-lbs of torque available at the slight blip of the throttle...

The Mercedes 65AMG cars (S65, SL65, CL65) have 738 foot pounds of torque at 2,000rpm. Why won't the tires last if they're not losing any traction?

 

[Big Daddy]

Why won't the tires last if they're not losing any traction?

Aw you have found the key question Emile, I believe he asking how you can drive the car without losing traction with all that torque! The answer grasshopper is buy real sticky tires and gradually release the clutch...

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Aw you have found the key question Emile, I believe he asking how you can drive the car without losing traction with all that torque! The answer grasshopper is buy real sticky tires and gradually release the clutch...

Maybe my question was unclear... What I meant to say is how can those tires have any longevity, say 20-30k+ with all that torque and power. My estimate is that flooring it a few times everyday will get those tires bald in no time, especially if they're sticky.

 

[Big Daddy]

I understood you and that is basically what I said. At tire sticky enough to handle that torque is going to have a tread wear rating below 200, in fact my last set of tires had a wear rating of 180, lasted about 10k on the roadster. IF you can afford the car you can buy the tires...I guess???

 

[tool fan]

Maybe my question was unclear... What I meant to say is how can those tires have any longevity, say 20-30k+ with all that torque and power. My estimate is that flooring it a few times everyday will get those tires bald in no time, especially if they're sticky.

I don't have nearly as good of tires on my Bullitt as that Bentley (nor close to the torque) but I burn mine every chance I get and surprisingly, my tires still look new. Hollywood burnouts will kill your tires, but the normal "lighting them up" from light to light not so bad.

Hell, my 530i's tires were shot to hell at 20k miles and i never did burnouts, guess it depends (like Big Daddy said) on the tires

 

[DSK]

Cars like that Bently and other execuitve saloons are very heavy these days so the extra weight and the power mean its unlikely you will get more than about 15K out of a set of tyres taking everything into consideration.

I don't know what the legalities are in the USA, but in the UK, the legal tread depth requirement is 1.6mm and new tyres come with roughly 7-8mm of tread. There are so many drivers who fall far below the 1.6mm limit due to things such as bad maintenance, worn suspension, incorrect whee alignment etc its shocking as I have noticed that a tyres performance starts to deteriorate below 2mm in general.

I have never had more than 15K out of a set of UHP (Ultra High Performance) tyres (like Goodyear F1, Conti Sport Contact, Pirelli P-Zero Assimetrico etc). I do drive enthusiastically, albeit not to the limits, but I do avoid flooring my car in 1st and 2nd gear and generally I get around 12K out of a set of tyres on the driving wheels which in my opinion, is quite accepatable.

Who can say, that driving normally, as you do everyday, that they get more than 20K out of a set of tyres fitted to the driving wheels before they fall below the legal tread wear limit?

 

[jrt67ss350]

Who can say, that driving normally, as you do everyday, that they get more than 20K out of a set of tyres fitted to the driving wheels before they fall below the legal tread wear limit?

I do, but that's also why I don't have Eagle F1's or Pilot Sports on my car.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I have Eagle RS-A's and I'm on 24k, the problem is the rear tires have about 1/3 as much thread as my front tires.