An eerie fog shrouded the pair of exquisite grand tourers as they posed on the hallowed grounds of Michaelhouse – now in its 118th year, having migrated to its Midlands setting from Pietermaritzburg in 1901. It’s regarded as one of SA’s foremost private boarding schools for boys. With its historic architecture and tree-lined lanes enveloped by a clammy pallor and a cheeky nip slicing through the air, the setting evoked memories of feted ceremonies and inter-school sport regalia. If you couldn’t hear the distant tune of Sir Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance”, you’d be forgiven for picturing pupils ascending their desks with the opening line of Walt Whitman’s famous poem “O captain, my captain” rolling from their lips.
In that splendid, almost ethereal setting, the Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin Vanquish Volante looked worth every penny of their combined pricetag – $710,000. They were perfectly at home; resplendent in their natural habitat. It was hard to believe that just the previous day we witnessed the comfortably sprung Bentley nosediving violently and its tyres chirruping in protest as the portly GT underwent a braking test at Dezzi. That really wasn’t very civilized, now was it?
Subjectively, in their capacities as grand tourers, these British contenders seem a pair of pudgy dandies compared with the strapping super saloons and mid-engined thoroughbred supercars featured in its Shootout. The Bentley tips the scales at a smidge under 2,3 tonnes and its pressed white Saville Row suit does little to minimize the Crewe-made coupe’s big-boned contours. Inside, the gentleman’s club ambience afforded by the acres of wood, stitched leather and knurled aluminium ventilation controls don’t count for anything on the track or in the tight twisties. The GT’s throttle pedal is stiff and lifeless, the steering column does not offer enough reach ad-justment and the steering wheel paddles are positioned too far behind the wheel for most testers’ preference.
Meanwhile, the Vanquish Volante’s sensuous exterior shape is so compelling from an aesthetic point of view that testers described it as “utterly beautiful”, “knee-tremblingly gorgeous” and “without an unflattering angle”. Although the over-elaborate stitching and quilting of the lavish leather interior bordered on the conspicuous, the Aston’s lithe curves and carbon-fibre accoutrements, let alone the magnificent howl of its 5,9-litre V12 engine, enthralled all and sundry.
Aston Martin Vanquish Volante’s specs
Output: 421 kW / 620 N.m
0-100 km/h: 5,16 secs
Top speed: 295 km/h
Laptime: 1:16:7
Max speed: 165 km/h
As a precision driving tool, the Aston makes the Bentley seem a bit ponderous. By virtue of its carbon-fibre and aluminium-endowed structure, allied with a sublimely responsive hydraulically assisted steering and stomping carbon-ceramic brakes, the Vanquish Volante is eminently placeable for a “super grand tourer”. By contrast, the GT offers reassuring levels of grip by virtue of being generously shod and all-wheel driven, but when ushered round a track the nose-heavy Bentley has a tendency to understeer. Don’t bother with the cars’ manual shift modes – just leave gear changes to their respective sport programs.
Away from the tight confines, uncompromising cambers and fiendish apexes of a racing circuit, however, the regal British behemoths dismiss the vagaries of their super- and hypercar peers, such as teeth-rattling ride qualities, back-breaking sports seats and laughable luggage capacities, with wanton aplomb. When constricted inner-city roads wind out to serpentine mountain passes and the horizon clears to stretch out as far as the eye can see, class will always prevail.
The power delivery from Vanquish Volante’s naturally aspirated V12 is silken and unhurried, if peaky. In cut-and- thrust driving conditions, the motor lacks the urgency of the forced-induction performance cars, but it operates well within itself. The six-speed transmission, although smooth shifting, sometimes hesitates when staccato throttle inputs are the order of the day, but once in its stride Aston Martin’s flagship traverses the asphalt with glee.
The ragtop’s opulent, handmade leather interior is superbly finished with satin chrome trim, glass buttons that become illuminated when pressed and the love-it-or-hate- it haptic-feedback feature in the switchgear of the central stack. The updated satnav, climate control and audio system interface further sets the Vanquish apart from its older-generation Aston Martin brethren.
There are drawbacks to the Vanquish’s jaw-dropping packaging, however: its boot capacity is adequate by open-topped sportscar standards, but tight by any other yardstick. The rear seats are all but ornamental and if there’s one facet in which the Aston cannot be mentioned in the same stanza as its countryman in this match up, it’s in terms of open-road refinement. Even in Comfort mode, the Vanquish Volante’s ride quality is firm, road noise intrudes on rougher road surfaces and some testers found it difficult to find an ideal driving position.
By contrast, the understated Bentley drew unanimous praise and elicited responses ranging from “the best grand tourer I’ve driven in a while” to “one of the best balanced cars in the (Shootout) line-up”.
Bentley Continental GT V8′s specs
Output: 373 kW / 660 N.m
0-100 km/h: 4,75 secs
Top speed: 303 km/h
Laptime: 1:19,55
Max speed: 161 km/h
A previous-generation Continental GT, powered by a twin-turbocharged 6,0-liter W12, featured in our 2010 Performance Shootout and, at the time, the log-legged Bentley left the team feeling largely nonplussed. However, the new model’s double-blown 4,0-liter V8, arguably one of the finest engines in the Volkswagen Group stable, is a gem – cultured and unburstable, with near negligible turbo lag.
Should a brisk turn of speed be required, the intuitive trans-mission will smartly drop a cog or two, so that the barrel-chested V8 can be afforded the opportunity to propel the Bentley to the driver’s desired velocity. Handling prowess, although not of the “sharp” variety, is measured and predictable.
Admittedly, the GT’s rear leg- and headroom are merely adequate for a vehicle of its heft and some of the switchgear looks a bit plain. The infotainment system seems rather dated and controls for the satellite-navigation system and the adaptive suspension settings are fiddly to navigate when on the move.
Still, the Aston Martin and especially the Bentley are rolling testaments to the fact that grand tourers are not mere indulgences for those bestowed with more money than sense. Because they are priced far apart, the GT and Vanquish are not rivals, but distinct iterations of cars designed to be fundamentally superior to machines that are so purpose-built for speed that they’re crass. As crushingly capable expressions of luxury and taste, these are a pair of blue bloods.
