CREWE, England – Is the Continental GT S the Goldilocks option in Bentley’s Continental line-up?

Marrying the powertrain of the standard Continental GT coupe with the sharper, more focused chassis of the Continental GT Speed, the GT S perfectly melds the virtues of both.

Announced globally in January, the GT S packs less punch than the Speed, but with its 4-litre biturbo V8 supplemented by a 140kW electric motor to the tune of a combined 671hp and 930Nm of torque, it is still so monumentally quick that its minuscule pace deficit to the 771hp Speed is entirely irrelevant in real-world driving.

Getting to 100kmh from rest takes just 3.5 seconds – 0.3 seconds down on the Speed – and top speed is an immense 308kmh, lagging the Speed by 27kmh, but a full 38kmh faster than the GT.

What does make a difference in actual driving is the GT S’ chassis, which boasts the same Bentley Performance Active Chassis tech as the Speed. This means firmer, specially calibrated twin-valved dampers, 48-volt active anti-roll, active torque vectoring (both front-to-rear and lateral) and weightier, more interactive steering. As with the rest of the Continental range, electronic limited-slip differential and all-wheel steering are standard, but tuned on the GT S for sharper responses and to simulate a quicker steering rack.