Bentley’s Bending the Speed Barometer

There are not that many roads in the world where you can test a car’s maximum speed limit.Believe it or not the speed limits listed for the world’s most fastest cars are really, at best, just informed guesses. Without really having the chance to floor the accelerator for unlimited kilometers, automotive manufacturers are forced to hypothesise in artificial testing environments how fast their most extreme super cars can really go.

That is until Bentley decided to test the truth of their claims. Bentley AG have reported that their fastest car, the GT Speed is capable of reaching a top speed of 329 kilometers an hour, certainly no small feat. Thus in order to test this claim they orchestrated, under highly controlled circumstances, to race the GT Speed at maximum speeds across the Stuart Highway. The Stuart Highway is a 2,834 km stretch of road, that starts from Darwin and almost precisely cuts Australia into two as it runs directly south towards Port Augusta.

The driver they selected for the test was no one less than the legendary John Bowe, a hero in Australian motorsport. Bowe has completed more than 1,000 races, has won multiple touring car titles, including the Bathurst race - twice over. The combination of he’s driving expertise and concern for safety made him the ideal candidate for Bentley.

As it turns out Bentley was wrong. The Bentley GT Speed reached a top maximum speed of 331.km/h, 3 km/h faster than anticipated. An impressive speed by all accounts, yet even more remarkable when you consider that the GT Speed weighs in at a whopping 2,267kg. The GT Speed is built with a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine, that whilst giving this car push, most certainly contributes to its weight. It is propelled forward by 626 horsepower and 607 pound-feet of torque. All in all, this video clip makes an impressive sight in the middle of the Australian outback, as the car races, appearing to defy physics.