Bentley Continental R review

It doesn’t really drive, it wafts. Bentley’s venerable 6.75-litre V8 was producing around 420bhp by this point, which ought to be a lot for Nineties tyres and traction control (which turns off with one quick button press) to process, but the Conti R actually grips pretty gamely. It just feels engineered to deter the driver from aggression at every turn.

The steering is disconcertingly remote and though the V8 sounds grumbly under hard acceleration, it’s a million miles from the choreographed pops and bangs of today.

A Sport button helps its four-speed automatic kick down a little more keenly, with negligible difference on actual progress. While 0-60mph takes around six seconds on paper, momentum is gained in such a smooth and linear way, you’ll barely notice velocity gather at the current going rate of a rapid hot hatchback.

All told it’s a behemoth benchmark of comfort and a truly effortless thing to cruise around in; for all its rakish two-door vibe, it still feels like you’re being chauffeured even when you’re in the driver’s seat. It’s likely Bentley foresaw the world of assisted driving systems and simply engineered them into the chassis and powertrain from the off.