Bentley’s Continental GT Speed is an easy car to fall for. It’s fast, handsome, and the interior is opulent in a way only British luxury vehicles can be — handcrafted to perfection. We like it so much that the convertible won our Luxury Car of the Year award in 2015, but Bentley’s latest version kicks everything up a notch.
For 2017, the entire GT Speed lineup gets a massaged version of Bentley’s 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12. The massive powerplant now makes 633 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque, which are not only improvements of 7 hp and 15 lb-ft. over last year, they officially make the 2017 model the most powerful Bentley ever. Flat out, the big Brit will sprint to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and top out at a lofty 206 mph.
The luxury coupe comes in four flavors — the GT Speed ($240,300), the GT Speed Black Edition ($253,235), the GT Speed Convertible ($264,300), and the GT Speed Convertible Black Edition ($277,235). Separating the quartet are a variety of trim packages that include unique exterior finishes, wheel options, and interior decorations, however there aren’t any notable mechanical differences. That said, the blue and red “Open Ocean” configuration is probably worth the price of admission on its own.
U.S. Bentley dealers are taking orders now, with deliveries starting in summer.
Read more: Bentley’s Mulsanne flagship might lose its lid after all
Owning a new Continental GT Speed would make 99 percent of the driving world happy, but if you’re less about performance and more about pure opulence, the rumored Mulsanne Convertible could be right up your alley.
Bentley’s topless flagship has not been confirmed yet, but if given the green light, it could launch in low volumes sometime in the next two years. It’ll definitely cost you though, as the iconic two-door will likely cost upward of $1 million. Read more about the car here, and keep your fingers crossed.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.