Skip to main content

Bentley Continental GT ‘Monster by Mulliner’ makes some noise at CES 2016

Bentley Continental GT V8 S "Monster by Mulliner"
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Bentley is getting in on the CES 2016 festivities with a customized Continental GT built in partnership with Monster. Called the “Monster by Mulliner,” it’s got a sound system designed with the attention to detail only this famously fastidious British carmaker could sanction.

Bentley’s CES show car features a 3,400-watt Monster audio system, with 16 speakers hand selected by “Head Monster” Noel Lee. Pumped up sound systems are normally something one associates with old Honda Civics and Ford Mustangs driven by people with backward-facing baseball caps, but high-performance sound is fast becoming as much a mark of luxury as leather and wood trim.

To highlight the car’s specialness, Bentley decked out the interior in Monster’s colors of black and red, and added special seats from its Mulliner bespoke division. Taking its name from a coachbuilder, Mulliner handles various car-customization projects for Bentley. There’s also a special compartment that houses 24-karat gold Monster headphones. They’re the perfect accessory for a Bentley, really.

The black-and-red theme carries over to the exterior, which looks suitably monstrous. The main paint color is “Onyx,” with “Hotspur” accents. Bentley also added a custom body kit and radiator-shell bezel, and “stylized” the black hood vents. Red brake calipers and gloss black wheels complete the look.

There are no apparent mechanical changes to this Continental GT V8 S, which uses a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8, rather than the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 found in other Continental variants. It may be the smaller of the two engines, but the V8 still produces 520 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque, which is sent to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

A stock Continental GT V8 S coupe weighs 5,060 pounds, and the Monster sound system may have added even more to that. But this car still has enough grunt to do 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, and to reach a top speed of 192 mph. What song would you play while doing that?

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Mercedes-Benz G580 first drive: old-school off-roader goes electric
2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 from three quarter view.

American car buyers mostly know Mercedes-Benz as a luxury brand. But for decades, the automaker has also produced the tough, rugged G-Class (also known as the Geländewagen or G-Wagen), an SUV not afraid to get its leather upholstery muddy. And now, this iconic Mercedes is going electric.

The 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology — the final name of the SUV previously known as the EQG — isn’t the first electric off-roader. The Rivian R1S and R1T and GMC Hummer EV have proven that electric powertrains and off-roading are a great combination. But the electric G-Wagen is different because it’s based on an internal-combustion model — and a very traditional one at that.

Read more
Honda believes hydrogen semi trucks will make the case for fuel cells
Honda hydrogen fuel-cell semi truck.

Honda remains committed to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, but the market for those vehicles remains limited. So Honda is looking at other uses for fuel cells -- including commercial trucks.

To show how that could work, Honda converted a semi truck to fuel-cell power, replacing its diesel engine with three fuel-cell modules. Together, the three modules produce a combined 321 horsepower, and can propel the truck to a top speed of 70 mph. There's enough onboard hydrogen storage capacity for a 400-mile range with a full load, Honda claims.

Read more
Mercedes-Benz G580 vs Rivian R2: Is the much cheaper Rivian actually better?
2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 from three quarter view.

Mercedes-Benz has finally taken the wraps off of the new "Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology." Yeah, it's a mouthful, but it's basically a new electric G-Wagon. It looks a lot like the G-Wagon you know and love, but with an electric powertrain and a battery. It's not the only electric SUV out there, however, and there are some great ones -- like the Rivian R2.

Both the Mercedes G580 and the Rivian R2 have a lot going for them, but they also approach the electric SUV slightly differently. Is one better than the other? I put the two head-to-head to find out.
Design
The approach that the two vehicles take to design is quite different -- and you might like one better than the other.

Read more