BE GOOD TO YOURSELF
It’s a cool spring day as we leave Edinburgh. Gentle pressure on the accelerator produces a refined thrum from somewhere forward and the big Bentley slips past lesser traffic with no apparent effort. The roof is up, and such is the quality of the material and the neatness of the fit, it’s not far different from being in a fixed-head coupé. Only the lesser glass area gives you a more cocooned feeling, though the view out of the front is still magnificent.
It’s soon time to peel off the dual carriageway and go looking for some quieter, prettier roads. Meeting a few bends at speed can be uncomfortable in some cars of this size and age, but here there is no plunge and wallow on tight corners. This S3 remains remarkably stable and level, with excellent body control. Here comes a fast straight, and the car tracks down its lane like an arrow, with none of the wheel-sawing correction you’d be performing in, for instance, most American contemporaries.
It has a good punch of mid-range acceleration for dealing with motorway on-ramps and overtakes, as we’ve already discovered. It’s a peach of an engine, not just the early 6230cc L-series V8 in general but particularly the one in this car. Thanks to this aluminium coachwork the Continental probably weighs around 200kg less than the standard S3 saloon, and it’s higher geared too. Indeed, 2000rpm is about 60mph in top (4th gear) for this sensible four-speed automatic. You leave it in the ‘3’ position for mixed driving, ensuring there will be instant thrust available
