2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith vs. 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Le Mans Edition

An executive at Bentley once told us that the company's cars have no vehicular competitors. He said that when the time came for a customer to purchase a new Bentley, they weren't cross-shopping cars, but were debating over the car, a boat or some very expensive jewelry. Or maybe all of the above.

So when Rolls-Royce debuted the all-new, two-door, drive-it-yourself Wraith, Bentley probably didn't flinch. After all, the Bentley Continental GT has so thoroughly ingrained itself in the ultra-luxury consciousness that this upstart coupe from Goodwood seemed little more than another bauble to temporarily distract future Bentley Boys.

But should Bentley flinch at the 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith? It's impossible to tell on paper, so we gathered the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever for a back-to-back drive against the most powerful two-door Bentley makes, the Continental GT Speed.

Two Cars for $620,970
For $620,970 you could buy an entire neighborhood in Terre Haute, Indiana; a broom closet in Manhattan; or these two luxury cars. We'd suggest the cars.

The 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed is based around a simply wicked twin-turbo W12 that displaces 6.0 liters and dumps 616 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels. Compared to the standard GT, the GT Speed's also got stiffer springs, adjustable suspension dampers, big sticky tires hugging 21-inch wheels, a 205-mph top speed and a ZF-built eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

The inside of this Le Mans Edition is swathed in dark, quilted red leather contrasted by inky black carbon fiber. It feels like the world's fastest bordello.

The all-new Wraith is less familiar. Calling the 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith a two-door version of the company's Ghost sedan is like calling Justin Timberlake a slightly taller Justin Bieber; their missions are similar, but the approach and execution are worlds apart.

The Wraith does share some ties with the Ghost. Both cars share the BMW 7 Series-derived chassis, though the Wraith is nearly 6 inches shorter with a 7.7-inch-shorter wheelbase.

The Ghost and Wraith also share the twin-turbo 6.6-liter V12 power plant. In the Wraith, however, the motor twists the rear tires with an absolutely stupid 624 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque via an eight-speed automatic with GPS capabilities.

And that's just the boring tech stuff that 99 percent of Wraith owners don't care about. The interior of the Wraith is where the real magic happens and is one of the most spectacular structures we've ever entered, knocking St. Peter's Basilica down a spot. The headliner is awash in more than 1,000 twinkling fiber-optic lights that mimic a starry night. The leather on the seats is so buttery and soft it could only come from tiny baby cows raised for veal. The self-closing suicide doors hold the largest single piece of wood in any automobile — a trick that had our carpentry-nerd friends in an absolute tizzy.

A Rolls-Royce for Driving
If it's been said once, it's been said a million times: Bentleys are for driving, Rolls-Royces are for being driven in. The Wraith changes that.

Approach a corner in the Wraith the way you would in a sports car and you'll be faced with considerable understeer and intrusive stability control, reminding you of each and every one of the Wraith's 5,381 pounds. Better to treat each corner as you would in a big, classic American coupe: Turn in early and far more than you'd expect, wait for the suspension to set and then power through hard on the throttle. In fact, patience is central to all aspects of wheeling the Roller and one of its more endearing traits.

Please don't confuse this behavior with anything resembling slop. The Wraith doesn't buoy, pitch or bounce over bumps — ever. If you owned one, you'd never vote for a dime of street repairs, as you simply wouldn't notice the asphalt wasn't diamond smooth. What you do notice is the intentional and well-mannered management of mass to enhance the driving experience. Turn left and the body sinks right. Stand on the throttle and the expanse of hood rises in challenge to the beckoning horizon. Sink the brake into the ultra-plush lambswool carpeting (disclaimer: We drove barefoot a LOT) and the Wraith dives forward as it comes to a stop in only 109 feet from 60 mph. That, friends, is control.

Good thing, too, as the Wraith hits 60 in 4.7 seconds (4.4 with 1 foot of rollout as on a drag strip) and clicks through the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds at 113.2 mph.

But as much as we love the suspension, steering and motor in the real world, we dislike the gimmicky satellite-aided transmission. As you'd expect from a Rolls-Royce, there are no manual transmission controls. Not a problem, says Rolls, as the new transmission talks to the navigation unit to determine the type of road you're on and the type of driving you're doing. It works about as well as you'd expect a system that can't take elevation into account to work and frankly just feels like a normal, confused automatic whenever pushed. Rolls should skip this and just hire the guy who tuned the 2014 Mazda 3's Sport mode.

A Seasoned Sports Car
In the same moment that the Rolls driver is waiting for his boat to take a set, the guy in the Continental GT Speed has scrubbed 40 mph off his speed, flicked the car into Manual mode, dropped three gears via the paddle shifter and is already engaging that W12 for a corner exit that will blur the landscape.

If the Wraith's defining characteristic is deliberate body motions, the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed's is the echoing screams of enjoyment and terror bouncing around the interior.

This Continental is simply a different level of fast. From a dead stop, the 616-hp W12 digs holes in the pavement as it scrambles to a 4.1-second (3.9 seconds with rollout) sprint to 60 and then flips off the quarter-mile mark in 12.3 seconds at 113.1 mph. Holding the throttle to the floor on a closed course with ample runoff area is easy. With 5,173 pounds of mass and all-wheel drive, it's about as stable as a 747 at takeoff. Trying to use that in the real world is totally different.

Pin it on any road with a corner and you're in too deep before you can remember you have the world's largest carbon-ceramic disc brakes (16.5 inches) up front to save your bacon. Unfortunately, the W12 provides 190 percent of the power you need and approximately zero engine braking. Couple that with extreme mass and extreme speed and you've got a recipe for a car that can drive like a lead-tipped arrow. Mass management and precise power delivery are paramount. The quick-compared-to-the-Rolls steering and the dead-flat suspension lull you into thinking the Bentley is a racecar only to be reminded constantly exactly how heavy and how far forward that W12 really is.

This Bentley wasn't made for tight corners. Get it onto a road/track with sweeping, steady-state bends and the outright grip and blinding speed is frightening. Though, like a much quieter Nissan GT-R, the Bentley has limits so high that it's almost boring when driven at anything resembling a normal speed.

2nd Place: 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed

Until recently, the most significant bomb that could be lobbed against the 12-cylinder Bentley Continental GT was that it was little more than a gussied-up Audi, its corporate sibling. Now, however, even Audi has equally expensive, fast and luxurious cars like the RS 7. It's everything you want a Bentley to be, just without the attention.

For those who want the attention, there's a lovely V8-powered Continental in the lineup that will not only save you money (irrelevant at this level), but provides better driving dynamics. We simply can't forgive the W12's off-throttle rev-hanging and nose-heavy demeanor. Not when the V8 doesn't do it. Not when the V8 is only a few tenths slower. Not when the V8 sounds like a demon, while the W12 moans like a vacuum trying to inhale the corner of a carpet.

The Bentley Continental GT was once the finest GT on the market. Now it's a status symbol losing ground to a new generation of hotshots.

1st Place: 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith

There's often a fine line between novelty and innovation, and the Wraith falls on the right side of this line every time. Take for instance, the doors that open backward and close themselves. This should be a parlor trick, the type of thing you show off at parties and then quietly curse at when you have to use it while all alone. Instead, it turns out that stepping into the wide section of the opened door is actually the way it's supposed to be done and that self-closing doors are quite handy. Same goes for the umbrella in the door jamb and the starry night headliner.

Features are nice, but where the Rolls-Royce really proves itself is in its exceptional clarity of mission and flawless execution. The Wraith was designed to achieve an experience, and that's exactly what it does. From the first time you open the door, to watching the Spirit of Ecstasy emerge from the hood, to running your toes through 3 inches of ultra-soft wool to powering down the highway without a whisper of noise, the Wraith is an experience.

Some days you want to drive something so impeccably adorned, impressively assembled and visually striking that you accidentally drive across the country. For those days, there's nothing better than the 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith.

The manufacturer provided Edmunds these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.