For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Bentley Continental GT have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Aston Martin DB11 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Continental GT’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The DB11 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
The Continental GT has standard front and rear seat side-impact airbags and head airbags, which act as a forgiving barrier between the passengers and the door. Combined with high-strength steel door beams this system increases protection from broadside collisions. The DB11 doesn't offer rear-seat side-impact airbags, only ones for front seat occupants.
The Continental GT has standard Bentley Safeguard, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The DB11 doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.
The Continental GT has a standard Multi-collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The DB11 doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
The Continental GT has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The DB11 doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
An active infrared night vision system optional on the Continental GT helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera and near-infrared lights to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The DB11 doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Continental GT’s optional lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The DB11 doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Continental GT’s standard Reversing Traffic Warning uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and automatically engage the brakes. The DB11 doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Continental GT has standard Private eCall, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The DB11 doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Continental GT and the DB11 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems and around view monitors.
The Bentley Continental GT weighs 650 to 1431 pounds more than the Aston Martin DB11. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.