BUY, LEASE OR FINANCE A BENTLEY FLYING SPUR FROM OSV: bit.ly/2OqF6tz
Bentley's third generation Flying Spur saloon diverges a little more from its Continental origins. Is any saloon in the world really better than this one? Jonathan Crouch wonders.
Ten Second Review
The third generation version of Bentley's Continental Flying Spur blends old-school craftsmanship with the latest technology in the super-luxury saloon sector. Beneath the chrome trim, the leather and the wood veneers, there's cutting-edge tech at work producing breathtaking results and creating in this boardroom-segment limousine the world's fastest four-door. It's hard not to be impressed.
Background
The Flying Spur names dates back to 1959 and saloon version of Bentley's R-Type Continental Coupe. With a name borrowed from the family crest of Arthur Talbot Johnstone, Managing Director of the coachbuilder Mulliner. In the modern Volkswagen Group-owned era, the 'Continental Flying Spur' badge was revived in 2005 for a saloon version of the Continental GT Coupe, with a second generation design (just known as the 'Flying Spur') appearing a decade later in 2015, a scant four years before the arrival of this more fundamentally new MK3 model.
The obvious rivals to this car lie with models like the Mercedes-Maybach S650 and the Rolls Royce Ghost, but in concept, what's on offer here is probably better understood as something a bit more dynamic than that: imagine a cross between a BMW M5 and a Rolls Royce Phantom and you'll be somewhere close. This is the world's faster four-door: but that's not the only reason it's very desirable indeed....
Driving Experience
Bentley's worked hard to make this Flying Spur more of its own car in this third generation form - it's the brand's first vehicle to feature four-wheel steering for instance. This model still though, owes most of its engineering to its Continental GT coupe showroom stablemate, which in turn borrows is MSB platform, 8-speed twin clutch auto transmission and rear suspension from a Porsche Panamera. Like the Conti GT, the Flying Spur was launched with a W12 twelve cylinder unit with 635PS and 900Nm of torque. But also engineered for a 4.0-litre petrol V8 (sourced from Audi with 550PS). And a 3.0-litre V6 petrol Plug-in hybrid unit, which has 449PS an all-electric driving range of around 30 miles. The W12 spirits you to 60mph in just 3.8s en route to 207mph, which makes it the world's fastest saloon.
Another key change over the previous generation Flying Spur lies with the integration of a more reactive all-wheel drive system. The old set-up featured a fixed 40:60 split between front and rear wheels and left the car understeering rather easily when you tried to push it along. In contrast, the replacement 'Active All-Wheel-Drive' package can constantly vary front-to-rear torque split depending on the driving situation and deliberately leaves the car using rear wheel drive as much as possible. As before, there's air suspension, now a three-chamber system that works in conjunction with the clever 48V electro-mechanical anti-roll bars first seen on the Bentayga. Suspension feel is one of the things you can influence via three provided driving modes - 'Sport', 'Comfort' and 'Bentley'. Steering feel and throttle response also get tweaked with the settings.
Design and Build
Most will agree this third generation Flying Spur to be a more handsome design than its predecessors, with sweeping lines and a sense of added visual purpose this time round. It's big - of course it is, though the 5.3-metre length is still a little shorter than its two closest segment rivals, the Rolls Royce Ghost and the Mercedes-Maybach S650. It sits a little lower than that pair too and the short front overhangs give a sportier look. As with the Continental GT, a frontward highlight lies with the jewel-like Matrix LED headlights that flank one of the largest and most imposing front grilles you'll ever see. The LED rear lamps are almost as nice, with their distinctive 'B'-shaped night time signature. There are larger wheels, with 21-inchers standard.
Inside, as you might expect, the front of the cabin is lifted directly from the Continental GT, which means that the dashboard is sculpted by long, flowing wings and can feature the clever 'Bentley Rotating Display'. When you first get in, there appears to be no screen on the dashboard. Press the engine button though and the veneer in the middle of the fascia rotates to reveal either a bank of analogue dials or a huge 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen. The instrument binnacle dial pack is a configurable all-TFT display too.
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