Bentley Flying Spur

It’s the start of just another working day as you pass through the stately front door of your manor and crunch the gravel under foot. In front of you sits your Bentley Flying Spur, and as you clasp the weighty key – thankfully now far removed from the VW-derived item of the Continental GT – you can’t help but feel a twinge of pride and satisfaction: you bought that.

You’ve come a long way, achieved much in your life. You’re a success. The Mercedes S-class you owned before the Spur never made you feel like that, and certainly not the top-end BMW 5-series before that. There are a hundred expensive Mercedes in this wealthy area, but only a few Bentleys.

If you understand only one thing about the Flying Spur and appreciate only one of its talents, it is this in-bred marque appeal and sense of gravitas that its rivals can only dream of. And at times, that’s just as well.

DESIGN

The Bentley Flying Spur is part two of Volkswagen’s rebirth of the famous Crewe marque, and uses the same basic underpinnings as its more sporting GT brother.

That means the same air sprung suspension and weighty steel chassis also shared with the Phaeton; the unique twin-turbo 6.0-litre W12 powerhouse up front and the same basic wood and leather feast of an interior, but with two extra doors and a lot more room behind the front pair of seats.

If the first reaction you had on seeing your Flying Spur was pride, we’re inclined to believe your second look would be one of disappointment. It’s best when viewed either from the end of its bonnet or by approaching from the rear, when traditional Bentley styling cues such as the bold mesh grille and heavily tapered rear section create a fair amount of impact.

Walk around to the side however, and the general proportions – short bonnet, high roof and gently rounded corners – don’t support such extravagant detailing, and the bland, slab sides look particulary clumsy. A car such as this needs to make a confident statement, and in our experience the Flying Spur doesn’t.

INTERIOR

Open the Flying Spur's large and weighty door with its leathered side and capping of wood, and settle down into the large driving seat and all the Bentley's flaws are forgiven. The expanse of wood and leather – so much hide that you might feel guilty at the number of cows that have sacrificed their skin for your comfort – create an interior with an emotional reach far beyond that of its Teutonic rivals.

Wood, leather, chrome and old English charm may not be the latest in design sophistication, but when it’s done to a standard such as this, few themes can match its sense of occasion.

Look closer and you’ll notice the profusion of switches and control knobs (a slightly less English trait), and feel the rather hard and brittle black plastic that most of the buttons are made from – unfortunately this is Volkswagen parts bin engineering when Audi do it much better. But you can’t fault the overall effect, which feels like you’re sitting on the flight deck of a 1960’s British airliner from the early jet age.

In fact, where you really want to be is back down the cabin in one of the two rear chairs (the Flying Spur is strictly a four seater). These electrically powered seats that recline and adjust are separated by a long strip of wood veneer that houses individual climate control, electric seat buttons and their heating and cooling.

There is a fantastic sense of space and luxury back here, especially when the front passenger seat is sent forward, as the nearside rear passenger has the power to do from his control panel.

PERFORMANCE

Before we actually consider the Flying Spur’s performance, let's make clear the task that faces the 552bhp W12. This is a car that weighs 2515kg with fuel but without occupants; a two-and-a-half-tonne mass of metal, wood and leather. But still the Bentley flies from 0-60mph in 5.0 sec, 0-100mph in 12.8 sec and 0-140mph in 27.7 sec, and to a top speed of 194mph.

From behind the large, flat steering wheel, accessing the Spur’s performance is simply a matter of squeezing the right-hand pedal. At low speeds it glides forward with a subtle murmur; it’s clear that Bentley wasn’t intending to trim back the noise levels for total refinement, and instead opted to leave a sporting edge to the car.

Accelerate hard and the W12 growls with a note just on the pleasing side of coarse and the six-speed automatic gearbox changes ratios quickly and fluently. You can also change gears manually with the stick or by the rather cheap, long plastic paddles behind the steering wheel.

The Spur only truly starts to feel quick above 100mph, and the manner with which the speedometer’s needle stealthily flies past the ‘130’, ‘140’, ‘150’ and ‘160’ markings is faintly surreal.

Stability is excellent, too, and is a reassuring vindication of the aerodynamic work Bentley has done to allow the Spur to handle such high speeds with aplomb.

If you do feel the need to have yet more performance, the 600bhp Flying Spur Speed could be for you. It gets a 10mm lower ride height, will sprint to 60mph in just 4.5sec and should push on to over 200mph.