Whether or not you favor the time period saloon or sedan, the standard, four-door, three-box automotive it refers to appears to be a dying breed. With so many new automotive patrons choosing SUVs and crossovers, it will appear the saloon automotive ought to quickly qualify for the endangered species listing.
Luxurious automakers, nevertheless, are nonetheless holding sturdy. Be it a BMW 7 Collection or a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, when you’ve got a good bit of money to spend, there are nonetheless quite a few nice sedans to select from. And on the tippy-top of the premium area, there are automobiles just like the Bentley Flying Spur, which has been utterly redesigned for 2020. With this new mannequin, Bentley desires you to recollect not simply that sedans nonetheless have their place within the fashionable automotive market, however that they’ll additionally signify one of the best of all worlds.
Earlier Flying Spurs suffered barely from lifting too many design touches from the two-door Continental, making it appear like a stretched model of that coupe. (It did not assist that, for some time, the automotive was often called the Continental Flying Spur.) Its uninspiring appears — to not point out the data that it was primarily based on the Volkswagen Phaeton — did little to lift the heart beat.
The brand new Flying Spur, nevertheless, not solely makes higher use of Bentley’s new design language, first launched on the Continental GT, however takes the freedom of actually making use of the corporate’s newest signatures to a form extra recognizable as sedan, and a good-looking one at that. The facility strains down the facet draw your eye to muscular haunches on the rear, ending off an unapologetically sturdy silhouette. Spec the non-obligatory 22-inch wheels and the automotive has an imposing presence, whether or not curbside or creeping up in your rearview mirror.
The Flying Spur retains its exterior badging refined, with a neatly hidden W12 emblem alongside the facet, and the corporate’s brand accompanied by elegantly lettered “Bentley” in script on the rear. Up entrance there is a restyled Flying B hood decoration that now, for the primary time, can retract into the hood the identical method the Spirit of Ecstasy can retreat right into a Rolls-Royce. Though removed from a sleeper automotive, the styling is sufficiently subtle to go underneath the radar of the informal observer.
The inside styling is, as one would anticipate, much less refined. The identical luxurious leather-based, steel and wooden which were the hallmarks of Bentley for 100 years are absolutely current. My check automotive has the brand new, non-obligatory “3D leather-based” within the doorways, a end that provides depth and curves to an in any other case flat floor. It is firmer to the contact than I might like, nevertheless it’s definitely an fascinating possibility — particularly if you wish to have one thing that no different Bentley at the moment gives.
In the event you discover that, once in a while, you’d desire to be pushed in your Flying Spur relatively than drive it your self, the rear-seat expertise is equally beautiful. If something, the rear seats are much more snug than the entrance, with headrests so mushy they really feel like they’re full of angel feathers.
Along with detachable tablets mounted on the headrests, there is a new detachable touchscreen distant management that may modify quite a lot of the automotive’s foremost settings, together with navigation knowledge and the elevating and reducing of the hood decoration. An onscreen animation reveals you what place the decoration is in, which is nice, since you possibly can’t really see the logo from anyplace contained in the automotive.
The infotainment system appears wonderful, with a big touchscreen interface controlling nearly the whole lot. It is the identical setup as you will discover within the Continental GT — itself a reworked model of the Porsche Communication Administration infotainment tech you will discover in a Cayenne or Panamera. In fact, the Bentley one-ups its Porsche siblings with the three-sided, revolving fascia that may ship a so-called “digital detox,” hiding the display screen away in favor of a end to match the remainder of the dashboard, or a set of analog dials.
Richard Pardon/Bentley
One other acquainted bit is the engine. The 6.Zero-liter, twin-turbocharged W12 delivers 626 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, which is definitely vital contemplating the Flying Spur’s not-insignificant 5,373 kilos of mass. From a standing begin the Flying Spur can speed up to 60 mph in three.7 seconds, and it’ll carry on going all the way in which as much as 207 mph.
Energy is delivered to all 4 wheels by way of a ZF-sourced, eight-speed, dual-clutch automated transmission — one which’s additionally used within the Continental GT, and the identical because the PDK gearbox you get within the Porsche Panamera. That is not the one similarity to its Stuttgart sibling, thoughts you. The Panamera, Continental GT and Flying Spur all share the identical chassis.
The Flying Spur will get the 48-volt lively anti-roll tech first seen on the Bentayga SUV and later the Continental GT, in addition to a brand new, three-chamber air suspension. On the entire, then, the Flying Spur appears to have little or no developed only for itself, and relatively has taken the entire finest bits of its stablemates so as to reinvent this four-door package deal. Within the Continental GT, these enhancements have made a constructive enchancment to the driving expertise, and I am glad to report the identical goes for the bigger Flying Spur.
My drive began in On line casino Sq. within the coronary heart of Monte Carlo. Presumably probably the most becoming place to drive a $200,000-plus luxurious sedan. The Flying Spur seamlessly matches in amongst the unbelievable wealth on show. The deep burble of the W12 engine pronounces your presence with out shouting about it an excessive amount of, and the unbelievable sound insulation retains the chatter of the vacationers out of the cabin.
Richard Pardon/Bentley
The Flying Spur is pretty massive, at over 17 toes in size, however the rear-wheel steering — a primary for Bentley and one function that’s distinctive to the Spur — helps out massively when negotiating the extremely cramped and twisty roads of the tiny principality. With the rear wheels counter-steering at sluggish velocity, the automotive really feels not than the Continental GT, successfully hiding the majority of the Flying Spur. As soon as out within the mountains, the rear-wheel steering makes hairpins a breeze. It appears ironic: The one factor that is really distinctive to the Flying Spur really makes it really feel extra like a Continental.
The engine’s ample torque can hurtle the Flying Spur off the road towards the horizon effortlessly, and the load of the automotive is all however forgotten till it is time to hit the brakes. There is a purpose this automotive comes with the most important metal brakes ever fitted to a manufacturing automotive; the Flying Spur makes use of each final little bit of its stoppers to effectively convey its bulk to a halt.
The 48-volt anti-roll tech retains the Flying Spur managed although quicker, tight corners, however my choice is to dial again the suspension to one in all its softer modes to assist handle the shift of mass when actually driving onerous. The steering has sufficient weight to make a difficult drive really feel nicely managed, nevertheless it’s gentle sufficient underneath regular driving to make the expertise easy.
Underneath the whole lot however probably the most spirited of drives, the B drive mode (“B” for Bentley) provides a wonderfully balanced and cozy experience. Go away the automotive in that setting and you will hardly ever be dissatisfied, because the Flying Spur reacts to your inputs and provides you Bentley’s finest interpretation of what you want.
Richard Pardon/Bentley
The transition from Continental GT coupe to Flying Spur sedan reveals a slight lack of dynamic functionality. There’s rather less response from the steering, just a little extra labor underneath braking. Usually, nevertheless, it is outstanding how related the 2 automobiles really feel — which is perhaps the largest praise I can provide.
The Flying Spur has lifted most of its new options from the remainder of the Bentley secure, and the result’s a automotive that feels extraordinarily acquainted. This cannot be seen as something lower than a very good factor, when the automobiles it borrows from — the Continental GT, Bentayga and Porsche Panamera — are all so nice.
However whereas these three automobiles do really feel very distinct from one anther, the Flying Spur looks as if it is making an attempt to ship the identical steadiness between a dynamic experience and excessive luxurious consolation because the Continental GT. And whereas it falls barely wanting absolutely attaining that, the added benefits of an opulent rear seating expertise greater than make up for it.
The selection between the Continental GT and Flying Spur would appear be purely down as to whether or not you would want to utilize its rear seats. However with newfound athleticism and a method all its personal, the 2020 Flying Spur makes a stronger case for itself than ever earlier than.
Richard Pardon/Bentley
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