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| New 2014 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan exterior photo gallery. |
The sedan version of the Bentley Continental, the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur drops its Continental moniker but remains three tons of air-conditioned, quilted-leather land-missile.
Consider
these numbers, which would have been fantasy just a decade ago: The
6.0-liter W12 engine now produces 616 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, doled
out in a 40/60 front/rear split by the all-wheel-drive system. A
110-pound weight reduction over the outgoing Flying Spur means the
power-to-weight ratio improves by 14 percent; every 8.9 pounds gets its
own horse. Sixty miles per hour is now achieved in 4.3 seconds, on the
way to a terminal velocity of 200 mph. Keep it south of the century mark
and a combined 15 mpg is available, rising to 20 mpg on the highway.
No
twin-turbo V8 will be available, at least at first. And with numbers
like those the Flying Spur already boasts, we're not sure a V8 makes
much sense. Fuel economy would likely only improve by 1 or 2 mpg, and a
slightly lower price is of negligible concern among Bentley's clientele.
Instead, those buyers are primarily interested in supreme opulence, inside and out. Traditional Bentley
consumers will find themselves at home in the Flying Spur, swaddled in
leather, wool, wood and brushed metal from headliner to floor mat.
Contrasting piping and stitching are found throughout the basic car,
while Mulliner Driving Specification Spurs get quilted leather available
in five additional colors (upping the total to 17 choices) along with
five unique wood veneers. Other Mulliner upgrades include two-piece
21-inch wheels and a special knurled shift lever.
New to the
Flying Spur is a removable multifunction controller for rear-seat
passengers. Featuring a touch-screen, the controller communicates with
the car via Bluetooth, allowing the rearmost tycoon to tweak climate
control, stereo functions, sunshades and the like without having to look
for permanent switchgear. It may sound superfluous in concept, but it's
remarkably convenient while being chauffeured about.
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| Leather, wood and metal adorn the interior of the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan. |
The rest of
the rear seating is just good, a surprise considering the number of
owners who prefer being driven to driving themselves. The seats are firm
to the point of minor discomfort after about 90 minutes of travel;
while some may prefer the additional support, we expected to be
absorbed, amoebalike, in plush luxury, but it didn't happen.
What's it like to drive?
Seeing
“4.3 seconds to 60” on paper is one thing. Feeling three tons of
Bentley conjure that number into reality is another experience entirely.
As much fun as it is piloting light, powerful cars, the forces involved
in accelerating large masses quickly seem to ring a natural cranial
frequency all their own.
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| Leather, wood and metal adorn the interior of the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan. |
Twin turbochargers and eight gear choices
mean there can be a moment of lag on initial throttle tip-in as the W12
and its control computers determine exactly how fast you want to go and
how quickly you'd like to arrive at that velocity. Once you're off,
though, the acceleration is massive; gear changes, even at full
throttle, are barely perceptible, a testament to the additional tuning
Bentley engineers did on the already-excellent ZF transmission. One
thing we wouldn't miss is the obnoxiously large and mostly useless
shifter paddles extending from the steering column; not only is the
plastic finish out of place in this car, but the upshift/downshift
function is laughably slow.
To Bentley's credit, the handling
occasionally defies physics much as the accelerator does. Steering is
delightfully direct for such a large vehicle, with a firmness tuned
somewhere between Audi and BMW; feedback is just fair, but considering
the levels of isolation the suspension is asked to deliver, the Flying
Spur reacts to inputs like a car a thousand pounds lighter. When the
time comes to rein things in, brake rotors the size of Saturn's rings
are coupled with a fairly large amount of pedal travel to permit smooth,
but serious, stopping.
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| Leather, wood and metal adorn the interior of the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan. |
Do I want one?
Ultra-luxury
cars are tricky business thanks to the various flavors in which luxury
is presented. For the technophile -- the bells-and-whistles junkie --
far more equipment can be found on a Mercedes-Benz S-class or Audi S8
for tens of thousands of dollars less than a Flying Spur. Those brands,
however vaunted, are not Bentley, nor are those cars blessed with the
kind of hand craftsmanship found in vehicles from Crewe. It's at this
point where value equations and feature sets become largely moot, with
the primary purchase consideration becoming, “Is this the brand with
which I want to be associated?”
The enthusiast luxury buyer may
find the Bentley offers an unexpectedly entertaining driving experience.
The owner who prefers to be driven will likely prefer the space and
comfort of either the long-wheelbase German flagship sedans or the more
upscale Mulsanne or Rolls offerings.
As far as choices go, it's one we'll gladly face.
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| Elegant details define the new Flying Spur luxury sedan. |
2014 Bentley Flying Spur
On Sale: Summer 2013
Base Price: $200,500
Drivetrain: 6.0-liter, 616-hp, 590 lb-ft twin-turbocharged W12; AWD, eight-speed automatic transmission
Curb Weight: 5,451 lb
0-60 mph: 4.3 sec
Fuel Economy (EPA City/HWY/Combined): 12/20/15
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| ew 2014 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan exterior. |
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