2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Drive and Review

2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Drive and Review-Kingautocars.blogspot.com. We're not exactly flying through the Chinese countryside in the new Bentley Flying Spur -- more like ducking and dodging stacks of bricks, all manner of glacially moving wheeled conveyances, trash bins, and sleeping dogs in the road. Although well-paved, the route is often treacherous, especially given the hulking, 5500-plus-pound ultra-luxury sedan we're driving. In the hardscrabble districts outside the insane, smog-choked bustle of Beijing, the Silverlake blue Flying Spur we're piloting sticks out like a big, honking, ostentatious sore thumb. As we snootily barge by a weathered peasant with a massive bundle of sticks impossibly slung over his back, it's not lost on me how wide the gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to be here, especially from behind the Spur's $2,235, dual tone, 3-spoke, hide-trimmed steering wheel. It's a car that personifies the nouveau riche mentality of today's China.

Bentley’s substantially new Flying Spur is now more of a luxury car. Customers wanted a more comfortable ride, a better rear seat and more features for owners sat at the back, and that’s exactly what Bentley has done. Now only known as the Flying Spur, as against the Continental Flying Spur, this car is different looking too.

Bentley's styling team has developed an athletic design for the new Flying Spur that combines traditional Bentley styling cues with a sporting stance and contemporary details. Sharp feature lines complement muscular rear haunches, while LED day-time running lights, dipped headlights and taillights characterise the front and rear profiles. The interior designers have created a luxurious, spacious cabin that dresses advanced acoustic and electronic technologies in exquisite hand-crafted leather hides and wood veneers.

Driver and passengers alike interface with the car and the outside world through touch-screen infotainment, mobile connectivity including Wi-Fi, a Rear Seat Entertainment suite and a new hand-held Touch Screen Remote which allows rear-cabin occupants to control an extensive range of features from the comfort of their seat. An eight-channel, eight-speaker audio system with Balanced Mode Radiators provides high quality sound clarity, with the 1100W Naim® for Bentley premium system available as an option.

In true Bentley tradition, it has massive amounts of poke and almost commercial vehicle-like low rpm torque, which makes it feel light and effortless behind the wheel. The blown W12 engine now makes 616bhp, making this the most powerful four-door ‘flying B’ ever. 0-100kph is dispatched in approximately 4.3sec and what gets you dizzy is that performance only gets stronger as you approach 200kph. Despite the fact that this car weighs in excess of 2.5 tons, the massive 81.6kgm of torque from a low engine speed of just 2000rpm just hurls the car forward as if it has been flung forward over-arm by King Kong. What also helps massi

vely is just how well the eight-speed ZF gearbox integrates with the motor, instantly providing you a choice of two gears for any given situation.

 

With some 20,000 made since it first launched as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur in 2005, this car will not likely go down in history as a collectable classic. But the latest update will no doubt continue to help Bentley develop the Spur's reputation as a high-class sedan to drive and be driven in the world over.