Details and images of the all-new Bentley Flying Spur have emerged ahead of the car’s world debut at next month’s 2013 Geneva Motor Show. It succeeds the original Continental Flying Spur the world first saw in 2005, but drops the Continental name to distance it from the marque’s two-door entry-level range.
Clearly more dynamic looking than before, the Flying Spur “combines traditional Bentley styling cues with a sporting stance and contemporary details,” says Crewe. It appears lower and wider, with prominent feature lines and a muscular rear haunch. The front fenders sport a new wing vent complete with a “B” motif.
Up front, a more upright chrome grille sits between the pairs of “jewel-like” LED headlamps. The outer lamps are the larger of the two, for a more conventional face than that of big brother Mulsanne. The lower intake is now full width with no vertical divisions.
At the back, there’s a longer and lower boot lid, horizontal single ellipse LED tail lamps, plus a new interpretation of the Bentley “Horse Shoe” feature line, now running the full width of the car.
Under the hood is Bentley’s 6.0 litre, twin-turbo W12 engine, coupled to a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission. Developing 625 PS and 800 Nm of torque from 2,000 rpm, the new Flying Spur features more power than any other Bentley four-door in history. A 14% improvement in power-to-weight ratio over the outgoing model delivers a 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) time of just 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 322 km/h.
In modern Bentley tradition, power is delivered to the road via AWD with 40:60 rear-biased torque split. Weight savings in the body structure and throughout the car mean that the Flying Spur is 50 kg lighter than the original, despite additional refinement measures, enhanced spec and a stronger structure.
On the move, the computer-controlled air suspension is redesigned to maximise impact absorption and isolation. Compared to the outgoing car, spring rates are softened front and rear by 10% and 13% respectively for improved ride comfort in the normal operating region.
On the other hand, the rate of stiffness increase during harder cornering has been increased for improved control of heave, pitch and roll. Anti-roll bars are softened by 13% and 15% to improve single wheel impact absorption. Suspension lever bushes are softer by at least 25% for reduced road surface-induced NVH.
As the car approaches its top speed, ride height is automatically lowered to compensate for aerodynamic forces. This helps not only to improve vehicle stability, but also reduces drag, with benefits both to top speed and CO2 output. The lowering strategy is two-stage, first by 5 mm at the front and 10 mm at the rear at 195 km/h, then by a further 8 mm and 13 mm at 240 km/h.
Customers can choose from a range of 17 standard exterior paint colours including Dark Cashmere, a new addition. The extended paint range of over 100 colours is joined by Damson, inspired by the extremely rare purple diamond, and complemented by an optional matching hide colour. A new 19-inch Classic wheel is fitted exclusively to the Flying Spur, either bright-painted or with a diamond turned finish.
Not enough? Opt for the Mulliner Driving Specification, which includes five additional hides, expanding the number of available shades to 17, and five further wood veneers. Bentley’s traditional diamond quilting is incorporated to the seats and door panels, together with indented leather headlining and embroidered Bentley wings to the headrests.
Mulliner spec cars also come with drilled alloy pedals, a knurled sports gear lever, jewel filler cap and 21-inch two-piece five-spoke alloys in painted or polished finish. Take note, lotto winners.
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The side profile and rear sure looks expensive and elegant, but also a hint of Ghost. But I can’t say the same about the front, it’s not bad, but when you’re paying more than a million for a car, you expect it to look expensive and classy. It looks, and I dare say this……boring.
But my opinion about the Mulsanne front differs as time goes by. So I’ll see if I can get use to it.
wow very nice, what’s the pricing?
a number with many Zeros infront of it… I believe around 2Mil.
Well, should be around RM1.7m and above judging from the current price level.
This is what I said before in my I.ME handle.
Bentley has no more prestige anymore. It is virtually every where in Malaysia. The recon units are going for below RM399,000 even. Thus, you can see it everywhere. I think I see more more Bentleys on the road than Mazda CX5s.
Anyway, what is more important is to fight corruption and cheating. Most Bentley owners in KL it seems use road tax from Sabah and Sarawak that only cost RM4000 for their 6000cc car. yes, the government is being deprived or income tax from these Bentley buyers. Go and see most Bentleys, the road tax comes from Sabah and Sarawak and this is a legal loophole in the system. There are runners in Malaysia, mostly from the AP holders themselves, they get the road tax from Sabah and Sarawak and post it to the owner in Malaysia. Go and see any Bentley in town, you can see the road tax has only RM50 written on it. This is because the runner will go to sabah and Sarawak during the renewal and one day after that, they go back and ALSO say road tax got lost. So JPJ Sabah or Sarawk issues a copy for RM50. So when police in Semenanjung ask, they just say that it is a renewed salinan.
In conclusion, instead of the government getting RM18,000 from the Bently owner, they only get RM4000. Who loses? It is you and me. Government won’t have funds to build schools or help the poor. Classic example of the rich getting richer (through crooked means) and the poor getting poorer.
I hope the government and LHDN can take the necessary action to curb such abuses from the rich people in our society.
yes the loop hole is not just used on bentley but virtually all sports cars with above 4000cc. gov not getting money? where is the 4k going? that equals to 20x the roadtax of normal <2.0 cc cars. i drive a 2.0 car but like alot of motorheads out there we wish one day we can afford to own and drive sports cars or supercars with big engines one day. 18k road tax for a 6000cc is overkill considering you have to pay shit loads more for import duty already! the tax structure we is use is obsolete is based on what the uk was using during merdeka. virtually all first world countries now tax car based on their emission, but ofcourse that cant be done in bolehland if not people with obsolete proton engine have to pay the most tax.
the conti is taxed at 1k pounds in the uk. i hate it when people like you who keep on spewing out “tax the rich” to help the the so called “poor”. when we malaysians have to pay shit loads more on alot of things already with lower salary. how bout the so called poor do some of the work right?
OMG…Nice for the front, but for the rear…UGLY…
i like the more aggressive look
wow that is just as powerful as the new GT Speed, imagine if they eventually make the new Flying Spur Speed…how powerful it will be!
Boring look….from coupe and sedan bentley have always the same face…..
cantik nya
I think they’re heading in the right direction with this styling. It looks more stately and classy compared to the previous Flying Spur which wears the Conti’s face quite awkwardly. Still, who can say no to that kinda name; Flying Spurrrrrr.
if it didnt had the bentley badge i think it would look like a cheap china knockoff
overall fantastic design till i seen the back of the car. well, IMHO its abit of a turn off. while the rest of the car is so damn classy.
can only see this car when police escort front and rear. Nornal civilian non practical car, only royal family can owned it.
well, of coz this car is not meant for normal civilian. not here certainly not in UK or any part of the world. A “normal civilian” that owned this beast are those rich businessman.
elegant & timeless design…classy