Dreamliner vs reality
It’s not all red carpets. By Ben Pulman
By the bottom of our road on day one I am nonplussed by the Flying Spur. The low-profile tyres mean it doesn’t ride quite as well as the just-departed e-Tron (on wheels with the same 21-inch diameter). And after the serenity of a pure-electric Audi, the V8 rumble and the changing of actual gears – no matter how smooth – makes the Bentley feel unrefined by comparison.
Before setting off we have an issue, too. Most cars have obvious access points to their Isofix mounts, via little plastic flaps or zips in the seats. Not so the Flying Spur (because that would rather spoil the aesthetics of the plush rear accommodation – accommodation that most owners are unlikely ever to put small kids in). Instead, you need to part base from backrest; a process that in my father-in-law’s old Astra is a doddle. But in the Bentley, with its thick, sumptuously-stuffed leather, it’s a fight. A real, 30-minute, sweat and swearing fight that makes you think your child seats won’t fit and you can’t keep the Bentley. I do eventually succeed, but only after admitting defeat and then being sent back out by my wife.
Seats sorted, that first journey is a 100-mile trip, punctuated only by the newborn dropping his dummy into the cavernous no-man’s-land between the front and rear seats and the first born being fascinated by the in-built blinds.
The Flying Spur is serene to cruise in, but I discover a few more foibles in comparison to the e-Tron: despite the Bentley’s 568lb ft of torque, the initial throttle response can’t match that of an EV; and in retrospect I’ve come off the fence about the Audi’s dinky digital mirrors because the Bentley’s massive mirrors create their own huge blind spot at junctions.
But after that family trip, and the odd solo run (quite a way to arrive for your second jab…) I’m still rather flummoxed by the Flying Spur – I don’t love it and I’m not won over. That’s what these long-term tests are about, though, so maybe a planned 1000-mile trip will reveal more…