LUXURY CHARIOTS TWIN TEST · DEFENDER · GLA
The big test: luxury chariots
Bentley Flying Spur faces the Maybach S650 for Best Car in the World honours. Plus, new 911 Turbo S cabrio, Defender and Merc GLA
There’s more to luxe than just kipping in the back, you know. Well, there is for one of these two. Who builds the World’s Best Car?
Let’s answer that question right away, shall we? Neither of these is the World’s Best Car. It’s been a long time since the luxury saloon was the highest point on the automotive landscape, the pinnacle to which we all aspired. Now it’s a cul-de-sac off the SUV highway. And the cars themselves have suffered as a result.
We’ll use Maybach to illustrate the point. A proud luxury firm before WWII, Mercedes brought it back in 2002 as a stand-alone brand, poured millions into the development of two limousines and predicted global sales of 2,000 cars per year. In fact only around 3,000 were sold in total before Merc pulled the plug a decade later. Now, Maybach is little more than a badge applied to the fanciest Merc S-Class.
Bentley hasn’t been immune either. It recently announced the demise of its Mulsanne flagship saloon, with a replacement unlikely. Instead this car, the new Flying Spur, using parts shared with the Continental GT coupe, will carry all Bentley’s hopes and dreams for a four-door future. It does so far more ably than its predecessor. The visual balance is spot on: long bonnet and a glass area that emphasises front and rear compartments equally. Now look at the Maybach. The bonnet isn’t as commanding, but far more importantly, the rear seats get two-thirds of the glass.
Answer me this now. Which one would you like to be seen driving? And which one would you prefer to be a passenger in? The glass area, the visual clues, they don’t lie. You want to drive the Flying Spur, but be a passenger in the Maybach. In the Flying Spur you’d be happy as a passenger, but drive a Maybach? Why? You’re just going to look like a chauffeur. And there we are, two cars that are the same size and price and image, but fundamentally totally different.
It makes this a very easy test to write. Are you going to be travelling in the back? Have the Maybach. It’s sublime back there. Yes, this one has the £7,300 First Class Cabin package, and
you need that, not so much for the sterling silver champagne goblets and fridge, as the individual seats and tables. Y’know, so you can do bizniz back there. At 200mm longer than the longest S-Class and with a special cutaway rear bulkhead that allows the seats to recline more, there’s no other car, not even a Rolls-Royce Phantom, that can put you in a more relaxing position.
The Bentley? Well, it’s fine for space, four adults will be more than content, but it’s not the sort of car you take your shoes off in. Your feet might smell and the other passengers might not appreciate that. In the Maybach you’ll be by yourself and the driver is being paid not to notice. The Flying Spur has ambience on its side. The quality of the materials, the blend of wood, leather and metal, the clever 3D surfacing, this all elevates the cabin. And while the Maybach is probably equally well built, there’s something a little less debonair about it. You won’t care if you’re sleeping like a sedated rhino though.
Driving yourself? Let’s get the Maybach out the way first. For starters, as the driver you feel pushed forward, the arching roofline making you aware of the cavernous space behind. The layout is all S-Class – nothing wrong with that – and it has a wonderful drivetrain. It uses the 6.0-litre twin turbo V12, an engine surely close to extinction now, with 621bhp and 738lb ft of torque. Does it need this much power? Absolutely, even though you’ll never use it. The more powerful the motor, the less effort it has to put in. So the S650 never feels forced or stressed. The engine is silent, beautifully smooth and paired to a seven-speed automatic that very diligently and deliberately puts down one gear before picking up the next.
There’s a pleasing pace and rhythm to driving the Maybach, and with the Magic Body Control air suspension and relatively modest 20-inch wheels it floats along, held on line by its 2,360kg kerbweight. Occasionally, and ever so slightly, you’re aware of some structural twist through the elongated body. It makes you wince because all you want to do is drive as smoothly as possible, keep the champagne flutes from tilting, the passengers from even noticing they’re moving. I bet chauffeurs love these things – they account for 1-in-10 S-Classes sold globally, some 25,000 cars since it first appeared in 2015. Success the actual Maybach never got close to matching.
The Bentley is a saloon you’ll genuinely enjoy driving. It’s neither the quietest, nor the smoothest of this pair, but it has actual responses and reactions, rather than guidance opportunities. It claims 0-62mph in 3.8secs and a 207mph top end. That’s colossally fast. The Flying Spur wants to go, and if you do, it’ll respond. It has four-wheel steering to aid agility, an optional 48 volt anti-roll system to limit lean, steering that’s accurate. It feels half a tonne lighter than it is and genuinely athletic.
But it can also flip, whisper and waft about almost as seamlessly as the Maybach. No other luxury car has this reach, this desire to be driven sitting in such harmony with an ability to breeze along without apparent effort. It gives the Flying Spur real duality. I tried hurling the Merc about and almost immediately felt queasy and cruel. But the Bentley laps it up, knows how to control itself, feed back useful information and ensure you have a good time. And it feels special while doing it. There’s a warmth and personality to the Bentley experience that’s absent from the Maybach.
And the driving environment is sublime. Seats that hug and envelop you, put you exactly where you want to be however you’re driving that day, screens that are logical to interact with. The only thing I really found fault with was the USB slots, tucked away behind nasty, cheap plastic covers. But all told? A special machine. It feels and performs how you think a car costing £168,300 should.
The Merc? Well, it’s twice the price of a regular S-Class, but if you want the full rear seat experience, a regular S-Class isn’t nearly enough. The MercedesMaybach S650 has a role, but one that’s only relevant to a tiny percentage of the global population. What it does, it arguably does better than anything else – at any price. The one thing to be aware of is that the values of four door luxury cars will only go one way. This applies to both: they will be costly to run, but perilous for depreciation.
The Flying Spur is our winner. It’s a genuinely athletic, genuinely luxurious saloon (something Bentley has a proud record of – remember the iconic Arnage?). Best car in the world? I don’t think that’s a phrase that has much relevance or resonance these days, so let’s just settle for saying it’s a hell of a car.