Battling storms in a V8 Bentley
Bentleys have always o ered refuge from the pressures of the world. Can the new V8 Flying Spur give shelter and driving satisfaction?
The map throws up road closures in red like burst capillaries, and the side winds rock even this 2330kg car
Did you know that Rihanna mentions the word ‘diamonds’ 38 times in her 2012 hit of the same name? Maybe Bentley’s interior designers have the Barbadian pop star on heavy rotation on the studio’s smart speaker, because at the last count there are more than 500 diamond outlines in the Flying Spur’s cabin. Stitched into the decadently comfortable seats and breaking out in three-dimensional relief along the doors before merging into the B- and C-pillar mouldings, they’re everywhere. Along with a flawless walnutover-black dual-veneer dashboard and more than a mile and a half of thread joining 350 pieces of leather. Goodness me, it’s opulent in here.
As you’d expect; it’s a Bentley, after all. And for now at least, since the Mulsanne went into retirement (lazy days on the Costas, mahogany tan), the Spur is the marque’s flagship. When the current Flying Spur launched in 2019 there was one model, with one big engine: 6.0 litres of 626bhp twin-turbo W12. For 2021 Bentley introduces this new second model, the Flying Spur V8: 107kg off the kerbweight and 84bhp off the dyno high score in exchange for a £21k lower price. Flying Spur lite, if you will (even if it does still weigh 2.3 tonnes).
Like the W12, it’s a four-door saloon with five seats (or four depending on which rear cabin configuration you choose) built on some of the same mechanical and electrical foundations as the Continental GT coupe and Porsche’s Panamera. A plug-in hybrid will follow later in the year but this V8 model will remain the entry point to the range.
As the Bentley and I travel up the country, Storm Christoph is making its not so merry way down. The navigation map throws up road closures in red like burst capillaries, and the side winds are strong enough to rock even this 2330kg car on its air suspension. Conditions could certainly be described as ‘a bit soggy’ right now.
Leaving the motorway and tentatively dipping the Flying Spur’s toes into the Peak District, drain gulleys bordering the road have turned into babbling brooks and the cross-path rivulets are busy blossoming into full-blown rivers in places. The Bentley’s not remotely fazed. It’s immune to whatever weather is beneath its wheels. Hit a puddle or a muddy patch and it’s like being out for a walk in a trusty pair of wellies; perhaps a vague shimmy underfoot as you tread on something particularly slippery, but you never lose momentum.
This car’s 22-inch wheels (optional; 20s are standard) are wrapped in enormous all-weather Pirelli tyres that do a remarkably good job of cutting through the water. Given their sheer width (275mm at the front, 315mm at the back), they’re not immune to aquaplaning. But mostly the Flying Spur steamrollers through puddles that would see most cars sidestep across the lane like a rug’s been pulled. Active all-wheel drive brings the front wheels into play quickly when they’re needed to steady the ship, and the Flying Spur’s generous wheelbase means the driver and passengers can relax. If the back does step out of line, there’s all the time in the world to deal with it.
So, while a storm is rarely welcome, it’s useful for getting to know the Bentley when the chips are down. Even on a summer’s day, the Flying Spur’s soft-touch door whirring itself locked is like sealing yourself away from the stresses of the world. Right now, though, it’s also a shelter from the weather. Part drawing room on wheels, part super-saloon, can the new ⊲
V8 Flying Spur also be a weather-proof survival station?
We’re using some fantastic roads, giving us a chance to see if the V8 delivers as a driver’s car. I know that’s an overused phrase (not least by me), but it’s apposite here, because compared with older, saggier generations of Flying Spur, the new model is intended far more as a car you’d want to drive, as much as be driven in. And this V8 variant all the more so, with its lighter weight balanced more evenly across the car’s axles than the W12. I’ve experienced that engine in the Spur’s smaller Continental GT sister car, and I don’t miss it here.
The dub-12 might have buttery-smooth balance and plenty of muscle, but the 4.0-litre aluminium-block V8 isn’t exactly a poor relation. Siting its twin turbos in the 90° vee of its cylinders, it turns out more than 135bhp per litre, and cylinder deactivation turns it into a V4 under low load. There’s a not-unpleasant V8 burble when all eight cylinders are giving their all, but it’s never raucous inside the cabin; like listening to a distant NASCAR race from under a duvet.
Performance is mighty. A clear stretch emerges ahead of the steady-as-it-goes Golf cabrio in front of us (hood very much up); there’s a moment’s hesitation before the dual-clutch gearbox deigns to kick down (but if you were in charge of 568lb ft of torque, you’d want to be completely sure before deploying it too), and then the Spur leaps forward as if it’s been kicked by an actual spur. Air resistance, rain and physics are bludgeoned aside. By Jove, Jeeves.
It’s much more than a straight-line dragster, however. The Flying Spur handles well, improbably so for a car of this size and weight. The steering’s not the last word in feel, but, with 275-section tyres on the front, nor could it ever be. It’s a quick rack which requires only small inputs and, combined with the lack of feedback, that initially makes you cautious on turn-in. Before too long, though, you feel able to fling the 2.3-tonne, 5.3m-long limo around like a hot hatch.
Twisting a knurled rotary switch on the glossy centre console toggles between driving modes: Sport, for heavier steering, firmed-up suspension and more rear-biased torque distribution; Comfort, for full easy-like-a-Sunday-morning wafting; and the default Bentley mode, which adapts on the fly. So well does it do this that you rarely feel the need to select another mode. The standard-fit adaptive air suspension, with three-chamber springs, is a marvel. Bumps? What bumps? And yet you still feel connected well enough with the road’s surface to press on and enjoy yourself in a manner not possible in any other limo I’ve driven.
It’s one of the great cliches that a good car shrinks around you at speed, but the Flying Spur really does. It might look like Blenheim Palace on wheels but it turns into a two-bed semi on these roads. Standard-fit brake vectoring helps but the real ace up its tailored sleeve is the £5795 option of active anti-roll control combined with all-wheel steering. The former features 48-volt active anti-roll bars, which apply big torque to effectively push back against any bodyroll like an unseen steadying hand.
It feels more natural here than the same system we’ve experienced in the smaller Continental GT (CAR, October 2018) and really does enable the Flying Spur to have the best of both worlds: soft suspension for ride comfort without roly-poly handling. It’s beautifully calibrated. Same goes for the all-wheel steering. It’s a must-have, not only for added stability at speed but for help in urban nooks and crannies. This is a long car, but it’s no trickier in tight spots than a normal saloon or SUV. The only bit of physics the Flying Spur can’t outrun is deceleration; despite the big brakes (with no fewer than 10 pistons on the front calipers) you’re always aware there’s a lot of car to stop.
Time for a breather. Bentley envisages the back seats as a place in which to work remotely between appointments, or simply relax and bask in the surrounding lavishness (perhaps while qua¢ng champagne from the optional in-built drinks cooler). It probably doesn’t see it as a place to shelter from the rain while eating tuna sandwiches you made the night before, but it’s good at that too. Everything you touch in the Flying Spur’s interior feels perfectly damped, weighted and textured, from the indicator stalks to the knurled surface of the interior door handles (which you can’t even see unless you tilt your head to see them reflected in the chrome around them).
Leaning hard on the rear door to open it against the wind, the contrast outside to the double-glazed, leather-lined tranquillity within is extreme. The storm is intensifying, and the ⊲
The Flying Spur’s is a quick steering rack which requires only small inputs