Perfect harmony
Man and machine now very much on the same page. By Ben Pulman
North Wales used to seem so close when I lived near CAR’s Peterborough HQ – and, crucially, was young. Take a 911 GT3 to Snowdonia for a photo shoot tomorrow? All in an evening’s work, and no problem to drive straight back once the pictures have been shot. Now, though, I’m old, sleep-deprived thanks to two tots, and Betws-y-Coed is the best part of six hours away.
But I know the current Bentley Continental GT is a great car for long drives, and so the closely related Flying Spur should be equally perfect. Here’s hoping, as so far we’ve not quite gelled…
We’ve been starting to get there, though. When there are two under-threes to herd, family outings to the nearby beach are always an event, but they’re actually a pleasant event when you’re travelling by big red Bentley.
Hilariously incongruous too, with the boot stuffed with buckets and spades and picnic blankets and tents, queuing for Mr Whippy like everyone else, and being rather more in the public eye when trying to change into dry clothes back at the car after.
But unless you live in London and exclusively reside aft of the B-pillar, you don’t buy a Bentley to stay within 10 miles of your own home. No, you should darn well go places in it… and wait, what’s this, a 1000-mile work trip? Perfect. Off I go from Hampshire to Snowdonia, and with a 90-litre tank the only breaks are prompted by my thirst, not the car’s. After sunshine, rain storms and even hail, crossing the Welsh border I replace the podcasts with something more up-tempo for the last leg. Now, I’m no audio expert, but my amateur ears decree the optional 2200w Naim system astonishing (though so it should be for £6725).
The first proper stop is at a quarry in Bangor, and after 300 or so miles the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 (complete with imperceptible cylinder deactivation) has returned an indicated 29.9mpg at an average of 55mph. The next 100 miles are more brisk (down to a rendezvous in Snowdonia, a pizza run to keep my colleagues fuelled to dusk, and a late-night razz to a hotel) and take us to 401 miles, in just over eight hours at the wheel, and a not too shabby 25.1mpg.
Better yet, the Bentley and I are finally on the same page. As well as being the fabulous cruiser you’d expect, able to schlep serenely or suddenly surge forward on a great wave of torque when a gap in the tra¡c opens up, it also reveals another dimension to its talents.
While other limos might match it on the motorway, the Bentley is pretty special on a blast through Snowdonia in a way no Rolls-Royce can rival.
Our Spur has the optional £5855 Bentley Dynamic Drive and Electronic All Wheel Steering, and at first it had felt just a bit weird. The rear-steer part of the package is relatively easy to get used to: a suddenly tightening turning circle when coming out of junctions. But the 48-volt active anti-roll control system is a less natural fit. Now, however, thanks to my miles in North Wales, it’s starting to make a lot of sense. Yes, the Flying Spur still rolls a tad, even with up to 1300Nm of anti-roll torque applied in 0.3 seconds. That wasn’t the problem. The dicultly was my brain getting used to by how much, and under what conditions, it would roll. I think the issue is that it behaves so unlike any other car of this size – there’s simply nothing comparable tucked away in your memory banks.
Yet the ride never seems to suffer, with even the worst bumps Snowdonia can throw up unable to disrupt the progress of this vast suite of leather and captain’s chairs. Mind duly adjusted, the Flying Spur will hustle like nothing else. This is revealing itself to be one heck of a car.
As well as being the fabulous cruiser you expect, it also reveals another dimension to its talents