German Car Zone

Andrew English stays cool in the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed
"Today would not be a good day to have an air conditioning breakdown in Boston, folks. So do not open those doors, keep your windows closed and stay in the car. If you're at home, the electricity companies say they will be able to cope with predicted record power spikes with no brown-outs, but with temperatures in the high Nineties, who knows…"

Room for improvement: the Bentley will corner adroitly, but the weight of the engine means the nose always wants to run wide of the corner
Television broadcasters were stating the bleedin' obvious as usual. Anyone with a pulse could tell you that temperatures were soaring all along America's Eastern seaboard and humidity was at bucket-of-water-over-the-head levels. It was hot - damned hot.
Thankfully, Bentley's new Flying Spur Speed model does more than adequate service as a 600bhp 12-cylinder air-conditioning pump. If so inclined you could simply run it and cool down most of Boston, with its six-litre, twin-turbo engine barely murmuring above idle, although it'll probably be drinking fuel slightly faster than you can pour it out of a two-gallon can.
And on roads crowded with early-summer Massachusetts trippers, that was the main use to which this gargantuan new Bentley engine could be put. At a strictly regulated and policed 40mph, the loudest sound was the air conditioning rather than the clock of that fabled Rolls-Royce advert. Staying cool took a far higher priority than going fast, although there was compensation in seeing a bear… Not that the Americans, who constitute by far the biggest market for the world's fastest four-door car go that fast. Over 20 per cent of them hand the keys of this near 200mph, four-wheel-drive monster over to their chauffeurs, although we are assured that they do get behind the wheel from time to time.
When it was launched, this somewhat ungainly looking saloon version of the Continental GT coupé was simply not sexy enough to sell well in Europe, where we buy our cars differently to the yanks. On this side of the pond, Bentleys are rewards for hard work. By contrast, limousines are discreet, often diesel-engined and for working days, like a suit.

So, just as last year's addition of a Speed model to the Continental GT coupé went hand-in-hand with a designer's sketch book of changes to the bodyshells of both standard and Speed models, so the Flying Spur now undergoes the same treatment.
"It was harder work transferring the changes to the Flying Spur than we first thought it would be," said chief engineer Ulrich Eichhorn. This was mainly because the saloon is less stiff than the coupé, so suspension changes had to be more subtle to avoid the body merely flexing away any handling and ride advantages.
Although the original 1957 Flying Spur saloon (named after HJ Mulliner MD Arthur Talbot Johnstone's family crest) was a handsome and more upright version of the fabulous S1 coupé, to my mind the modern Flying Spur (now three years old) is not as successful. It looks stuffy, with a roof line that stops the eye and takes all the movement out of the profile. It is therefore amazing what a few bits of chrome can do, with new lamp bezels, bumper highlights and a remodelled front end, complete with dashing lower grilles, which are left iridescent black on the Speed model. The Flying Spur could hardly be described as svelte, but this new model is a much better looking car, with only the side profile revealing the heaviness of the roof line.
The cabin, of course, is Bentley's pièce de résistance. No other continental manufacturer can match the plumpness of the leather upholstery, the bottomless sheen of the veneers and the opulence of the fixtures and fittings, which were known as "The Jewellery" when the company was owned by Rolls-Royce. Of course there's room for the tallest and the widest passengers, and space for the most efficacious travel accessories. The rear accommodation can be specified with two seats or preferably a bench, although the centre perch is only big enough for a small child.
That this is not Bentley's top-model Azure is only clear in one or two aspects; the carpets are not as plush, the chromium plate is deposited on aluminium and less cool to the touch and there's something mysteriously hollow about the aluminium-backed wood cappings on doors and centre console.
While rivals from BMW and Lexus are mere fonctionaires, driving the Bentley is an occasion; only a big Mercedes S-class comes close. "You have arrived," squawks the sat-nav. I know I've arrived, I thought; I'm driving a blooming Bentley. In fact, the sat-nav is one of the few disappointing aspects of the cabin, with a mean screen and a plasticky feel obviously derived from a posh Volkswagen. The door mirrors are pretty poor, too, offering an over-magnified view of the street with a coach-and-horses-sized blind spot on either side.
Did I tell you about the bear? No? The road ran along a causeway with shallow lakes on either side and he was standing with his huge paws atop the crash barrier looking right and left like a road-safety-trained Winnie the Pooh. We stopped and he lolloped over the barrier and across the road. As big as a kitchen table and glistening like a well-polished brogue, his skin flowed like drapery as he moved. He slowed in front of the bonnet, raised his snout and my companion struggled for his camera. "I must get a shot, must open the window," he cried. I had been lost in reverie, but bounced back fast: "Do not open those doors, keep your windows closed and stay in the car…" The bear crashed off, leaving a trail of smashed birch saplings.

The Bentley's interior is still absolutely gorgeous
Driving a Bentley hard is always an exercise in self restraint if you want to avoid leaving a similar trail of broken trees. You need to moderate your right foot and your cornering speed and think of your passengers. Not that the Bentley doesn't do fast. It will corner adroitly, but the weight of the engine means the nose always wants to run wide of the corner. The Speed modifications have taken a slight toll of refinement, but they have improved the car's balance, turn-in and steering feedback immeasurably. Modifications to the air bellows in the suspension have improved if not totally cured the buzzing low-speed ride as well, which is something of a bétè noir of air suspension. The standard car, with its paltry 560bhp, rides over low-speed crinkles marginally better, but at higher velocities the Speed model is much the superior riding and handling car; Uli Eichhorn reckons that it will account for about 40 per cent of sales.
The engine is the same stalwart power plant derived from two narrow-angle VR6 units and still has that unburstable almost turbine-like quality of the other Continental derivatives. Acceleration is fast, but there's also a pleasing sense of working against a load, like a locomotive pulling a long train of carriages. With improved engine breathing both internally and through the combustion chambers there is more power for little cost in fuel consumption, but there is a reverberation through the exhausts that sometimes adds a purposeful growl to the performance and at others sounds as though the transmission is about to fail. The ZF six speed is exemplary, never dithering over a gear and always changing positively and quickly. Bentley's system of a manual override at the flick of a steering column-mounted paddle would be perfect were it not for the fact that the paddles are poorly shaped and mounted too high. All the test cars were fitted with the £9,000 optional ceramic brakes. These require a firm push to warm them up, but once hot, they slow the Bentley valiantly, time after time without fading or leaving the front wheels covered in brake dust, which Americans regard as a warranty issue.
For the keen drivers among us, the GT coupé will always be the superior car, but the extra utility of the Flying Spur means it has a greater appeal in the US and the emerging markets of the Far East. Owners also report that it's a nicer and vastly more useful car to own, although with fuel prices at their current levels you'd have to be very well-heeled indeed to use it as an everyday tourer. Perhaps that'll be the bankers of this world, who, in spite of getting us into this unholy financial mess, still display an unabated desire for Bentleys. At least British workers gain from such spectacular shamelessness.
Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed [tech/spec]

Price/availability: £133,300.
Engine/transmission: 5,998cc, twin-turbocharged petrol 12-cylinder (twin 15-degree V6 units with 72 degrees between banks), chain-driven DOHC per bank and four valves per cylinder; 600bhp at 6,000rpm, 553lb ft of torque at 1,750rpm. Six-speed ZF automatic transmission, with Tiptronic override, four-wheel drive.
Performance: top speed 200mph, 0-60mph in 4.6sec, EU Urban fuel consumption 11.2mpg, CO2 emissions 396g/km.
We like: Crisper handling, better riding and more handsome small Bentley saloon. Gorgeous interior.
We don't like: Still feels like a heavy car at times. Terrifying fuel consumption if you use the performance. Gearchange paddles are badly placed, door mirrors leave massive blind spots and the centre console display looks dated.
telegraph

PRESS RELEASE

2009 CONTINENTAL FLYING SPUR AND CONTINENTAL FLYING SPUR SPEED TO MAKE DEBUTS AT BRITISH INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW

Crewe. 8 July 2008 The 2009 Bentley Continental Flying Spur and Continental Flying Spur Speed will make their official international motor show debuts at ExCel (London) later this month.

"We are delighted that the next chapter of the Flying Spur success story will begin in our home market and at the British International Motor Show, notably as our British customers have played a key part in making this Bentley the most sought-after 12-cylinder luxury saloon in the world," comments Stuart McCullough, Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing.

With its combination of exhilarating performance, luxury, craftsmanship and four-door practicality the 12-cylinder Continental Flying Spur has been at the forefront of Bentley's revitalisation since its launch in 2005 and the range is now refined and expanded with two highly distinctive models.

The instantly recognisable style of the Flying Spur undergoes a subtle evolution with changes to the front and rear design. The new, more upright grille and bolder lower air intake accentuate the distinctive Bentley profile, while a new rear bumper delivers a sleeker and more aggressive appearance.

The 552bhp Continental Flying Spur offers enhanced levels of comfort and choice. A comprehensive range of noise-absorbent measures including acoustic glazing ensure that cabin refinement, already a hallmark of the Continental Flying Spur, is best in class.

Bentley's famous commitment to the highest quality of craftsmanship and customer personalisation is highlighted with an enhanced choice of beautifully crafted marquetry and chrome inlays. In addition, seat piping, a traditional Bentley feature, has also been introduced with two new hide colours.

Joining the Continental Flying Spur in London is the 600bhp Flying Spur Speed which unleashes the potent performance and intense levels of driver engagement of its highly acclaimed stablemate, the Continental GT Speed.

Inspired by Bentley's legendary 'Speed' models that first appeared in 1923, the Flying Spur Speed offers a range of headline performance figures including a 0-60mph sprint time of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 200mph.

The Flying Spur Speed is distinguished by unique design cues which underline its performance credentials, including dark-tinted radiator and air intake grilles, wider rifled exhaust tail pipes and unique 20-inch multi-spoke alloys.

Both Continental Flying Spur models can now be specified with Bentley Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). The ACC uses a long-range radar sensor, mounted in the lower front grille, to monitor the road ahead for other vehicles. When a slower moving vehicle is detected, the system automatically adjusts braking and acceleration to maintain a 'time gap', as selected by the driver.

The 'time gap' also controls the vehicle dynamic response. The larger the time gap the more relaxed the acceleration and braking, allowing the driver to tune the ACC system to suit their preferred driving style or to the prevailing traffic conditions.

Bentley Motors will also highlight its unique partnership with the renowned British hi-fi manufacturer, Naim. Designed exclusively for Bentley and available as a further option for both the Continental Flying Spur and Flying Spur Speed, the Naim system features an 1100 Watt amplifier (the most powerful in a production car) and 15 custom-built speakers. A next-generation Digital Signal Processor further enhances the listening experience. The Naim system will also be available on all Bentley models from August 2008 onward.