Bentley Continental flying spur : BENTLEYS FREQUENT FLYER CLUB

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The Continentalflying spur Offers Pace, Poise And Prestige. Andy Enright Takes A Look

Bentley is a company like no other. Where else is the entry level saloon car billed as the fastest four door production car in the world? That self same car is also expected to be the biggest seller of all the marques saloons. Sharing the same fundamentals as the successful ContinentalGT coupe, the Continentalflying spur is on its way to a stockbrokers near you.

The Flying Spur is cunningly positioned in a gap in the market between common or garden Mercedes, BMW and Audi luxury saloons but beneath the dizzyingly expensive Maybach and Rolls Royce Phantom. Priced at £117,500, the Bentley sidesteps most rivals and little else really gets near its value proposition. While it may sound faintly churlish to talk about a car this expensive representing something of a bargain, the Flying Spur does offer an awful lot of attributes. Powered by a 6.

0-litre twin turbocharged W12 engine good for 552bhp, with four wheel drive and a paddle operated gearbox, the Continentalflying spurs gearbox differs from that in the GT coupe insofar as it is happier surfing along on the engines vast reserves of torque rather than flipping down a ratio or two when the throttle pedal is pressed. The six-speed ZF transmission can be left in full auto mode or can be manipulated manually with either the stubby gear lever or the wheel-mounted paddles. The trouble with the paddle shift is that there seems to be so much torque available in so many gears that its easy to get slightly lost in the box, gratuitously changing gear in an attempt to catch the car out. It rarely happens.

The Continentalflying spur badge has a vast welter of heritage to back it up, originally being fitted to a 1957 model hailed at the time as one of the most powerful and elegant saloons ever created. Much has changed at Bentley in the intervening years, the most momentous event being the companys immersion into the Volkswagen empire. Although Bentley would like to stress otherwise, much of the design and engineering of the contemporary Flying Spur is common to other Volkswagen Group products. There are elements of Phaeton DNA about the cabin and the W12 engine is shared albeit less a turbocharger with the Range-topping Audi A8 and Phaeton models.

"Bentleys trademark tidal wave of torque is present and correct"

Youd be forgiven for thinking that this commonality of components would detract from the bespoke feel of the Flying Spur, but even when compared with the £145,000 Mercedes S65 AMG, the Bentley feels by far the more special product. The perception of quality is just leagues ahead of the big Benz, the Bentley not only acing the Mercedes in terms of ergonomics, but also making so much of its operation delightful and surprising. Sit inside the two cars and youd never guess the Bentley was a whole Volkswagen Touareg V6 less in price. The cabin is probably the best place to take in the Continentalflying spur as the exterior isnt particularly striking.

Rather than being an afterthought, the saloon was designed alongside the coupe model and a full foot has been grafted into the wheelbase to ensure rear seat occupants never run the risk of deep vein thrombosis. The lines are dignified without being notably distinguished and the rather amorphous treatment of the front and rear lights seems a long way from cutting edge. Some may say it lacks the coarse aggression of the big hitting Germans, instead majoring on discretion and understatement but some of the detailing could have been a tad sharper. What are objectively undeniable are the aerodynamic benefits of that slippery body shape.

A rear diffuser zeroes lift at the rear, maintaining stability at the high speeds the Flying Spur is capable of. Unlike many powerful saloons, the Bentley is not limited to a 155mph maximum and if you can find the right conditions, it will keep accelerating until 195mph shows on the analogue display panel. Although flogging it off the line may seem rather uncouth, the Flying Spur will notch the sprint to 60mph in 4.9 seconds and will hit 100mph in 11 seconds.

Thats Porsche 911 Carrera S quick from a car that tips the scales at nearly two and a half tonnes. The interior is demonstrably Bentley with acres of leather and wood veneers. The fascia has been designed with a notion of symmetry, the centre console rising up to divide two swathes of veneer that were designed to resemble the Bentley winged logo. Its said that Bentleys designers even took a tape measure to a team of New York basketball players to ensure that headroom is acceptable even to those at the extremes of the morphological scale.

The Flying Spur can be specified with three seats across the back or a rather cosier two seat configuration with a beautifully finished veneered centre console. Certain Bentley trademarks endure - the bullseye chromed ventilation outlets and the organ stop controls - but dont get the impression that this interior is a quaint retro pastiche. A touch screen LCD display on the centre console controls the air conditioning, satellite navigation, computer information and entertainment systems, whilst many of the minor controls can be operated without removing hands from the steering wheel. Its this blend of old and new thats particularly fascinating.

Craftsmanship techniques have been similarly updated. For instance, wood panelling can be dramatically curved in a way that was once impossible. By the same token, while the leather is still applied to the car with the same hand crafted care, its cut from hides using a digitized process that reduces waste and optimizes efficiency. Bentley may have produced better looking cars down the years, but nothing comes close to the sheer ability of the Continentalflying spur.

While we look to the company for reassuring tradition, Bentley have, with this model, moved the luxury saloon game on several strides.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Bentley Continentalflying spur
PRICE: £117,500 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 195mph / 0-60mph 4.9s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 16mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, curtain and side airbags / ABS / stability control
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/ Height mm 5307/ 1916/1479