The 2014 Bentley Flying Spur is the most powerful four-door model to come out of the the Bentley factory in Crewe, United Kingdom. And it has been launched in India.
The Bentley Flying Spur was first introduced in 2006, and was essentially a stretched variant of the Bentley Continental GT (it was actually named the Bentley Continental Flying Spur). It borrowed the 6.0-litre W12 engine from the Continental GT which produced 600 BHP of power and 722 Nm of torque, coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission the two-and-a-half tonne car could accelerate from 0-100 KMPH in 4.5 seconds and achieve a top speed of about 320 KMPH. The car was available only in a all-wheel drive setup, with a 40:60 front-rear bias as standard.
It wasn’t all about power and performance though, the Flying Spur was meant to give the Rolls-Royce Ghost a run for its money. So, you’d get a plethora of luxurious options on the inside, and a host of gadgetry to play with. Just like the Ghost, the Flying Spur was customisable to a crazy level if you could afford to pay for it.
The 2014 Bentley Flying Spur was revealed at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, and about six months later the car has been launched in India.
Price
The 2014 Bentley Flying Spur is priced at Rs. 3.1 Crore, ex-showroom Delhi
What’s New?
First and foremost, Bentley has decided to drop the ‘Continental’ tag from the cars name to give it a separate identity from the Continental GT. The Bentley Continental Flying Spur is now the Bentley Flying Spur.
Exterior design wise, the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur is an evolution over the previous car. At the front the grille and lower air-dam are larger, the grille is more upright and the dual headlight design has been slightly altered. Unlike the previous car, the outer lights on the new car are larger and all the units get LED daytime running lamps. The smooth surfacing on the old car has been replaced by some sharp lines on the new one.
Move to the side and the ‘add more character’ design theme continues, the silhouette of the old car which looked like an extended Continental GT has been replaced with some touches from the range topping Mulsanne being added. The overhangs at the front and rear have been balanced out, unlike the old car where the front overhang seemed too short. The roof has been lowered, giving the car a sleeker look, which also reduces the drag co-efficient on the car. The new windows, new design touches on the body panel (like the small kink just below the rear window) add to the character of the car.
Move to the rear and you’ll notice that this is where the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur is most different from the previous car. The lights are no longer borrowed from the Continental GT, the double brake light design found on the old one has been dumped for a sleeker unit. The dual-exhaust units are now larger than before and the bumper design has been changed too.
Everything inside the 2014 Flying Spur barring the sun-visors, grab handles, armrests and the lower portion of the centre console is different than the previous car. The four spoke steering on the old car has been replaced by a three spoke one which looks better. The centre console gets a touch screen multimedia-cum-naviagtion system which gets rid of some buttons found on the previous car. All the seats in the Flying Spur are ventialted and a massage option is available too. Rear seat passengers get individual media systems with separate 10-inch screens (behind the front seat headrests) and separate media controllers. The back seat passenger also gets a smartphone-like device by which he/she can change all the settings in the car related to things like air-conditioning, navigation, communication etc.
Performance
The 6.0=litre, twin-turbo W12 has been carried over from the previous car, but has been played with to extract 616 BHP (16 BHP more than before) and 799 Nm of torque (77 Nm more). This engine is coupled to a new 7-speed ZF automatic transmission. The more powerful engine, a new transmission and a drop in weight of about 45 KG helps the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur accelerate from o-100 KMPH in 4.3 seconds and achieve a top speed of 322 KMPH. Bentley also claims that the car will return a fuel efficiency of 6.8 KMPL, which is not bad for a such a large and heavy car.
2014 Bentley Flying Spur Gallery
Bentley is trying hard to take the market away from Rolls-Royce, and it hopes the Flying Spur will be enough to bring in new customers. We will have to wait and see if that works, meanwhile why don’t you let us know what you think of the car in the comments below? Does Bentley have the lineage in India to take customers away from Rolls-Royce?
