Review and photos by Laurance
Yap
Things have gotten pretty ridiculous
lately in the ?mine?s bigger and faster than yours? playground that?s the high
end of the luxury sedan market. Automakers keep introducing new, bigger, faster,
and more powerful sedans that are designed to trump their competitors not just
for superiority within the class, but also in the overall brand sweepstakes.
Thus, the top sedans from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, and even Volkswagen have
spiralled upwards in terms of cost, feature content, and power under the hood.
Simply having 12 cylinders is no longer a guarantee of top-of-the-heap status;
we?re talking all-wheel-drive, twin turbochargers, and
more.
Still, one of the funny things about
all this is that despite the power these companies keep packing under the sleek
hoods of their four-door flagships (who would ever have imagined you could buy
an S-Class with 600 horsepower and over 700 lb-ft of torque?) is that, for the
most part, they?re no faster in terms of top speed than the cars they replace or
upgrade. Thanks to a gentlemen?s agreement that has long stood between the major
German automakers, top speeds of even these high-end missiles are electronically
limited to 250 km/h. What good is all that power and performance if, in terms of
bragging rights, your car?s not capable of outrunning the neighbour?s Lexus
LS430?
In simple terms, this is why you
need to have a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Not only does its
twin-turbocharged, 6-litre W12 engine produce a whopping 552 horsepower; not
only does it put this power to the ground through all four of its huge 19-inch
wheels; but you can, provided the road is long enough and straight enough, power
straight past all of those other pitiful captains of industry, straining against
the speed limiters of their so-called V12 ?flagships?. Given enough space, the
Flying Spur will not only power right past 250 km/h, but also right past 300
km/h. In fact, a company test driver on an Italian track managed 334 km/h before
the big sedan ran out of steam. That?s 208 mph!
The Flying Spur?s performance is
remarkable in and of itself, but what?s even more impressive is how easy it is
to pile on such huge velocities. For a car that weighs more than 5000 pounds,
the way it leaps away from stoplights is nothing short of remarkable - it feels
like a freight train?s rear-ended you into the next block. On city streets and
at (reasonable) highway speeds, thumping, pass-15-cars-in-a-row acceleration is
always available thanks to an impressive lack of turbo lag and a slick-shifting
six-speed automatic. While the gearbox may occasionally fluff the
second-to-third upshift at lower speeds (unless you use the paddles behind the
steering wheel to manually select first, it starts in second), the transmission
always picks the right gear once you?re moving, and its beautifully smooth
changes really contribute to the jet-propelled sensations you get at
speed.
You?ve got to pay careful attention
to the speedometer in the Flying Spur, because it?s otherwise quite easy to lose
track of just how fast you?re going, blasting down city streets at double the
speed limit. The cabin isn?t otherworldly-quiet but the W12?s smoothness and the
muffling effect of those two turbochargers mean the engine sounds more like a
distant airplane than a lump of metal working hard right in front of you. The
ride, for the most part, is smooth as glass, except when you traverse sharp
pavement ridges, which send a bit of a shudder through the structure to the
superbly-padded leather chairs; a console-mounted switch lets you select four
levels of firmness. Careful aerodynamic design - a flat under-tray and some very
slick detailing - mean the Flying Spur slides along at improbable speeds with
very little wind noise.
Driving the Flying Spur is like
flying first-class, old-school. You whisk it along in the fast lane, gliding
over bumps, using a couple of fingers to tip the super-light steering into bends
and around corners. There?s a bit of hesitation in all of the controls to smooth
out your inputs, and as you glide around slower-moving traffic, you sit up in a
majestically high throne for all to see. What comes as a surprise is how nimble
and manoeuvrable the car feels despite its size (a wheelbase stretch means it?s
quite a bit longer than a Continental GT). It?s easy to thread through downtown
traffic, the ends of the cars are easy to see, and the large glass and mirror
area make it easy to park.
Inside, you?re surrounded by the
finest leathers, woods, and metals on every surface you can see and touch. While
all of the requisite modern features are present - the navigation system is
adapted from the VW Phaeton, which also donated parts of the platform - their
execution deliberately evokes old-world craftsmanship rather than laser-accurate
mass production. The knobs and buttons have knurled rings and chromed edges that
are simply wonderful to the touch; the air vents are controlled by traditional
organ stops; the dashboard clock is a retro analog affair by Breitling; and the
leather shift knob is inset with burnished aluminum and a bakelite release
button engraved with Bentley?s flying B.
Bentley sales consultant Steven
Pavan says that only about 10 percent of Flying Spur buyers will opt for the
optional four-seater package that transforms the deep-dish rear bench into two
separate buckets with a console in between them. It?s not hard to see why: even
without spending the extra $10,000 (over top of what?s already a steep $240,000
base price) seems faintly ridiculous given how comfortable the rear is. Not only
is there generous head- and legroom, but rear passengers also get their own set
of climate controls, air vents, and lights. The seats are heated and ventilated,
and as much attention has been paid to the details as up
front.
In logical terms, buying a car as
expensive as a Flying Spur is pretty senseless when you can get the same
features and options in cars costing up to $100,000 less. But there are indeed
customers out there that are not only ready, but eager, to move up from a
top-end mass-market machine into something a little more expensive, a little
more exclusive, and (if only for bragging rights) a lot faster. The Flying Spur
gives them that, and brings with it a sense of occasion - from its custom-built
buying process to the smell of the leather to the way it just flies when you
lean into the throttle - that more, uh, pedestrian, luxury cars don?t have. The
new Bentley sedan is bigger than they are, faster than they are, and just plain
cooler than they are.
Technical Data: 2006 Bentley
Continental Flying Spur
- Base price $240,000 Click here for
options, dealer invoice prices and factory incentives
- Type four-door, four or
five-passenger luxury sedan
- Layout longitudinal front
engine/all-wheel drive
- Engine 6.0-litre W12, twin turbo,
DOHC, 48 valves
- Horsepower 552 @ 6100 rpm
- Torque 479 @ 1600 rpm
- Transmission ZF 6-speed automatic
with ?Tiptronic? feature
- Tires 275/40 R19 Pirelli or Michelin
- Curb weight 2475 kg (5456 lb.)
- Wheelbase 3065 mm (120.7 in.)
- Length 5307 mm (208.9 in.)
- Width 2118 mm (83.4 in.) w/mirrors
- Height 1479 mm (58.2 in.)
- Truck volume 475 litres (16.7 cu.
ft.)
- Fuel consumption City: 20.8 L/100 km
(14 mpg Imperial)
- Hwy: 12.2 L/100 km (23 mpg
Imperial)
- Fuel type Premium unleaded
- Warranty 3 yrs/unlimited km
- Powertrain Warranty 3 yrs/unlimited
km
- Assembly location Crewe, England
Laurance Yap is a Toronto-based
automotive writer and a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of
Canada (AJAC)..
