Bentley Continental Flying Spur: Continental Drift

Bentley Continental Flying Spur: Continental Drift
Price as tested: $179,185 (incl. $3,700 Gas Guzzler Tax)

How much is too much? For the answer to that question, see my forthcoming review of the “old school” Bentley Arnage Twin Turbo sedan. But today, we’re talking “new school.” And the Bentley Continental Flying Spursedan – the stretch version of Bentley’s stunning Continental GT coupe – may just be at the head of its class.

Bentley is owned by Volkswagen, and the Flying Spur is built on the stunning platform developed for the VW Phaeton. Bentley modifies the suspension elements of the Phaeton platform – replacing steel with aluminum – and has developed its own engine, which is based on the “W” configuration 12-cylinder powerplant that was optional on the big VW.

The Spur’s 6.0 liter twin-turbocharged W12 is essentially a conjoined pair of V6 engines shoehorned into the space that would normally house a V8. The 551 horsepower dynamo delivers its 479 lb-ft of torque through a silky, full-time all-wheel drive system. An air suspension design with driver-adjustable settings for height and stiffness completes the Spur’s basic drive scheme. And the whole package is hand-assembled and finished at Bentley’s plant in Crewe, England.

If you’ve been in a Phaeton or in its aluminum-framed cousin the Audi A8L, then you know how cavernous the interior of the Spur is. The rear seating area provides limousine-class stretching room with adjustable bucket seats (a three-seat rear cabin is also available) divided by a lavish, leather and burr walnut veneer center console. All veneers and hides are matched throughout the cabin, which also features brushed aluminum appointments and carpets suitable for sleeping in. Bentley includes its “veddy British” signature “organ stop” push-pull levers for the climate system vents. Although the plastic switching and control arrays are distinctively “VW.”

So, what can the Continental Flying Spur do? How about zero to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, with an alleged top speed of 198 mph – making it the world’s fastest production sedan. That’s not bad for a nearly 5,500 pound car. And to characterize the Spur as “composed” at speed is an understatement. The Yokohama tires on the optional 20-inch alloy wheels of my test vehicle stuck like glue, and contributed to an exceptional degree of maneuverability.

Nitpiks: The Spur’s enormous cabin is skimpy on cubbies and cup holders, and Bentley should have outsourced the navigation system to Lexus. But if there’s one ride most of us wouldn’t mind spending a little “lost” time in, it’s the Bentley Continental Flying Spur.