Bentley Continental
Flying Spur Speed review
by Alan Douglas (24 September 2009)
The start of another week and another hard day at the office in prospect, and it's raining. It doesn't get much worse - no, it actually got a lot better. Stepping outside, I'd forgotten that my chariot for the next few days was not only very expensive, it was also very luxurious. Very, very luxurious indeed. On this particular Monday I needed some luxury, some comfort and some cosseting. I found it behind the wheel of this Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed (£137,000 in standard form but costing £151,170 including options) as I reached down the side of the driver's seat and activated the seat back massage button.
The next few miles to the office were wet, bleak, dismal, dull and dreary, but the gentle soothing waves over my lower back helped drift it all away as the six litres under the Bentley's bonnet purred through the city streets. The massage mode was just one of the toys in this surprisingly understated machine which passes for a luxury four-door saloon but possesses astonishing power beneath its cool and sophisticated exterior.
It is wide, long and high and has amazing presence. To the uninformed admirer it is mysterious – apart from the B on the bonnet and boot there is nothing else to identify its parentage and certainly no outward signs of the fact that this is a flying machine which will thrust you from 0-60mph in barely four and a half seconds – less time than it's taken you to read the last fifteen words, or even draw breath. It will top 200mph without even exerting itself, and you do it all just by pressing the right pedal while the electronics take care of everything.
If you feel inclined you can bring in the human element by adjusting the suspension to sports setting, or lowering or raising the ride height, or you can use the steering wheel paddles for the gearchanges – but what's the point? It all feels just fine, thank you, so let the car get on with it.
But it was the interior that drew gasps of appreciation. This is where Bentley (under the governorship of Volkswagen) has done the British car industry proud. The inside simply oozes opulence and luxury, reeking of the eleven hides that make up the leather upholstery which even extends to the roof lining, dashboard, steering wheel and pillars.
The seats – in this case cream, no sorry, linen coloured – have a large Bentley emblem stitched into each headrest and in the few places where there isn't leather there's piano black wood veneer which looks as if it's been carved by hand from a Steinway. I'm told it takes two weeks to prepare these wood inserts for every car with five coats of lacquer and three days of curing time before each veneer is polished by hand. There's more – each leaf of veneer can be traced back to the actual tree it came from. And before you reach for the phone to summon Friends of the Earth, each tree that is sacrificed for the veneer is replaced by another new planting.
I just loved all the touches from the "proper" Breitling clock to the gleaming chrome organ stops to control air flow from the dashboard vents. If the front of this pleasure palace is good, the rear is even better. My privileged rear passengers relaxed in their own reclining seats, while adjusting their personal climate controls and making sure every hair was in place in the mirror behind the veneered seat back tray tables.
Privacy blinds kept out prying eyes and would have deflected strong sunlight – if there had been any. The only sound came from the sensational £5000 Naim audio system which blasts out 1100 watts through 15 speakers, and if it's too much of a strain to slam shut the doors, they're electrically assisted to close with a reassuring vacuum-like squeeze.
If you want to be practical about this car and forget the consumption, which ranges from a breathtaking 6mpg if you floor it to a more manageable 20mpg if you're light-footed, there is a huge boot which will carry an orchestra - and all their instruments - and the rear view camera and parking sensors are crucial if you want to squeeze into anything smaller than a warehouse.
On the sensible front, it is built on Volkswagen's dependable D1 platform which can also be found under the Phaeton and the rest of the Continental range, and the permanent four-wheel drive keeps the 600bhp under control at all times. With every Bentley I've driven, I've got behind the wheel and thought, "this is ludicrous" - and half a mile later I've been smitten. Once again I've been infected with the Bentley bug and I don't want a cure - I just wish I had the money for a permanent fix.
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