2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Look

2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Look Although the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur has dropped "Continental" from its name, the sedan has more content and refinement than ever before. As was the case with the original Bentley Continental Flying Spur, the sedan is arriving roughly two years after the Continental GT coupe. The 2014 Flying Spur will make its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, joining the Mulsanne as one of Bentley's four-door offerings.

2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Look

2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Look

2014 Bentley Flying Spur First Look

Although the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur has dropped "Continental" from its name, the sedan has more content and refinement than ever before. As was the case with the original Bentley Continental Flying Spur, the sedan is arriving roughly two years after the Continental GT coupe. The 2014 Flying Spur will make its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, joining the Mulsanne as one of Bentley's four-door offerings. Under the hood, the twin-turbo, 6.0-liter W-12 engine gets a 64-hp and 114-lb-ft bump to 616 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. That's also 16 hp and 37 lb-ft more than the last Continental Flying Spur Speed. Peak horsepower comes at 6000 rpm, while peak torque is achieved at just 2000 rpm. A new Bosch engine management system improves torque management, turbocharger control, drivability, and emissions control, as well as low-speed responsiveness. Bentley claims the additional power and reduced weight contribute to a 14 percent improvement in the power-to-weight ratio, and that the sedan can reach 60 mph in 4.3 seconds as well as a 200-mph top speed. In our testing, the 2012 Continental Flying Spur Speed reached 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The outgoing model's six-speed automatic has been replaced by the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission used in other Bentley models. In the Flying Spur, it has been optimized to improve response and reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by at least 13 percent. Bentley claims the new transmission can deliver imperceptible shifts in fewer than 200 milliseconds. Power is routed to all four wheels in a nominal 40/60 front-to-rear bias. Under certain conditions, as much as 65 percent of the torque can be sent fore and as much as 80 percent sent aft. Chassis improvements include structural reinforcements to improve crash safety and increase torsional stiffness by 4 percent, contributing to lower NVH. The super formed aluminum hood and front fenders help reduce pedestrian injury as well as weight. A composite trunklid and fewer pieces used in door construction also help reduce weight. New insulation in the floor and redesigned doors combined with acoustic glass and new side seals reduce road and wind noise. Larger mufflers lower exhaust noise by as much as 12 db at 3000 rpm. Bentley claims the new Flying Spur is 110 pounds lighter than the previous model, while the sleek body has a drag coefficient of just 0.29.

Bentley has retuned the Flying Spur's computer-controlled air suspension for greater comfort and better handling. At 121 mph, the ride height drops 5mm front and 10mm rear to improve stability and aerodynamics. Ride height is lowered an additional 8mm front and 13mm rear at 149 mph. On the new Flying Spur, front and rear spring rates are softened 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively, to improve normal ride comfort, while their rates of stiffness during hard driving has been increased to improve handling. New four-position electronically controlled hydraulic dampers increase comfort at low speeds and improve stability at higher speeds. Front and rear anti-roll bars are softened 13 percent and 15 percent, respectively, to improve wheel impact absorption. Suspension bushings have also been softened 25 percent to reduce NVH. The speed-sensitive power steering system uses a new steering gear for better confidence and low effort. The Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system has been recalibrated for the chassis updates, while the ESC Dynamic Mode allows for some high-dollar hooning. A lower roofline combined with sharp lines and rounded surfaces make the new Flying Spur appear lower and wider than the outgoing car despite nearly identical dimensions. New LED headlights flank a more upright front grille. To further differentiate the Flying Spur from the Continental GT and GTC, the outer headlights are now larger than the inner lights. A new full-width lower intake features a horizontal chrome accent. New fender vents feature the Bentley logo and a cutline that runs from the front wheel to the rear bumper. The lower body line loses its brightwork and cuts deeper as it curves up toward the rear of the car. Muscular rear fenders are emphasized by the curved beltline that ties it to that of the larger Mulsanne. Out back, the longer and lower trunklid and the new horizontal and rectangular LED taillights emphasis the pronounced quarter panels. Standard bright-painted or diamond-turned finish 19-inch Classic wheels wrapped in 275/45/19 rubber improve comfort and handling. Optional wheels include five-spoke 20-inch alloys with 274/40/20 tires, and six-spoke and 10-spoke 21-inch alloy wheels with 275/35/21 tires. With just the sun visors, grab handles, armrests, a few pieces of the front console and some controls carrying over, the Flying Spur gets about 600 new interior parts. The front and rear seats have been redesigned with careful attention to the padding. All passengers -- whether in four- or five-passenger configurations -- get heated and ventilated seats. Four-passenger models get a full-length center console with a wood-trimmed storage area. Bentley offers seven types of natural wood for the interior. It covers more than 30 square feet of the Flying Spur's cabin, including the dash, consoles, door trim, and picnic tables. Interior leather is available in 12 standard colors. Foam is applied beneath all leather surfaces, including the pillars and headliner. Power rear side blinds are standard, while a nine-liter bottle cooler behind the center console and moonroof are optional.

Bentley has addressed a few complaints from our 2012 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed First Test. A new high-resolution, 8-inch infotainment screen is a welcome update over the outgoing model's small, antiquated four-color navigation screen, and the optional 1100-watt Naim audio system features separate, redesigned subwoofers for improved bass reproduction. The standard eight-channel, eight-speaker audio system plays music from an onboard hard drive, CDs, DVDs, SD cards, or an iPod, while voice activation is new. Bentley updated the climate control system to cool the cabin faster, and an available Climate Boost function improves rear cabin cooling. In back, rear seat passengers get a new Touch Screen Remote (TSR) to adjust the climate control and the heated and ventilated seats as well as the navigation and multimedia systems. Like in the Mulsanne, the available Multi-Media Specification includes a Wi-Fi hotspot for portable electronics, 64-gig hard drive, and two 10-inch LCD screens and multimedia players in the back of the front seats, and wireless headphones. Rear passengers can watch content from the multimedia player or stream it from the Web. Personalization remains a Bentley hallmark, and the 2014 Flying Spur is no exception. Dark Cashmere has been added to the 17 standard paint colors, while Damson is new to the extended paint range, which includes more than 100 colors. Damson is said to be inspired by rare purple diamonds, and a matching leather color is available. To make sure no one confuses your Flying Spur interior with that of an ordinary Audi or Mercedes-Benz, the Bentley offers traditional diamond quilting for the seats and door panels, embroidered Bentley wings in the headrests, an indented leather headliner, drilled alloy pedals, knurled shifter, jewel filler cap, and five-spoke, two-piece, 21-inch alloy wheels. While the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur isn't all-new, it has been substantially updated in areas that can be seen as well as felt from the driver's and passenger seats. The revisions should make it a richer value for those whose short list includes the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Aston Martin Rapide. Of the three, we expect the new Flying Spur to offer the ultimate balance of roominess and performance. We'll let you know how it performs once we get our hands on one.