2017 Bentley Flying Spur V8 S
Bentley's most sporting sedan states its case with nuance.
2017 Bentley Flying Spur V8 S
In the rarified air above mainstream luxury-brand flagships from Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW exist the ultra-exclusive, hand-built sedans from Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, and Bentley, each offering 12-cylinder power, the choicest material furnishings, and indubitable pedigrees. Given these cars’ unapologetic price tags, a normal person might expect them to surpass any off-the-rack Audi A8, S-class Benz, or 7-series Bimmer in every respect. Or at least most respects. Or at least in terms of the luxury features, right?
HIGHS
Remarkably quick, undeniable presence, top-flight materials, handcrafted feel.
LOWS
Earth-crushing weight, pump-draining thirst, dated interior.
Well, people who buy automobiles like the shimmering gold 2017 Bentley Flying Spur V8 S tested here aren’t normal. When they decide to buy a Flying Spur, it’s not to add a new luxury sedan to their stable; it’s to add a Bentley to their stable. They’re probably aware that any of those hypercompetent Teutonic sleds offers more high-tech luxo-wizardry than the Flying Spur—which doesn’t even come with a USB port. And few would ever get caught baiting an S63, M760i, or S8—each of which can hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds or less—into a stoplight duel, so where this car’s performance numbers fall relative to those may be beside the point.
What does matter is that the Flying Spur delivers on its promise as a Bentley with the waft, the warmth, and the eminent gracefulness for which the brand’s cars have been known for decades. Based on the previous-generation Continental GT, the Flying Spur sedan has proved satisfying in that regard since first appearing in 2005—and particularly so since the second-gen model arrived for 2014 with an even prettier, sleeker body and a more powerful, 616-hp W-12 engine.
We were impressed upon our first drive of the lighter, cheaper Flying Spur V8, which lost exactly none of its Bentley-ness with the fitment of the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous 4.0-liter eight-cylinder, tuned to produce a stout 500 horsepower. The Flying Spur family doubled in size when V8 S and W12 S models were introduced last year, raising horsepower to 521 and 626 and featuring a unique front-fascia design, a rear diffuser, and black-painted grilles. Having already stated our preference for the Flying Spur V8’s relative agility and throatier sound, we hypothesized that the V8 S would be the most compelling from a driving standpoint.
Some Numbers
As trivial as facts and figures may be to the typical Bentley owner, one number of particular consequence is 5509—the pounds this test car carried onto our scales, 55.1 percent of the total resting on the front wheels. On one hand, that makes its 4.3-second zero-to-60-mph and 10.5-second zero-to-100-mph times that much more impressive; same with the 167-foot stop from 70 mph. But at the skidpad, the low-profile 275/35ZR-21 Pirelli P Zeros that wrapped the V8 S’s optional 21-inch six-spoke wheels were overwhelmed after just 0.83 g of lateral acceleration. And despite the standard all-wheel-drive system sending 60 percent of the available torque to the rear wheels, understeer persisted at the limit.
Effortless high-speed travel has always been a mark of a Bentley, and the V8 S fulfills this mission brilliantly. The car feels marvelously quick off the line. While nothing tends to happen suddenly in a Bentley—that’s all part of the waft—the V8 S is tuned for sharper throttle response, which allows it not only to reach 50 mph in just 2.6 seconds from a 30-mph lope, but also to feel generally alert, which isn’t something we’ve always been able to say about these hulking luxury cars.
And speed attained is speed maintained with unwavering stability, even deep into triple-digit territory, with sharp steering that tightens up considerably when the sportiest of the four chassis modes has been selected. The car’s massive size—the wheelbase alone stretches more than 10 feet—and prodigious weight keep it from being much fun on a twisty road, but in curves the body stays heroically flat, making it feel more planted than expected. And the brake-pedal feel is utterly perfect.
But, again, there’s more to this car than its test results or even the subjective feel of how it drives. As we stated in a write-up of the previous-generation Flying Spur Speed, “Every drive in the Bentley is an escape from reality, an occasion.” Staying true to form, the V8 S is best when one’s senses are directed toward enjoying its sumptuous seats, tickling the knurled shift knob, or identifying those details—the subtle gathers in the upholstery or variations in the stitching—that communicate that these things really are built by hand. The interior design may have grown familiar, and you won’t find many of the new whiz-bang features that are all the rage just one car class below, but the Flying Spur remains beyond reproach in terms of material honesty—nary a thing inside this car isn’t exactly what it looks like. It’s also a sea of tranquility: With just 62 audible decibels at a 70-mph cruise, the Flying Spur is one of the quietest sedans on the planet.
With a starting MSRP of $208,725, the V8 S is exactly $16,000 pricier than the standard Flying Spur V8. Our test example brought to the party another $26K worth of options, more than we’d care to rattle off here and only one of which—a $3360 set of 21-inch wheels—had any bearing on performance. Still, a few are worth mentioning if only because their prices strain credulity. For example, this car’s darkened headlamp bezels and taillamp lenses (the sort of thing one might think would be included in the S treatment) added $1805 to the final tally. Bentley doesn’t charge any extra for this example’s polarizing Camel paint, which reads as bronze from a few paces away but upon close inspection sparkles with every color in the rainbow; painting the brake calipers black cost $1555, however. And we’d love to know if there’s any material-cost-related reason for Bentley to charge $2190 to use a contrasting color of thread to stitch the seat upholstery and the steering-wheel leather. But there we are thinking like normal people again.
So the Flying Spur isn’t exactly state-of-the-art, although in V8 S form, it is somewhat more focused from a driving standpoint. Heavy yet still quite fast, it is as graceful as every Bentley ought to be. And as we hypothesized, it’s the most engaging Flying Spur we’ve driven yet. But Bentley sedans won’t be like this forever. From what we can gather after seeing the lovely new 2019 Continental GT debut and interviewing Bentley’s boss, Wolfgang Dürheimer, this car’s eventual replacement is likely to be far more futuristic and possibly electrified, so we ought to savor its big, heavy Bentley-ness while we still can.