Probably the best saloon in the world when new - what about now?
The 2020 disappearance of the Mulsanne from Bentley’s catalogue opened up a gap in the range for Bentley followers who wanted more doors and more space than what was on offer in the Continental GT. The car plugging that gap, the gen-three Flying Spur, is the subject of this week’s buying guide.
Variants of the Spur have appeared since 2021, including the S, Azure, Mulliner and of course the Milliner which as you will remember had a perfectly miniaturised porcelain top hat on its rear parcel shelf. The Flying Spur Speed of September 2022 replaced the standard Spur W12, production of which ceased in the earlier part of 2022.
Much of the Spur’s unfeasibly rapid rate of progress was down to the traction made possible by the adaptive all-wheel drive system, but credit also went to the 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, Bentley’s first twin-clutch gearbox that had also been used in the new Conti GT. Linked to the motor by a new dual-mass flywheel, the ZF box enabled the addition of launch mode. The top speed of 207mph was achieved in sixth gear. Seventh and eighth were for lozzing about.
Suspension was via a three-chamber adjustable air system which used one chamber for maximum firmness and three for maximum compliance. Going into ‘Bentley’ mode, which was the company engineers’ preferred choice, gave a fine combination of ride comfort, bump absorption and body control. The one-chamber Sport mode kept the body level no matter how hard you hooned it around a track, albeit at the expense of an un-Bentleylike ride.
Only six colours for the ambient lighting might have sounded slightly mean until you realised that the saturation and brightness adjustments that were part of it effectively gave you a limitless choice. The whole electrical system was trimmed down for lightness. The new Spur only had one 12v battery rather than two as previously so the electrics need to be carefully checked at depth on used cars, not just a quick twirl of a few of those beautifully knurled knobs.
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