2014 Bentley Flying Spur cribs style from Mulsanne
By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos
Bentley's 'entry-level' Flying Spur sedan - if there is such a thing as an entry-level Bentley - has proved to be a reasonable success. A twin-turbocharged W12 engine, all-wheel drive and a sumptuous leather, metal and wood-lined interior just drip with excess, but the exterior? Uh, more a mess than drop-dead gorgeous. But we'd gather laying claim to the title of world's fastest sedan and the flying 'B' that comes with it play larger roles in its popularity.
Thankfully, judging from the photos released today, Bentley's taken the criticism to heart and delivered on a much more flowing design for the second-generation 2014 version. The front still shares most of its parts with the Continental GT coupe, but from the sides and out back, the shoulder line and rear lights crib styling cues form the range-topping Mulsanne. It's a significatnly more coherent package that we'd love to examine more closely.
The interior is still the same hide-covered cocoon as before, although updated with Bentley's current dash, technology and steering wheel. We'd guess the Flying Spur does the whole 'biz-jet' cross-continent high-speed travel thing very well.
Especially since the 6.0-litre engine produces a ridiculous 616 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, which means the standard car now has more power than the previous top-end Speed. The 0-100 km/h run should take just 4.4 seconds, while top speed is rated at 322 km/h (200 mph). All this performance plus a 2,475-kg curb weight and Bentley still figures it'll improve fuel efficiency compared with the old one.
Price? We'd bet just under $200,000 before options...
What do you think? Like where Bentley's going with the latest Flying Spur? Wish it were more subtle? Let us know in the comments.
Justin Couture
Mark Atkinson
John LeBlanc
Posted by: El Motor | 2013-02-23 11:31:20 PM
Pfffff... Personally all those supposedly "high-end" luxury car makers lost me when I saw an ad on eBay selling a Lamborghini replica saying it was "better than the original because it doesn't cost as much to repair"... Rolls-Royce are only big BMWs and Bentleys are only big Volkswagen... It's definitely only just a way to grab some big bucks quickly... All those cars are ugly as a pig and not very well-made; we're far from the time when Rolls-Royces were beautiful and hand-made at the Crewe factory in England, personally I'm vomiting just thinking about that, now the process seem to be all mechanized... It's like Computer-Generated Pictures in movies, it doesn't add anything to the movies it remove something... If I see a Leonardo DaVinci and Napoleon movie made be certain there's not going to be any CGI in them, and you can count on tha... There's no respect for the car customers at all, and what's left for the poor childrens to dream about for God's sake??? I'm sick just thinking about it...
Posted by: Henry Vortriede | 2013-02-24 2:43:46 AM
I think its a great looking car. Certainly for the price its a good value. 200 is plenty fast. let's see; that's only $1000 per mile an hour.