Bentley debuts hybrid Flying Spur as its most powerful sedan ever

Systematically updated since replacing the Mulsanne as its flagship sedan with the unveiling of the current third generation five years ago, Bentley has given the Flying Spur its first mid-life facelift on the back of the revisions applied to the Continental GT in June.

So long W12, hello hybrid

Going so far as to call it the fourth generation model, the Flying Spur’s tweaks go further than its exterior and interior as it adopts electrification in the form of a plug-in hybrid powertrain as a replacement for the long-serving 6.0 TSI W12 engine.

Losing a total of four cylinders, propulsion now comes from the Volkswagen Group’s familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that develops 441kW/800Nm on its own.

Combined with the 25.9-kW battery pack that powers a 140kW/450Nm electric motor though, the Flying Spur produces 575kW/1 000Nm, which amounts to an uptake of 90kW/100Nm over the W12-engine Speed.

ALSO READ: New Bentley Flying Spur takes opulence one step further

As such, it becomes the most powerful sedan ever to roll-off of the Crewe factory assembly line.

Able to travel 76 km on a single charge, with Bentley claiming a range of 829 km with the combustion engine included, the Flying Spur will get from 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and require a waiting time of two hours 45 minutes using a DC charger up to 11 kW.

As with the Continental GT and drop-top GTC, drive is routed to all four wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, with a further carryover being the five drive modes; EV, EV Boost, Regen and Charge.

Look closely

Aesthetically, Bentley has made subtle but easy-to-spot changes in the form of restyled LED headlights, standard 22-inch alloy wheels in three designs and six colours, a new grille inspired by the Speed and graphite exterior trim pieces.

At the rear, the bumper has been freshened-up to accommodate the new diffuser, and the light cluster subtly changed.

Also new is the puddle lamp that projects the Bentley Wings logo onto the ground, plus the option of having the styling specification aero package finished in the selected body colour comprising 101 hues.

Dynamic changes

Dynamically, the MSB platform receives the 48-volt Dynamic Ride active anti-roll bars, rear-wheel steering and twin-valve adaptive dampers as standard, together with a new electronically controlled limited slip differential.

In addition to Bentley having sharpened-up the steering, the module for the electronic stability control has been reprogrammed to suit the hybrid powertrain, while the torque vectoring system has also been refined to send as much as 51% of the available grunt to the rear wheels in a 51.7% vs 48.3% split.

Opulence inside

Inside, the 12.3-inch Rotating Display infotainment system remains, but with upgraded software and still equipped with integrated satellite navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

New additions are 3D diamond quilted seat upholstery, dark chrome trim, new dial and readouts within the instrument cluster and a choice of 22 hides, eight wood veneers and three so-called technical finishes that amount to a combination of 700 different interior finishes, according to Bentley.

The final change is the inclusion of laminated acoustic glass for the windscreen and side windows, and three sound system choices; the standard 10-speaker with 650-watts, a 16-speaker 1 500-watt Bang & Olufsen and the flagship 2 200-watt, 19-speaker Naim with Active Bass Transduce technology.

Arrival to be announced

Set to go on-sale before year-end, expect the Flying Spur to possibly only arrive on South African soil in early 2025.

NOW READ: Green hearted Bentley Flying Spur makes silent appearance