Bentley Flying Spur V8 UK first drive

A year on from Bentley’s comprehensive re-engineering of the Flying Spur it has finally added a second engine to compliment the headlining W12. It's the same twin-turbocharged V8 4.0-litre unit that forced us to upgrade our appreciation of the GT not so long ago, and is also found powering a number of big-money Audis. 

While it falls short of the exclusivity and heritage of the fabulous 6.75-litre pushrod V8 powering the Mulsanne, it is of the same vintage as the industrial-strength RS6 – and therefore its thrust potential is beyond question. In breathed-on Bentley format (the turbochargers and engine map are different) it develops 500bhp and 488lb ft of torque from 1750rpm, levering its thoroughly English greatcoat to 60mph in a shade under five seconds and a top speed of 183mph. 

Lavish numbers for what remains a near two-and-a-half tonne car, then, although outright performance is only part of the story; of equal importance is the 25.9mpg combined quote and Bentley’s bold claim that a full 90-litre tank will deliver a range in excess of 500 miles. The ability to prospectively swallow London to Frankfurt whole is an important part of what distinguishes the new Flying Spur from its 12-cylinder teammate. 

The visual differences between the two are more subtle. At the back there are now chromed figure of eight exhaust pipes and – as in the GT – the winged Bentley badge receives a red centre to denote the V8. Much, as you’d expect, is standard on the Spur, but many customers will still choose to indulge the huge option list or opt for the slightly more expensive Mulliner trim which adds 20-inch alloys along with all manner of quilting, indenting and additional veneers inside. 

Otherwise, the revised Spur is much as we left it: still four-wheel drive, air sprung and furnished with ZF’s super-smooth auto 'box for your comfort. The V8 is a variation on a theme then – but an important one. At £136,000 Bentley is hoping to attract new customers to the brand; particularly luxury saloon buyers who may previously have thought the W12 either too expensive or (more likely) too extravagant to seriously consider. 

We road tested the new Spur last year, and, truthfully, our reservations were not centered on the engine bay; it was the air suspension's inability to imperiously snuff out every nook and cranny that rankled in a car deliberately softened with limo-like aspirations in mind.

That view, even on the smaller, standard 19-inch wheels previously unavailable to us, remains unchanged. Poor surfacing – of the type you’d find anywhere in town – continues to unsettle the Bentley’s unchanged air cushion, and its failure to isolate occupants from the kind of intrusion that a Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz S-Class would solve is a definite issue. 

What is not an issue of any kind is the new engine. As with its fitment in the GT, the V8 instantly replaces any serious consideration of its quality with a lingering bewilderment on why, precisely, anyone would knowingly still choose the W12. So endearing is the consummate all-rounder’s innings in fact, that its realization of the two main Bentley prerequisites – refinement and A-bomb style impulse – appear to have been almost no challenge to it at all.