Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed 2008 Review

The gents from Bentley point out the Continental Flying Spur is the world's best-selling luxury 12-cylinder sedan - a statistic as esoteric as you like. However, they also admit it is about to come under some serious pressure. With the likes of the new Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide and a 'baby' Rolls Royce just around the corner, there are plenty of high-priced rivals lurking in the bushes. Which is part of the reason Bentley's Continental four-door has just had a facelift.

More than just a nip/tuck, the model line-up has also been split in two. Previously, customers with $360,000-odd looking for luxury and performance made do with both attributes in one car. Soon they can spend a little more (about $370,000 thanks mainly to the extended luxury tax grab) and get a slightly softer 412kW Flying Spur or tip in an extra 30 grand for a definitely harder-edged Flying Spur Speed.

The latter runs the 449kW version of the honking 6.0-litre, twin-turbo W12 powerplant that also motivates in the two-door Continental GT Speed. Revised engine management has upped the boost, combined with tougher pistons and con-rods to handle the extra pressure, and a host of internal weight reduction and friction reducing measures said to increase efficiency. Fuel consumption, for instance, is said to be improved, although a combined 16.6L/100km figure won't win a Greenpeace award.

Torque is also up, raised from the standard W12's 650Nm to a full 750Nm at a diesel-like 1750rpm. That also means low-speed acceleration is better, with 0-100km/h coming up in a claimed 4.8 seconds compared with 5.2 for the regular Flying Spur. It's still a hefty car - almost 2.5 tonnes - but as usual part of that weight is due to an all-wheel-drive system to aid traction. The name Speed isn't to be taken lightly either, with a top-whack of 322km/h (a nice round 200mph) available for those who are game.

Other enhancements include some slight cosmetic changes, including a more upright grille for better cooling and re-profiled front and rear bumpers. Oh, and the Speed gets a darker tint of chrome for its cheese-grater grille. More importantly, the Speed has been lowered 10mm over its standard 20-inch rims and the air suspension is not only stiffer, but there's bigger anti-roll bars and some components are now solid-mounted to reduce sloppiness. Conversely, the standard car has been softened off a bit.

It shows on the road, especially the blighted highways of New England in north-eastern USA where Bentley gave us a steer of both new Flying Spurs. The Speed's ride is solid enough to be caught out by sharper bumps with a definite crash, and even on more forgiving surfaces it is noticeably more lively than the more compliant and certainly more comfortable Flying Spur.

The Servotronic steering system may have been retuned for enhanced turn-in, but it is still light and lacking in feedback. There's grip aplenty though, even if the sheer mass of the car makes itself felt in directional changes. And while the Flying Spur Speed has less bodyroll and will power-down out of corners earlier than the softer sedan, a sports car it is not. Nor is it meant to be. But the brakes - big 405mm front discs, or massive optional 420mm cross-drilled carbon/silicon carbide discs - provide admirable stopping power.

And golly, does the Speed hook-up in a straight line. Immense power is always on tap as the six-speed ZF auto transmission winds up, locks up and delivers through all four wheels. There's a snuffling growl of exhaust on big throttle openings; back off, and on overrun the W12's deep bark sounds like Barry White coughing up a fur ball. Despite all that, extra sound-proofing in the double glazing helps reduce outside noise to a whisper at cruise.

Interior appointments are lavish. There's a host of new leather and trim colour combinations, including natty piping available for the first time and cow-hide covers almost every imaginable surface. Chrome, timber and lush carpets pamper, while in the rear there's a choice of bench seats, two reclining buckets with a centre console, or a 'four-plus-one' option, with power adjustment of the two outside positions. Leg room is good, but not extraordinarily so in a 5.3-metre-long car.

Back in the real world, very few of us might be in the market for a $400,000 mega-luxury sedan with almost limitless performance, but in truth there are very few options out there - for the moment, anyway. Despite its German ownership and origins, the Flying Spur Speed's Britishness still shines through in its appointments and audacity, and you can see why its appeal is immense. It will keep Bentley's popularity in an exclusive club of hyper-sedans rolling on.