Yahoo Autos 2014 Bentley Flying Spur
On Today’s Shock Menu
The shocks provide another opportunity for drivers to meddle with the work of Crewe’s engineers. There are four settings. When the driver wants to mix things up, the press of a button on the center console calls up the shock menu on the infotainment display, and the driver selects which of the four settings he wants on the spectrum from Comfort to Sport. This being a Bentley, the icon marking his choice has a knurled look. The difference from one extreme to the other is stark, the softer settings allowing for a more serene ride than Spurs previously offered, and the firmer settings enabling an amusing agility.
The Bentley feels pretty nimble for its size, a life-saving virtue on the unpredictable roads climbing from Beijing to China’s Great Wall. Rickshaw dawdling down the middle of the lane around a blind corner? Taken in stride. Local lying on the asphalt to soak up a bit of heat? Oh, what, that? Farmer drying piles of corn in the road? Piece of cake. The Flying Spur turns in quickly once past a bit of on-center slack. There’s a touch more body roll than the previous car exhibited, but it’s not excessive. We’d guess that another reason Bentley felt it was appropriate to soften the Spur is because the inevitable Speed model will almost certainly restore the lost suspension stiffness. Thanks to the rear-biased torque delivery, the throttle doesn’t upset the car’s cornering attitude. Its tail even feels a little playful-quite an accomplishment in a 5500-pound all-wheel-driver. There’s a touch of dive under hard braking, and the pedal is a tad soft, but the stoppers are progressive and strong.
Knurled and Sumptuous
There are no surprises inside, just typical Bentley beauty, with sumptuous quilted leather, achingly beautiful woods, and knurled knobs everywhere. Rear-seat occupants can now get a pair of LCDs mounted to the front seatbacks, and each has its own DVD, USB, and SD-card inputs and wireless headphones. An optional touch-screen remote allows those in the back to control the HVAC and audio systems and keep track of the driver’s actions with a faithful digital reproduction of the Flying Spur’s speedometer. For people who don’t want to lean forward to poke at the screen, it pops out of the console for wireless control, looking like a chubby smartphone.
The company is placing a premium on the more luxurious ride of the softer Spur, raising its base price by about $15,000, to $206,225. Bentley started taking orders for the 2014 Flying Spur in March of this year, and deliveries start in August or September. If stiffness is a priority, though, you might want to wait a year or so until the Speed model arrives.
You Might Also Like
