Bentley Flying Spur PHEV V8 review: the best thing ever to emerge from Crewe

Telegraph

07-05-2025

Bentley aficionados know that the original Flying Spur of 1957 was a handsome, upright version of the gorgeous S1 Continental coupé, its name derived from the family crest of Arthur Talbot Johnstone, the managing director of coachbuilder HJ Mulliner.
It wasn't quite the same with the second coming of the Flying Spur under Volkswagen ownership in 2005. Only two years after the launch of the Continental GT coupé, the Flying Spur four-door saloon version had a ridiculous, bowler hat-like roofline and staid bank manager image, which it retained in the Mk2 version.
Markets for this fast-but-dumpy luxury car were described as Wall Street traders and lawyers treating themselves after a good year. I'd imagine that after the last month of stock market reaction to President Trump's new import tariffs, those same former inhabitants of Easy Street will now be renting on Skid Row with the Bentley back at a dealer with 'One Careful Owner' whitewashed on the windscreen.
Times come and times go, but it wasn't until 2013 and the launch of the third-generation Flying Spur that I felt the four-door was something to love. Damn good to drive, too; accommodating, but also a bit of a hot rod (if required).
So this car has had a lot to live up to, especially as its VW Group MSB chassis and V8-based plug-in hybrid system was also developed jointly with Porsche. It replaces the wheezy V6 hybrid and dipsomaniac W12 drivetrains previously offered in the Flying Spur.
It is offered in £226,500 Speed and £244,100 Mulliner forms, although we understand a cheaper (these things are relative) hybrid might appear soon.
Ah yes, the looks
To accompany the new hybrid drivetrain, changes for this mid-cycle facelift are minimal; while there's a lean and mean machine in there somewhere, the whole is weighted down with a dressy grille and textured finishes. You might like the idea of an all-new drivetrain under what went before, including the four-headlight front (which has been ditched for the Continental GT), or you might not…
Under the bonnet, you'll find a 4.0-litre V8 with two turbochargers of modest design since the hybrid system can cover any lag in their response. The engine produces 592bhp and 590lb ft, the electric motor 188bhp/332lb ft, giving a peak output of 771bhp and 738lb ft. Even in ultimate Speed trim, the old W12 'only' developed 628bhp…
With a 25.9kWh lithium-ion battery, the Flying Spur has an all-electric range of 47 miles, a nonsensical WLTP fuel consumption of 202mpg and CO2 emissions of 33g/km. On the road, you'd expect to get near 30mpg if you stroke it, 20mpg if you don't. And while the old £41,000 benefit-in-kind tax giveaway for a plug-in hybrid of this type is now gone, the vehicle excise duty (VED) due is based on those published CO2 emissions, so there's still a net gain.
Not in weight and space, however. The hybrid system adds 135kg, so the total weight is almost 2.7 tonnes; it steals a fair bit of luggage space, too, with the boot shrinking from 420 litres to 346 litres, which is about the same volume as that of a family-sized SUV.
The top speed is now 177mph, with 0-62mph in 3.5sec and 0-100mph in 7.5sec. Fast, then.
The chassis is suspended with all-round wishbone suspension with air springing and special twin-valve dampers, which allow entirely separate adjustment of bump and rebound behaviour. There are all the latest 48-volt systems to control the active anti-roll bars, an electronically-actuated limited-slip differential and four-wheel steering to increase agility at low speeds and stability when going faster. Torque vectoring, four driving modes, (Comfort, Sport, Custom and Bentley) are joined by the most modern Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), though thankfully those functions are simple to switch off.
Inside job
The test car's Edition 1 trim means all the bells and whistles. For the most part, it's gorgeous, comfortable and spacious, so stretch out in the back and you could be driven to work by a chauffeur (do Bentley owners actually work?).
Mostly, the design is timeless, although in places it shows its age. Myriad physical buttons are fine with us, but there are so many. Parts of the interior finish, however, weren't to my liking. Intricately machined metal as an interior finish should be a workshop apprentice's test, and there it should remain. And in place of the elegant and innovative three-sided tumbling centre screen of the previous generation, there's a large fixed touchscreen with over-bright graphics and fonts which clashed with the elegance of the Gill Sans script of the digital instruments, while also making the analogue clock seem anachronistic.
It seemed like a massively wasted opportunity to give this banner-carrying Bentley two distinct personalities: a bookish clubbable library on the one hand; a stripped-for-action road racer on the other.
On the road
It starts in EV mode courtesy of the large battery, and in town will continue to run the electric motor for slow crawls – I managed 35 miles on battery alone against the 47-mile claim before the petrol engine started with its urgent V8 throb.
Out of town, you spin the bezel on the outside of the start/stop button to alter the driving mode. Comfort is a sort of 'wake me up when we get there' setting; a lovely combination of steering, response, fine ride and dynamics in which the battery does the heavy lifting until you really insist on going faster, whereupon there's a growl and a sense of the early-spring scenery being pulled past the windows.
All the same, the 22-inch tyres made their presence felt on the pitted and potholed roads around Bentley's expanding Crewe factory, where towering roofs reach so high that the sun hits the town an hour later in the morning.
Larger bumps elicit creaks and shifts from the upholstery. Not faults exactly, just evidence of hand-wrought excellence, although one wonders what perfectionist owners might think.
The all-steel brakes are nicely worked, with a good pedal feel. The road route, although brisk, didn't stress them enough to induce signs of stress, but they seemed powerful with a pleasing grab at the top of the pedal's travel, informing you not only how quickly you'd be slowing but also where you'd come to a halt.
I wasn't much taken with the obscenely thick steering wheel rim, but the weighting and response in the 'sportiest' Bentley setting was just about perfect, giving direct steering feel with assertive self-centring, along with a combination of unhurried engine and battery power.
You can dial in Sport, of course, where, thanks to a more focussed set of algorithms, you learn that this car knows its way around a fast road. And then some. There's a groundswell of torque, a whoosh of power augmented by a wave of watts, along with a V8 engine note which sounds like tiny bits of raucous Nascar racer escaping the glovebox.
But the engine never seems hurried, even when the horizon is hurtling towards the screen. And the sheer calibration and engineering effort that's gone into making the Flying Spur quite the best-driving and most luxurious car in its class is, well, bamboozling. Frankly, whichever the setting, you are beguiled with this big (5,316mm long and 2,220mm wide) car's ability to deliver calm, unhurried yet supremely swift journeys.
The Telegraph verdict
Crewe locals give the Flying Spur a nodding acknowledgement. There's an appreciation of the old firm around here and what it has done for employment and status. And you drive accordingly; foot steady on the accelerator, pulling away like an ocean liner with a suitably portentous soundtrack. This is a car for those who want a proper car on the drive, not a wannabe mud-plugger or a boy racer's dream.
I think it's the best car Bentley makes, and it was hard to hand it back. Visions of whisking to Scottish trout rivers, the Welsh Marches or consuming fish and chips on Devon quays filled my mind as I reluctantly pointed it back towards Crewe.
However, Bentley chooses to update this latest Flying Spur later on, there's a suspicion that such a finely honed set of attributes could be forfeited. I trust the craftspeople of Crewe don't take their eyes off the prize.
The facts
On test: Bentley Flying Spur PHEV V8
Body style: five-door luxury saloon
On sale: now
How much? from £226,500 for Speed, £244,100 for Mulliner
How fast? 177mph, 0-62mph in 3.5sec
How economical? 202mpg (WLTP Combined), on test n/a
Engine & gearbox: 3,996cc, 592bhp/590lb ft twin-turbocharged petrol V8 with 188bhp/332lb ft electric motor and a 25.9kWh lithium-ion battery hybrid system, eight-speed twin-clutch gearbox, four-wheel drive
Maximum power/torque: 771bhp/738lb ft
EV-only range: 47 miles
CO2 emissions: 33g/km (WLTP Combined)
VED: £110 first year, £620 next five years, then £195
Warranty: 3 years, unlimited mileage
The rivals
Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid
from £175,100
The same PHEV V8 hybrid system provides similar performance to the Bentley, although the lighter weight helps with a 202mph top speed and 0-62mph in 2.9sec. Less opulence, more efficiency (and luggage space).
Rolls-Royce Ghost II
from £270,600
The 2014 revamp that included a bespoke chassis improved the driving experience no end. And for some tastes, the appeal of a 563bhp/627lb ft 6.75-litre V12 trumps all. Fantastic looks, uncannily smooth low-speed ride and dynamically pretty good.