Bentley Flying Spur – glide silently

A six-cylinder in a Bentley? Many fans of the British luxury brand still turn up their noses, as the carmaker from Crewe is bound to have powerful eight or twelve-cylinder engines for them. But the legal requirements and the pressure from politics make the Bentley executives, who are so spoiled by cylinders, gradually become fans of electric mobility. The luxury SUV Bentayga has long been available as a plug-in hybrid and is more popular than ever in some markets with a plug.

Now, with the top model of the Flying Spur, it is the turn of the second vehicle with significant electrification. Technically, the Bentley Flying Spur is closely related to the Porsche Panamera and the Swabian is now available in its second generation with three plug-in hybrid variants. With the Flying Spur Hybrid, Bentley is now launching a particularly powerful version. The luxury sedan is powered by the well-known 2.9-liter V6 with turbocharging, which drives various models from the Volkswagen Group with its 416 hp and 550 Nm of torque. An electric motor (100 kW / 136 PS, 400 Nm) hidden in the transmission tunnel ensures that the system output of the plug-in hybrid increases to 400 kW / 544 PS and a maximum torque of 750 Nm. That is almost 100 hp more than the current Bentley Bentayga Hybrid. From a standing start, the 5.20 meter long all-wheel drive accelerates in 4.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 285 km / h. The standard consumption is around two liters of super per hundred kilometers.

The competitor from the Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8 or BMW 7 Series – all of which are also available as hybrid versions – can only cover a manageable range of 40 kilometers purely electrically, as the battery capacity is 14.1 kWh. The total range of the combustion engine and electric motor, however, at around 700 kilometers, makes it almost the level of a diesel model. Like its competitors, the interior of the Flying Spur not only offers limitless luxury and every imaginable comfort, but also various driving modes such as purely electric, hybrid or maintaining the battery level. It takes up to two and a half hours to charge the battery pack in the underbody of the cargo area. Visually, the British luxury model with plug differs from its pure combustion brothers with eight and twelve cylinders only through the second fuel filler flap and the hybrid logos that can be added on request. As with the Bentayga, the V6 Hybrid is likely to become the Flying Spur’s entry-level model in terms of price.