2015 Bentley Flying Spur V-8
Type of vehicle: Full-size, four-passenger, all-wheel-drive luxury sedan
Price as tested: $248,170
Fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon city, 24 highway
Weight: Approximately 5,300 pounds
Engine: Twin-turbocharged, direct-injected 4-liter V-8 with 500 horsepower and 488 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0 to 60 mph in an estimated 4.2 seconds
Sources: Bentley Motors; Car and Driver
In the last few weeks, I’ve fallen into several breathtakingly expensive cars — cast adrift for weeks at a time in a creamy sea of real wood, thick carpet and rich, hand-stitched leather.
And the 2015 Bentley Flying Spur V-8 filled my old sails with even more lilac-scented wind.
+Ultra-luxury cars just knock the jagged edges off life, and I’m kind of tired of rattling down rocky mountain trails in my battered red wagon.
Of course, you expect that and more from anything that costs $248,170. For that kind of cash — leases start at $3,476 a month — I also want a lifetime supply of sunny mornings, back rubs and Red Bull.
Bentley aims to deliver at least some of those goods.
The metallic gray Flying Spur I had recently certainly looked the part, coiled and glistening on enormous 21-inch wheels.
Four semi-hip round headlamps flanked a traditional, upright silver grille that prominently displayed the signature flying B emblem at the top.
At 5,300 pounds, the Flying Spur is only a few hundred pounds lighter than most Rolls-Royces.
But its mass spreads out over a long wheelbase, and with its short overhangs front and rear, the big sedan somehow feels slightly more compact.
The 21-inch wheels add to that impression, wrapped by meaty, pretty sporty 275/35 tires.
Stand up front, though, and gaze down the sides. Gigantic doors on the mostly flat sides seemed to stretch into early afternoon, while the long, imposing hood looked substantial enough to support a banquet.
But the Spur’s designers smartly endowed it with strong shoulders on its fenders and a crisp character line down low, giving it a more chiseled appearance.
V-8’s virtues
The new Flying Spur gets a turbocharged Audi V-8 as its standard engine.
If you prefer the more-is-more approach, you can still spin your Spur with the optional VW-derived 6-liter 12-cylinder engine.
But you may not need Daddy Warbucks. The smaller V-8 generates about as much punch as the 12 while reducing the car’s weight by more than 300 pounds.
As a result, the Flying Spur V-8 kind of lives up to its fairly taut looks with slightly better agility and handling.
Although the 4-liter V-8 twists out about 100 fewer horsepower than the 12-cylinder motor, it still brings 500 very stout horses to the party.
And the engine spins an eight-speed automatic that goes about its job so efficiently that it’s mostly invisible.
If it matters, expect to spend some time at fuel stations. The V-8 may be relatively small, but it manages only a middling 14 miles per gallon in town and 24 on the highway.
Its 488 pound-feet of torque comes to a full boil at a diesel-like 1,750 rpm, so the Spur leaps away from stoplights as though propelled by some giant big-block motor — though you may notice a tiny touch of turbo lag.
Stay on the throttle for a few seconds, and 60 spools up in an estimated muscle-car quick 4.2 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
In addition, the Flying Spur is all-wheel-drive, allowing it to blast away from minimum-wage protests without drama.
Even in sport mode, the car moved with quiet grace and composure, simply sailing over most roads in supreme isolation.
Though the Flying Spur didn’t lean much in corners and stayed planted, the bulky car felt vaguely awkward in tight curves — kind of like a pudgy debutante doing the ‘gator in a $10,000 dress.
Likewise, the Spur’s steering was light and pleasant, but too vague and numb for serious road work.
Looking inward
But, hey, the focus in a Bentley should always be inward, and the butterscotch-colored interior in mine was designed to dazzle.
The twin-cowl, cockpit-style dashboard wore leather so soft that just touching it sparked fantasies.
Its edges were carefully stitched, and the midsection of the dash got glossy brown-wood trim — “dark fiddleback eucalyptus,” Bentley says.
The steering wheel and broad console were also covered in butterscotch leather, contrasting with a contemporary center stack that cut gracefully into the center of the dash. Even the headliner was stitched in perforated butterscotch leather.
Passengers front and back had access to consoles with separate vents, climate controls and display panels.
One of the features I initially puzzled over turned out to be a wooden case for glasses built into the console. For a while, this hick wasn’t entirely sure what it was or what he was supposed to put in there.
For now, though, I need a couple of buzzy compacts and an irritating crossover or two to pull me back into the real world. Quickly.
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