SINGAPORE: The third generation of the Bentley Flying Spur made its unveiling debut for the Asia Pacific region here followed by the promise of vehicle delivery to owners in the second quarter of 2020.
This would obviously be timed with progressive launches of the latest Flying Spur in the respective country where the customers would be; that means many of them would have to go to Singapore to catch a glimpse of their new Bentley chariot.
The Flying Spur is essentially the four-door Grand Touring sports sedan of the two-door Continental GT although the Continental name is dropped to stand the Flying Spur in its own iconic stead.
As such, we were not expecting too much of a difference from the Continental GT that we had driven in the Gold Coast, Australia just over a year ago.
Were we surprised… while the Continental semblance is there, Bentley has given the Flying Spur a styling impact of its own that would command immediate road presence as much as the Continental GT would.
It was hard to imagine that the Flying Spur actually runs on the same platform as the Porsche Panamera, which is an advantage that is gained from being in the same Volkswagen Group.
However, the difference lies in each of the marque customising the car in all areas possible to project the respective brand architecture to meet the customer profile.
And the best part is that they could also tap into the areas of engineering that would suit their respective needs.
One area of adaptation is the electronic all-wheel steering that is featured on a Bentley model for the first time to complement its active all-wheel drive and Bentley Dynamic Ride, featuring the world’s first 48V electric anti-roll system, to provide ‘phenomenal’ handling and ride.
In this respect, we were certainly impressed with what we had experienced with the Continental GT in Australia and we are confident that Flying Spur would take our breath away just the same.
That is despite it being bigger as a four-door sports sedan especially since it sits on a 344mm longer wheelbase, compared to the Continental GT, that stretches body length to 5,316mm and tips the scale at under 2,440kg unladen.
Powered by a familiar engine, this being the 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 TSI that punches out 635PS and 900Nm of torque, the Flying Spur is no slouch in outright performance as we had discovered in the Continental GT last year.
For its heavier stance as a four-door sports sedan, the latest Flying Spur would leave the majority behind accelerating to 100kph in a respectable 3.8 seconds.
And if you have the open road at your command, the Flying Spur would be right at home charging along at 333kph.
At the same time, with an efficient running engine that operates on six cylinders when outright power is not required, its combined fuel consumption is not bad at 14.8 litres per 100km or about 6.7km per litre.
The high point about the Flying Spur is the exclusive level of luxury and Bentley says it leads the way with its state-of-the-art technology and driver assistance system that includes Night Vision Infra-red camera, Traffic Assist, Blind Spot Warning and Head-up Display.
There are also the new three-chamber air springs that offer a much greater range of suspension adjustment between limousine-ride comfort and sporting levels of body control.
Complementing the ‘completely new-design’ fluted leather seats and three dimensional diamond quilted door inserts, which are apparently another world first, are the three‘superlative’ audio systems that are available.
They include the 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen system and a unique 2,000W Naim system; having enjoyed the classical notes of Naim speakers before, we believe it would accommodate the Flying Spur interior well in an acoustic sense.
In Singapore, the latest Flying Spur is priced about S$970,000 (RM2.97mil) without COE and that should give you an idea what it would fetch in Malaysia when it gets here.
A curious note about the Asia Pacific journalists invited for the Flying Spur unveiling was the media team from Cambodia.
Lest you think that’s a surprise, the well-heeled in Cambodia actually has a passion for the Bentayga sports utility vehicle as it accommodates the road conditions there very well.
And having experienced the Bentley world of automotive luxury in the Bentayga, the new Flying Spur might just catch their fancy as well.
Keyword: Bentley Flying Spur lands in Singapore