New 2019 Bentley Flying Spur revealed

Bentley has revealed the latest generation of its Flying Spur saloon. Claimed to be the world’s ‘most advanced luxury Grand Touring saloon’, the new Flying Spur has been launched to coincide with Bentley’s 100-year anniversary. It’ll go on sale this autumn, with prices yet to be revealed.

The styling is surprisingly different to the outgoing Bentley Flying Spur, with the front end dominated by a large new grille. Its vertical slats are inspired by the Continental Flying Spur launched in 1957, and the grille sits between crystal-cut Matrix LED headlights. Look at the new car from the side and you’ll see that the rear half is a lot sleeker than that of the previous model, which is part of an effort to infuse some of the Bentley Continental GT’s swoopy style into the four-door version.

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The rear end is a lot more muscular too. We had expected the Flying Spur to share the Continental GT’s oval tail-lights,but the new model continues with a stacked design that’s more similar to the one seen on the Bentley Bentayga SUV. Huge 21-inch alloy wheels come as standard, with 22-inch alloys available as an option.

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It’s the interior that will entice most buyers, and it’s shared almost entirely with the two-door Continental GT. A high-definition digital instrument cluster takes the place of analogue dials behind the steering wheel, and you can choose whether the panel at the top of the centre console shows a 12.3-inch touchscreen, analogue clocks and dials or an extension of the trim finisher. A new touchscreen remote has been included to allow rear-seat occupants to control the temperature, lighting and seat massaging function.

As you’d expect, you can personalise the Flying Spur’s cabin to your heart’s content. Twelve trim finishers are available (eight wood and four stone options) and there are 15 colour options for the quilted leather interior. There’s even 3D quilted leather on the door cards (a world first), so it’s not surprising that up to 10 hides are needed to trim each car’s interior. Bentley will point you in the direction of its Mulliner programme if you want to make your car bespoke.

Under the vast bonnet is Bentley’s familiar 6.0-litre 12-cylinder engine, which produces 626bhp and a huge 900Nm of torque. Despite a kerbweight comfortably over two tonnes, the Bentley Flying Spur saloon will sprint from 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 207mph. An eight-speed automatic gearbox is fitted, with the top two gears reserved for ‘economical grand touring’. Bentley hasn’t revealed fuel economy figures yet but refilling the car is unlikely to be a concern for the company’s clientele.

Nevertheless, Bentley is known to be working on a hybrid-assisted V6 petrol engine for the Bentayga, and there's a chance a similar system could appear in the Flying Spur.

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The overhaul of the Flying Spur even stretches to the platform. It now sits on the MSB platform that also provides the architecture for the Porsche Panamera. The distance between the wheels (the wheelbase) has increased by 130mm, offering much more interior space even though the car’s entire length is only up by 5mm. Adaptive four-wheel drive is standard, and is able to shift up to 100% of the power to the rear wheels.

Bentley’s smaller saloon also gets all-wheel steering for the first time, which can improve low-speed cornering and high-speed stability, while three-chamber air suspension allows the car to be more comfortable or firmer, depending on the driving mode selected.

Take a look at our full review of the Bentley Flying Spur and its rival the Rolls-Royce Ghost.