Bentley Flying Spur Speed (2008) CAR review

Bentley has given its monstrously quick but vaguely anonymous Flying Spur a mild facelift and introduced the aptly entitled Speed go-faster pack to further distance itself from top-end V12-powered Mercedes, BMW and Audi models.

What’s been done to the base Bentley Flying Spur model?

What should have been done when it was launched in 2005, to be blunt. An extensive reworking of the suspension means the Spur now rides with a demeanour far more in keeping with its size and status. Bentley’s engineers call it ‘breathing’ – which means that revised spring, damper and anti-roll bar settings as well as new 19in Pirelli tyres with a softer compound tread pattern and less rigid sidewalls allow the ride quality to strike a decent balance between isolation and contact. The ride may not yet be of the magic carpet kind, but the low-speed bump-thump, the high-speed judder over transverse ridges and the hypersensitivity to grooves has gone.

The Servotronic steering has also been retuned for better feedback on lock and for reduced nervousness around the straight-ahead position, and even more sound insulation makes the car all but silent from idle to around 4500rpm.

So the standard model is all about cushy transport, while the Speed is about, err, speed?

How perceptive of you. Yes, the role of the Speed is to be the sharper handling, more aggressively tuned and more involving counterpart. It’s fitted with stiffer suspension bushings, the ride height is lower by 10mm, there's thicker anti-roll bars front and rear, and fatter 20in Pirellis. The Speed's also fitted with a new Dynamic Mode for increased wheel slip at higher speeds, while the ESP’s Sport Traction mode also raises the intervention bar – perfect if you fancy a quick 70mph powerslide on your way to the club.

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