The new 2013 Bentley Continental Flying Spur has been officially revealed ahead of its public debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.
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The new Flying Spur is, as we saw yesterday, subtly updated with a bolder and sharper design that has turned the Flying Spur from a great car with so-so looks in to an even greater car with very good looks indeed.
The effect of the restyling of the front and back has been to give the Flying Spur a much punchier look, with the new grill, new headlights and LEDs and, most importantly, a much better defined rear end with strong defining lines making the Flying Spur look sharper, wider and more aggressive. It now looks very appealing.
Not only have Bentley made the Flying Spur look much better, they’ve also managed to make it a chunk quicker – and lighter too. The W12 under the bonnet now delivers 616bhp (up from 552bhp in the current Flying Spur), more than the epic Flying Spur Speed could muster in the current generation.
That extra power translates in to a 0-62mph of 4.6 seconds and a top speed of 200mph, making the new Flying Spur the quickest four-door Bentley has ever produced. Despite that, the new Flying Spur manages to deliver improved economy (better by 13 per cent at 19.2mpg) thanks not just to more efficiency but the use of more lightweight materials dropping the weight by 50kg.
More refinement is the order of the day, with the new Spur’s more rigid body keeping noise and vibration even more isolated and extra sound deadening and acoustic underfloor panels and glass, new door seals and new silencers adding to the calm in the cabin.
Bentley has also given the 19″ wheels higher sidewalls for a more comfortable ride, aided by softer spring settings on the air suspension and new anti-roll bars that aid suppleness. Despite the softer ride, Bentley say that in hard cornering the stiffness is increased to reduce roll and drivers can choose from four suspension settings with the Spur automatically lowering itself as speed increases.
Inside the Flying Spur, Bentley has improved the quality of materials on offer, and the focus is on refinement and silence, with new front and rear seats, a four or five seat configuration option and the addition of lots of new technology like a new 8″ touchscreen for the Infotainment, a high-level audio system (and you can still opt for the absolutely stunning Naim system) and touchscreen remote for the rear passenger to control stuff like climate and infotainment.
Bentley is also offering a Multi-Media Spec option which creates a Wi-Fi hotspot in the Flying Spur and a pair of 10″ LCD screens in the back of the front seats with multi-media players in the pockets below.
New Bentley Continental Flying Spur Photos >>
It’s a very convincing makeover for the Flying Spur and turns it from a stretched Continental GT in to a proper sporting limousine in its own right.
Bentley boss, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, said:
Bentley’s new Flying Spur is the ultimate luxury performance sedan. Our engineers have worked tirelessly to ensure that the Flying Spur is the perfect combination of power, comfort, refinement and hand-crafted quality. Fitted with the very latest technology, the new Flying Spur is equipped both for business and relaxation whilst remaining a car to enjoy from behind the wheel.
The new Bentley Continental Flying Spur will get its public debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and go on sale in the UK in the summer.
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