Third-gen Bentley Flying Spur spreads its wings to Asia Pacific

By daryl, 12 December 2019

The third-generation Bentley Flying Spur has officially landed in Asia Pacific. The four-door sibling to the Continental GT made its regional debut in Singapore recently, looking particularly ravishing in its Monaco White Sand paintjob and Blackline specification. 

Underneath the alluring aesthetics lie the same six-litre W12 engine powering the Continental GT. Fed to all four wheels via an eight-speed dual clutch transmission, the Flying Spur's 626bhp and 900Nm of twist allows it to dispatch the century sprint in just 3.8 seconds all the way to a top speed of 333kph. It's fast but also somewhat frugal; cylinder deactivation (which shuts off up to six cylinders at a time) makes the new Flying Spur 15 percent more efficient than its predecessor. 

The performance stats are quite impressive for a big hunk of metal - mostly aluminium - measuring nearly 5.2 metres long. In fact, the side profile is made of the "largest superformed panel in the automotive world". The mass certainly translates to plenty of space inside, but the driving experience is compensated by all-wheel steering - the Flying Spur is the first model in Crewe's range to feature this bit of tech that has already been adopted by VW Group stablemates Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini. It is paired to something called Bentley Dynamic Ride - supposedly the world's first 48V electric anti-roll system - to enhance the Flying Spur's overall ride and handling. 

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Inside, the Mulliner Driving Specification applied to the display unit adds three-dimensional diamond-quilted door inserts to an already ostentatious interior which houses Bentley's now-signature rotating display, touchscreen remote control in the rear and a 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system. The latter can be upgraded to a Naim system with a total audio output of 2,200W, which is arguably the most powerful sound system ever fitted to a car from the factory. 

The aforementioned Blackline specification was introduced by Bentley just a couple of months ago. As its name suggests, the exterior package dresses up most of the bits you expect to be coated in chrome in a menacing, black finish instead. This includes the Flying B mascot, front grille, window frame, lower door and bumper blades, door handles, vents and even the exhaust tips. 

"The third generation Flying Spur is a showcase for Bentley's contemporary sculptural design language and with a bold and exciting road presence, it is unmistakably Bentley," said David Lane (inset), Operations Director of Bentley Motors Asia Pacific, at the launch. 

The Flying Spur is expected to reach out to all Asia Pacific regions, Malaysia included, within the second quarter of 2020. Bentley Kuala Lumpur is part of a distribution network managed by Wearnes Automotive, which also includes Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia. Incidentally, Wearnes is Bentley's oldest partner outside the UK with both firms having been in business together since 1931. On a wider scale, Bentley Motors Asia Pacific also boasts showrooms in Australia and Cambodia, with Japan and Korea slated to join the network in the near future.