Bentley teases next Flying Spur

BENTLEY’S new Flying Spur sports sedan will have a more elegant Mulsanne-inspired shape and improved interior sharing much with the latest Continental GT coupe and convertible on which it is based, judging from a teaser outline sketch and video issued overnight.

The British ultra-luxury marque has not yet indicated when or where the Flying Spur will be revealed but it could be at the design-oriented Geneva motor show next month or in front of Bentley’s important Chinese market at Shanghai in April, while some have tipped a Frankfurt debut in September.

The new car’s most noticeable design difference over the outgoing Flying Spur is a kicked-up ‘Coke bottle’ belt-line over the rear wheelarch that is even more pronounced than on the stately Mulsanne flagship limousine and a world away from the current Flying Spur’s slab-sided styling.

A more gently tapering C-pillar leading to a higher, more squared-off bootlid further links the new Flying Spur with the Mulsanne.

Up front, the Flying Spur appears to be further differentiated from the Continental GT by having two pairs of similar-sized LED headlights rather than the GT’s large main and smaller secondary units.

British publication Autocar reports that Bentley has worked to improve the Flying Spur’s refinement – a bugbear of the original – paying particular attention to reducing ride quality and noise from the suspension and drivetrain.

In addition to the revised Continental GT-derived interior, the Flying Spur is expected to share the GT’s revised engine and transmissions, most importantly the Audi-derived 373kW/660Nm twin-turbo 4.0-litre petrol V8 and eight-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Bentley’s 423kW/700Nm turbocharged W12 engine is expected to remain, but the addition of V8-powered variants will serve to make the Flying Spur more affordable as well as kinder to the environment.

A follow-up to the Flying Spur Speed, powered by the same beefed-up 460kW/800Nm W12 as the Continental GT Speed coupe and convertible, is highly likely and should be able to hit a top speed in excess of 320km/h.

Bentley has promised it will announce more Flying Spur details on February 20.