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Bentley dares to take the next step on Electric Avenue: After the Bentayga, the British will also put the Flying Spur on a leash in the summer and put an electric motor alongside the combustion engine. The fact that the giant on velvet paws is so much fun is not only due to the blessings of the Stromer.
There is an air of genteel tranquility outside the posh Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Behind the high hedges of the luxury hostel, all you can hear is the gurgling of the fountain and the murmuring of the staff. Even from the fleet at Flying Spurs who Bentley positioned here for a test drive every morning for two weeks has not been heard. Because where previously a V8 or often even a W12 engine made itself heard loudly and confidently, on these luxury liners only an electric motor, which is integrated in the transmission, whispers.
After all, Bentley is on the way to becoming the first luxury manufacturer with a neutral CO2 budget and is therefore now also putting the Flying Spur on a leash: as the second model after the Bentayga and long before the Rolls-Royce Ghost or the Maybach version of the S-Class the long Bentley now also as a plug-in hybrid - and thus as a whisper-quiet glider, much to the delight of the hotel guests.
Less fuel consumption
The official homologation is still pending and with it the final consumption. But first of all, numbers count less than the green sticker on the fender and the charging socket under the second fuel filler flap. Second, the advantage will be huge, at least in mathematical terms, since the V8 is the most economical model to date, with a standard value of 12,7 liters. And thirdly, the British know from the Bentayga that their wealthy customers can usually use a wall box both at home and at the destination of their journey and are therefore often traveling alone with electricity.
More peace and quiet in the hustle and bustle of the big city and for your conscience, more comfort and more feeling – with this Bentley, less wants to be more in many ways. However, this also applies to the price: At just under 211 euros, the plug-in with its six-cylinder costs around ten percent more than the V000 sedan.
On quiet feet
But not only the jet set in the feather beds embroidered with their own monograms here in the Peninsula Hotel in Hollywood suddenly have peace, the backbenchers also enjoy an unusual silence. Not that the Flying Spur has been particularly loud so far. But the noise level drops by another 50 percent in E mode and, especially in the rear, it feels like putting on a pair of thick headphones and completely shutting out the world outside. So it's driving on cloud nine while the common folk fight their way down the road through traffic jams.
And the sometimes almost a little oppressive silence is not the only new sensory impression for the well-heeled clientele. Your fingers can also feel completely new materials: Where there used to be only wood, metal and leather or, in the sports versions, carbon, your hands can now glide over supposedly dull fabric for the first time in ages. No, don't worry: the British are not riding the austerity wave. And the luxury brand will not have a vegan interior anytime soon.
However, at least in the first edition of their new clean man, they are experimenting with a few new materials and have therefore covered the seat backs with the wool of British organic sheep. "For us, sustainability doesn't end with the engines," says Peter Bosch, Board Member for Production. In addition to the lettering on the door sills and, of course, the heavenly peace in the rear, that's pretty much the only way the passengers can recognize the hybrid. Even the pound-heavy ashtrays, the epitome of luxurious opulence, are of course back on board if desired, not to mention the hydraulically damped organ slides for the air-conditioning vents.
Drives differently than the combustion engine
It doesn't look much different for the driver. Because apart from an additional display in the cockpit, the range graphic on the navigation system and a submenu for battery charging, the plug-in is similar to the combustion engines. Of course, you only feel a difference when you lower your right foot. It doesn't matter whether you stroke the pedal or stick it firmly to the floor panel. In the first case, it is quite positive because the electric motor is not only quiet, but also starts off wonderfully smooth with its immediately available torque of at least 400 Nm.
Especially in the reliable stop-and-go traffic out on the coastal road, the heavy ship becomes a big glider, presses the driver's blood pressure to the minimum level for a long, fulfilling life and whirrs along as calmly as the many Teslas around him . And even if the gaps get longer, that doesn't upset the Stromer: Despite the 2,5 tons, it finally drives up to almost 140 km/h electrically.
However, if you want to let the Flying Spur fly out in the hills behind Hollywood or on the Pacific Coast Highway north of Malibu, which is naturally a bit empty, and therefore lower your foot, you will experience the Bentley from a no less unusual and not quite as nice side. Yes, the sedan is surprisingly handy for its weight and format - not least because the four wheels are not only driven, but also steered individually. With a sprint value of 4,3 seconds and a top speed of 285 km/h, there is just as little to complain about in terms of performance as there is in the system output of 400 kW/544 hp or the combined torque of 750 Nm.
It is not for nothing that, unlike the Bentayga, the more modern and more powerful 3,0-liter V340 is used here instead of the 450-liter mono-turbo with its 2,9 hp and 6 Nm, which comes with two chargers to 416 hp and 550 Nm . And, of course, the Bentley dutifully rears up on kickdown before blasting off like the flying spur that gave it its name. But he sounds a lot less sovereign than one is used to from the British and even comes across as almost a bit strained.
Surely there won't be sweat stains under the tuxedo? It's a good thing that the laundry service at the Peninsula is on the ball and, if necessary, will wash and iron your shirt in the 2,5 hours it takes the Flying Spur in the underground car park to recharge its battery.
Technical data
Five-seater luxury class sedan, length: 5,33 meters, width: 1,98 meters (width with exterior mirrors: 2,20 meters), height: 1,48 meters, wheelbase: 3,19 meters, trunk volume: 351 liters
Power Type
2,9 liter V6 petrol engine, 306 kW/416 hp, maximum torque: 550 Nm, electric motor, 100 kW/136 hp, maximum torque: 400 Nm, system output 400 kW/544 hp, maximum torque: 750 Nm , 0-100 km/h: 4,3 s, Vmax: 285 km/h, average consumption: not specified, CO2 emissions: not specified, emission standard: Euro 6 d, efficiency class: not specified, price: 210.987 euros
In brief
Why: because then the conscience is no longer quite as pressing
Why not: because six cylinders don't work in a Bentley
What else: S-class or seven with a plug-in, a Lucid Air or a Tesla Model S or simply a combustion engine as before.
When does he come: after the summer holidays
