BENTLEY FLYING SPUR SPEED

Can new drivetrain lift Crewe's super-saloon to even greater heights?

- MARK TISSHAW

The best saloon in the world? That's the question posed by the new Bentley Flying Spur Speed after the adoption of a new hybridised V8 engine. This allows greater efficiency to be added to the car's repertoire, on top of the other qualities that make it great.

The introduction of the new V8 drivetrain has come about following the demise of the W12 engine due to emissions regulations. That V8 has already made a stellar debut in the Continental GT Speed. It now lifts straight into the Flying Spur and this Speed launch variant, and aims to replicate both the famed torque of the old 6.0-litre W12 unit and perhaps more pertinently the refinement and lack of stress it operated under.

The driveline mixes a 591bhp 4.0-litre V8 engine with a 188bhp electric motor that's housed within the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, driving all four wheels. The combined peak output is a whopping 771bhp and torque is 738lb ft, both figures that eclipse the 626bhp and 664lb ft of the W12 to make the new Flying Spur Speed the most powerful Bentley saloon yet made.

Perhaps an even greater development is with the efficiency: the hybrid system uses a substantial 25.9kWh battery that's bigger than that of the original Nissan Leaf.

It allows for an all-electric and therefore zero-emissions range of 47 miles, while the official combined economy is 202mpg.