Bentley’s V8 Flying Spur goes into production

The V8 version of the Flying Spur is powered by a 4-litre, twin turbocharged petrol engine. Photos: Bentley

The new Flying Spur V8 has entered full production at Bentley’s Crewe headquarters, the world’s first carbon neutral factory for luxury car manufacture, with the car now formally certified and the first cars on their way to retailers and customers.

Manufacture of the new Flying Spur is at 100 per cent of capacity, thanks to Bentley’s COVID protocols that have prevented any cases of on-site transmission, to date.

The Bentley V8 Flying Spur price is NZ $389,000, $54,000 less than the W12, which is $443,300. There are also preorders of the V8 by Kiwi customers who can expect to see the luxury vehicle in the second quarter of 2021.

A team of craftspeople assemble each new Flying Spur V8 by hand, taking over 100 hours to do so across 84 individual stages. The new V8-powered Flying Spur builds on a distinguished lineage, with Bentley recently producing the 40,000th Flying Spur since 2005. 

The process of creating a new Flying Spur is meticulous in approach – for example, it takes 141 craftspeople using three kilometres of thread to combine 350 unique leather pieces to make the 60 components that form the interior.

The Flying Spur V8 offers a more driver-centric experience via increased agility and a more characterful engine note.

At the heart of the car is Bentley’s 4-litre, twin turbocharged V8 engine, producing a peak power of 404kW and using twin-scroll turbos to reach its maximum torque of 770 Nm at 2000 rpm and maintaining it as flat plateau to 4500 rpm.

The new grand tourer has recently completed its certification process, confirming astonishing performance figures for a luxury limousine, including 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 318km/h.

To maximise fuel economy, the V8 can shut down four of its eight cylinders under light-load conditions, when torque demand is below 235Nm and engine speed is below 3000 rpm. The change is imperceptible to the occupants – with deactivation times of around 20 milliseconds (a tenth of the time it takes to blink).

The Flying Spur V8 is 100 kg lighter than the W12 version, making the vehicle feel more agile and responsive with a distinctive personality of its own.

The Flying Spur V8 goes from 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds.