Bentley Flying Spur hybrid to be 771bhp ‘four-door supercar’

The new Bentley Flying Spur will debut on 10 September, equipped with Crewe’s new Ultra Performance Hybrid V8 powertrain and comprehensive dynamic enhancements. We were impressed by the new electrified V8 after driving a Bentley Continental GT prototype earlier this year, so we have high hopes for its four-door Flying Spur sibling.

Bentley is setting high expectations too, describing the car in a teaser for the reveal as ‘Bentley’s four-door supercar’ and the ‘most dynamic four-door car in Bentley’s 105-year history’. The leading teaser image depicting a sideways Flying Spur is encouraging, we’d say…

The Flying Spur’s ability to powerslide suggests it will come equipped with some variation of the Bentley Continental GT Speed’s new electronic limited-slip rear differential. It should also get new all-wheel steering, torque vectoring, two-chamber air suspension with dual-valve dampers and Dynamic Ride anti-roll systems to help make good on Bentley’s claims about its dynamism. The enormous brake package of the GT Speed, with 10-piston front calipers, should carry over too.

Its powertrain specifications certainly befit that ‘four-door supercar’ description and more than fill in for the outgoing V8 and W12 engines, with 771bhp and and 738lb ft of torque on tap. For the avoidance of doubt, that’s some 145bhp and 74lb ft more than the W12-engined Flying Spur Speed it replaces. This potency comes courtesy of a 4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 that works in tandem with an electric motor housed within the Flying Spur’s eight-speed automatic gearbox.

The resulting performance should be dramatic. Though exact figures are to be revealed, they won’t fall too far foul of the Continental GT Speed’s 3.1sec 0-60mph time and 208mph top speed. 

The electric motor is fed by a 25.9kWh battery pack – one of a few shared items with Porsche – making the new Flying Spur good for 45 miles of pure-electric driving when not gunning for those headline acceleration figures. Bentley claims the Flying Spur can achieve a 500-mile touring range overall.

Visually, the new Flying Spur will adopt design themes seen on the Batur and Continental, with more definition and less clutter on its bodywork. That said, based on the teasers, it does not appear that the Flying Spur will take on the GT’s new front and rear light clusters. The interior will be largely carried over from the previous Flying Spur – just as the new Continental GT Speed’s cabin is largely a carryover from the car it replaces – with additional software features available through the new Bentley App.