Bentley Flying Spur facelift spied – Britain’s super limo is getting a nip and tuck
The innards are up to date but Bentley’s now seen fit to give the Flying Spur a facelift. We’ve spied it
It’s not been long since Bentley’s GT and Flying Spur range received their ‘ultra’ and high-performance hybrid powertrains in place of the old V8 and W12. While the Continentals got a comprehensive visual makeover to match (outside at least), the Flying Spur, both inside and out, remained largely unchanged, save for new options and spec details. Now Bentley is preparing a proper facelift befitting the Spur’s transformed internals and we’ve caught it testing.
The body-in-white for this new Flying Spur looks largely unchanged, with the only significant disguise elements to be seen around the lights, especially at the front. From afar the lights look unchanged but look closer and you’ll see those are stickers of the old lights covering the new ones.
The Continental GT transitioned in this latest generation from dual lamps to single-piece units, with design language borrowed from the Bacalar and Batur coach-built specials. The Spur will likely follow the same design direction, which also includes a revised front valance and wider mouth. Judging by the units, the rear lights won’t be different in shape, though there will be revised light graphics.
The structure is still Volkswagen Group’s MSB platform, which it shares with the Continental GT and Porsche’s Panameras. It’s unknown whether there will be changes to the powertrain. Most likely it will keep the 771bhp and 671bhp outputs of the current lineup, which comes courtesy of a twin-turbo V8 in 592bhp or 512bhp forms, augmented by a 188bhp e-motor found between the engine and transmission.
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It’s not clear whether the set-up needs to receive detail calibration changes, passing more of the power output onus on to the electric motor, with the engine de-rated, to improve emissions, as BMW did with the M5.
