So we got a Bentley Flying Spur Speed
Another day, another Bentley. This time it is the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed. At Dhs 950,000, it costs more than I’ll make in a decade, but apparently, it is cheaper by Dhs 200,000 in the last 6 months due to the weak British Pound.
When we previously got a Continental GT Speed, we went on a night-time cross-country trip, and tore up and down the Jebel Hafeet mountain road at insane speeds. We didn’t have time for something like that with the Flying Spur Speed, so like any professional auto journalist worth their paycheck, we went mall-hopping instead.
But the morning before, I tested out the car. It is one massive mofo that sticks out of parking spaces, although it attracts a bit less attention than a GT.
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that this is the Speed version. I drove around for a while, thinking this is the standard Spur, until I saw “Speed” written on the door sills as I exited the car.
Our tester’s interior treatment was all red, including red carpets and red leather headliner. Notice the buttons for the seat controls. One of them was for a back massage. After I discovered it, that function stayed on every time I cruised the streets.
Premium materials cover the car, including leather and aluminium on the dash. The only cheap bits are the plastic gear-shift paddles and the crappy non-touchscreen VW-sourced multimedia system.
VW’s retarded systems acted up as expected, when the Bluetooth refused to connect to my smartphone, even though it was detected. The system kept asking me to enter a 16-digit passcode into my phone without giving me enough time.
The air suspension system had four different settings between comfort and sport, but we couldn’t feel any difference among them. Another button can raise the ground clearance by almost an inch.
Rear legroom is immense, certainly much more than the cramped GT coupe, with massage and reclining features in the seats, as well as a stereo remote and an extra cordless phone in the armrest.
We used to believe the myth that a VW Phaeton is a budget Bentley, given that both share the same platform. But after driving this, it is clear that Bentley’s engineers know how to make the Titanic dance like a speedboat, while VW cannot design anything entertaining beyond little hatchbacks.
P.S. If you got cut off, run over, sideswiped or killed by this car on the streets of Dubai last week, it was probably my PR guy.
Comments
Don Raj
sheer luxury
Ace
Who is your PR guy ? did you ever think of making him a “stig” type personality ??
cb
😆 😆 😆 😆 if only you knew his PR guy 😆 😆 😆 😆
RS
nice car u got there Mash …… long since u updated the site …. I wanna know where can i test my car ( a road with no radars and long ) any ideas?????
assassim
i wont test a car that expensive even if the dealer gave me money to test it.
RS
assassim@: Cars r made to be test …. even broke down once u get a expen.. car u wont even think of anything else but once u use it for some months or even few weeks u will Test it urself
sohi
First of All i would like to Thank you the dealer of Bentley in the UAE who has given their car to our best and lovely site and Mash for testing their cars Long live bentley and Mash. YOU CAN TEST UR CAR WHEN U GOING FROM ABU DHABI TO DUBAI TAKE THE ROAD WHICH IS RIGHT SIDE FROM ABU DHABI AIRPORT SUPPOSE U GOING TO AD AIRPORT THAN TURN RIGHT GO STRAIGT THAN AGAIN ONE RIGHT WILL COME THAN AFTER THAT U WILL BE ON THE HIGHWAY THAT HIGHWAY THE FIRST RADAR WHICH WILL COME ON THE ROAD IS NOT WORKING FROM AGES AND THE SECOND ONE IS AFTER 12 KM SO U CAN TEST UR CAR AND DRIVE AS MUCH AS U FAST ANOTHER BENEFIT IS THAT ROAD IS MOST OF THE TIME FREE WITH NOT THAT MUCH CARS ONLY FEW AND JUST BECAREFUL FROM AD POLICE THE RED IS ALWAYS DANGER
JUST HAVE A LOOK ON THE ROAD ONLY FOR THAT.AND ONCE AGAIN THANKS FOR BENTLEY HOPE THE OTHER CAR DEALERS WILL WAKE UP AND GIVE THEIR CARS TO DRIVE ARABIA FOR TEST BECAUSE HALF OF THE UAE POPULATION INCLUDING ME DEPEND ON THIS SITE.
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
Hehe, cool. Thanks, man.
sohi
Friends dont think that i am buttering or just me using almost all of my friends if they want to review about cars or want some information they checking this site.
Ace
Sohi, Don’t worry about “buttering” Mash…he has a female fan who butters him and makes him blush.
Ace
CB, are you the PR guy ?
Mash, you must get that chip-munk Adam from GearOne to do some testing ….atleast for laughs.
Or Is he too big a “personafartality” to get on this site ?
cb
lol no. his PR guy is too big a “personafartality” to even check this site.
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
You mean Adam from City7? I saw the guy but never saw the show. In every interview he mentions his kickboxing history. I don’t want to get my ass kicked.
sohi
mash 😆 😆 😆
vivek
@RS: another very good road to test cars is the Sharjah – Kalba highway..Once you go past the American University of Sharjah, there are absolutely no Radars and mostly no police patrols all the way till Kalba; and that is about 125 kms!!…the first half of the road is slightly hilly with so many small ups and downs..once you go past a ‘V’ gorge, you get an absolutely straight road that stretches for about 20-25 kms..after that, you enter the twisty mountain roads where you can test the handling of the car..moreover, on weekdays (and mostly even on weekends), one won’t find many cars travelling by this road..and the combination of all this makes it the perfect road for vehicle testing.