Bentley Flying Spur V8 2021 UK review

Fast luxury saloon sheds four cylinders and 107kg, but are these losses really a gain? We know how this goes, don’t we? A big Bentley arrives and we like it a great deal. Then a big Bentley with a smaller engine arrives and we like it even more.And thus we welcome the latest Bentley Flying Spur V8, the third generation of Bentley’s saloon that, with the demise of the Mulsanne, effectively becomes the flagship limo.Fortunately, we already know it is a much, much better car than either of its previous iterations, which, charged with being both a luxury saloon and a car capable of 200mph or thereabouts, couldn’t do isolation well enough in the face of the physical demands placed upon them. In being fast, they were insufficiently luxurious.This time, our experience of the early 6.0-litre car means we know it can do both, on account of it being based on the MSB platform developed for the Volkswagen Group (of which Bentley is a part) by Porsche, with heavy and early input from the brands that will use it.We’ve already found that with vast arrays of active dynamic technology, including rear steer and 48V active anti-roll bars, the 6.0 W12-engined car is deftly sprung and quiet, despite a double-ton top speed and 626bhp.But, as ever, the 4.0-litre V8 fitted here gives very little away. Power is ‘only’ 542bhp and torque a mere 568lb ft (rather than the 664lb ft of the W12) but it has 107kg lighter kerb weight to move around. The official weight here is 2330kg but we put a W12 on the scales at 2500kg exactly so let’s call it 2400kg, which means 226bhp per tonne rather than 240bhp per tonne.