Automotive proving grounds aren’t always fenced-off test tracks. Car companies testing for max towing ability head to Colorado or the Davis Dam Grade on the border of Nevada and Arizona. To test cooling, engineers cross Death Valley or sweat it out in Andalusia. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s the Arctic Circle, cold enough to turn diesel fuel to jelly and radiators into slushy dispensers.
Where, though, should someone go to test the ultra-luxurious attributes of a car like the 2025 Bentley Flying Spur Speed? What’s the equivalent of repeated cold starts in sub-freezing weather when you’re quantifying comfort and class?
We did our top-shelf test by ferrying international tourists around Los Angeles during the winter holiday season. Navigating the oversized, crowded metropolis and showing off its famous attractions proved a challenge to ride quality, maneuverability, acceleration, emergency braking, and stress management. Luckily, the Flying Spur Speed is fast, nimble, and soothing.
Testing began in a Denny’s parking lot near the Los Angeles International Airport, where we waited for our friends to arrive. Waiting in a car can be excruciating, but the Flying Spur was pretty much designed for pleasant idling. The cabin was draped door panel to door panel in two-tone leather and smelled like a saddlery (minus the horses). Our test car was finished in a dark eggplant and cream finery, trimmed with brindle-striped eucalyptus wood, and it felt like a Victorian sitting room, or perhaps a quirky billionaire’s private library.
Marc Urbano|Car and Driver
Being a plug-in hybrid, the Spur was certainly as quiet as a library. Its twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 is paired with a 188-hp electric motor and a 22-kWh battery pack that offers a surprisingly decent EPA-estimated electric range of 30 miles. Altogether, the package produces 771 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. Settle into a parking space with an audiobook on the 2200-watt Naim for Bentley sound system (a $9615 option) and the massaging seat prodding your lower back, set the climate control, and you won’t care how long it takes your pals to clear customs.
More on the Flying Spur
There’s a joke in Los Angeles that true love is picking someone up at LAX. Even a $348,830 Bentley can’t make that experience pleasant, but it’s a car as intimidating as its price tag, with plenty of muscular pickup and a raspy growl when the combustion engine chimes in. It’s also very distinctive, so when you tell your travelers to look for the gold and purple Bentley, they’re quick to spot the Speed-specific grille and gemstone-cut headlights and wave you down.
Anyone leaving the airport after a 10-hour flight will be deeply appreciative of any seat that isn’t 42H with a backpack compressing their knees. The Flying Spur offers genuine respite with its big trunk and roomy rear bench seat. For a more chauffeur-ready experience, a four-seat configuration with a full-length center console is available.
HIGHS: A flex even in a town of show-offs, enough electric range for a day of errands, track-ready acceleration and turn-in.
Something important to know about L.A. is that it’s humongous. Los Angeles County covers nearly as much area as the entire state of Connecticut, and yet, without fail, any first-time tourist will hand over a sightseeing wish list that ping-pongs around the 4700 or so square miles of Los Angeles as if it doesn’t take an hour to traverse a single percentage of it. There’s nothing a Flying Spur can do to prevent this, but pointing out the map on the optional hideaway infotainment screen can help a newbie prioritize the must-see list. It also makes the ride much more comfortable, even when that ride is simply creeping in traffic over the rutted pavement of Highway 1 through Malibu or dodging other lookie-loos in Rodeo Drive gridlock.
In Beverly Hills, the Flying Spur gave us street cred we didn’t deserve, as well as front-row parking in most garages. After our rich-folk excursions, its center console housed four overpriced Erewhon smoothies and its carpeted trunk protected a handbag that costs as much as the Flying Spur’s gloss-black 10-spoke 22-inch wheels ($4000).
Across town we went, the Flying Spur breezing through Hollywood, running smoothly through the gears of its eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission up the hills to the Griffith Observatory and then back down to dinner. When the scenery was lacking, the Spur’s gentle ride permitted some jet-lagged naps in the back seat. While Comfort seems the obvious mode for pleasing passengers, we found the Sport or Bentley modes quickened up the switch from electric to engine power and made for a more pleasant cruise overall. Along with the performance modes, there are also multiple settings for the hybrid powertrain, including an electric-only mode, a hold setting to maintain charge, and a mode that prioritizes charging the battery.
Marc Urbano|Car and Driver
When there was something to see, the Flying Spur proved quick and maneuverable, making it easy to jump ahead of slower traffic or pull to the side for better photos. Much thanks goes to the car’s variable all-wheel-drive system, electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential, and adaptive dampers. The Bentley’s rear-wheel steering allowed us to U-turn on narrow roads and slip into parking spaces that might have seemed a bit too tight for what is a grand machine.
LOWS: Light stumble on the EV-to-engine handoff, multiple drive modes can be confusing, can’t be used to pay for the things you’ll be tempted to buy while driving it.
At the test track, the Flying Spur needed no kicks to its sides. The 60-mph mark came up in just 3.0 seconds, and a quarter-mile flashed by in 11.2 seconds at 128 mph. Stops from 70 mph required 162 feet, and 326 feet from 100 mph. Skidpad numbers couldn’t quite reach 0.90 g, sliding off at 0.89 g, but our test car’s 6024-pound girth offers some perspective; if this car and tire combination existed 30 years ago, it would out-grip a Porsche 911.
One doesn’t need a Bentley’s plush seats, massage functions, and sunroof ($3645) to enjoy a day in an interesting city, but the inconveniences of parking, potholes, merging, and navigating can be mitigated—or at least minimized—by a smooth ride and an impressive presentation. Those with the dough should consider the Flying Spur luxury-tested and both driver- and rider-approved.
VERDICT: An elegant, quick, and comfortable way to see L.A.
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Specifications
Specifications
2025 Bentley Flying Spur Speed
Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-motor, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $276,450/$348,830
Options: Mulliner range solid and metallic paint, $12,115; 2200-watt Naim for Bentley audio system, $9615; Touring specification (head-up display, night vision, predictive adaptive cruise control with lane guidance), $7890; Bentley rotating display, $6955; illuminated black gloss Flying B radiator mascot, $5315; Flying Spur Blackline specification, $5175; Wellness seating with postural adjustment and automatic climate control, $4670; 22-inch 10-spoke Sports wheels in black, $4000; power panoramic sunroof, $3645; contrast stitching, $2815; Mood Lighting specification, $2780; animated welcome lamps by Mulliner, $2720; standard brakes with black-painted calipers, $1830; contrast gear lever and steering wheel spokes by Mulliner, $1190; self-leveling wheel badges, $715; front and rear deep-pile overmats, $660; heated single-tone indented hide-trimmed steering wheel, $290
POWERTRAIN
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve 4.0-liter V-8, 591 hp, 590 lb-ft + AC motor, 188 hp, 332 lb-ft (combined output: 771 hp, 738 lb-ft; 22-kWh lithium-ion battery pack; peak charge rate, AC 11.0 kW)
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 16.5-in vented disc/15.0-in vented disc
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4
F: 275/35ZR-22 (104Y) BH
R: 315/30ZR-22 (107Y) BH
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 125.8 in
Length: 209.3 in
Width: 78.3 in
Height: 58.0 in
Passenger Volume, F/R: 59/52 ft3
Trunk Volume: 12 ft3
Curb Weight: 6024 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 3.0 sec
100 mph: 7.0 sec
1/4-Mile: 11.2 sec @ 128 mph
130 mph: 11.5 sec
150 mph: 15.7 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 3.5 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.3 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 2.8 sec
Top Speed (mfr claim): 177 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 162 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 326 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.89 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 18 MPGe
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 19/17/22 mpg
Combined Gasoline + Electricity: 46 MPGe
EV Range: 30 mi
Like a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars, but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver’s license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews. In 2020, she received a Best Feature award from the Motor Press Guild for the C/D story “A Drive through Classic Americana in a Polestar 2.” In 2023, her Car and Driver feature story “In Washington, D.C.’s Secret Carpool Cabal, It’s a Daily Slug Fest” was awarded 1st place in the 16th Annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards by the Los Angeles Press Club.
