Bentley’s Flying Spur Hybrid is an epic luxury drive with a side of eco-friendliness

2022 Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid

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Launched: October 2022 – Price S$1,019,000 without COE and options (October 2022)
Four-door, large luxury sedan, five seats
544hp, plug-in hybrid, VES A1, 3.3l/100km

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PROS
The full Bentley luxury experience
Very plush, yet controlled drive

CONS
Hybrid switchover not entirely smooth
Size makes it a challenge to park
Chrome interior can dazzle in sunlight

SINGAPORE

If you’ve been following the news, you might realise that this isn’t Bentley’s first rodeo into the hybrid automotive space. That record goes to the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid that went on sale in 2021. As the British luxury carmaker marches towards its plan of full electrification, it continues to dip its toes into greener cars by releasing petrol-electric hybrid versions of its cars and the next up is this, the Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid, though technically, its a plug-in hybrid because there’s a charging port on the opposite side of the car from the petrol filler.

The car made landfall in Singapore in October 2022, and we were there to report on the launch, but now here’s the same car on the road.

What’s underneath all that sheet metal? The car has a 2.9-litre, twin turbo V6 engine, attached to an eight-speed, dual-clutch transmission. In between the V6 and gearbox is an electric motor that has a maximum torque output of 400Nm, which, by itself, is already as much as what a Jeep Grand Cherokee can muster.

When you combine the V6 and electric motor together the car has a rated power output of 544 horsepower. 0 to 100km/h is dashed off in 4.3 seconds. According to official specification, the car can travel up to 805km when you combine a full battery charge and a full tank of fuel. On electric power alone, the car is capable of more than 40km of range, but once you exceed 110km/h the V6 petrol engine fires up to help move the 2,505kg car along.

The interior is classic Bentley, and largely identical to the Bentley Flying Spur V8, except for the addition of a bunch of hybrid drive-specific buttons. This means a blend of classic chrome buttons, knobs, and switches, along with large full-colour touchscreen. It’s all nice and posh and properly upscale as you would expect. But we drove the car on a scorching hot, cloudless day and ran into the problem of the sunlight hitting the very bright chrome on the centre console and almost dazzling occupants in the car.

In electric-only mode it’s as quiet as you would expect a car of this class to be. There’s just enough road noise to give you a sense of spatial awareness, and that’s it. In theory you could cruise short commutes entirely on electric power alone if you don’t drive more than 40km a day, but that would totally negate the point of stuffing the big twin-turbo V6 engine under the hood. 

In hybrid drive mode, which you can activate at any time with the press of a button or is simply what the car defaults to when the main battery charge is depleted, the car moves like how you would expect a regular petrol-electric hybrid to roll. The engine comes on and off quite unobtrusively, though it does sometimes seem to be uncertain in how to manage the power options when the car is rolling to a stop, and you’ll need to adapt by modulating the brake pedal pressure. In a lesser car this wouldn’t be an issue but in a Bentley where you expect nothing but perfection, it’s a minor sticking point. 

Not stretching so far? Then there’s the Mercedes-Benz’s new E-Class, coming soon

As with almost all PHEVs, the hybrid regenerative braking simply isn’t enough to meaningfully recharge the battery, but it does return enough power to allow for short stints of low power EV driving even when the main motive battery has been completely drained.

Cars that operate at this level live in a very different world from even something like a BMW 7 Series sedan. What’s classed as very quick by hot hatch standards, is just enough in mega luxury cars. The Rolls-Royce Ghost for example is all super-lux, yet has a 0 to 100km/h sprint time of under five seconds, all in an ultra quiet cabin.

The Flying Spur Hybrid is even quicker than the Rolls-Royce Ghost in a straight sprint, and even though the car doesn’t have the four-wheel steering componentry of its V8-powered sibling, there’s still a healthy dose of dynamism in the way the big Flying Spur carves up corners. The rear-wheel steering apparatus has been jettisoned primarily to make way for the car’s electrification systems, and this thankfully hasn’t reduced luggage carrying capacity by very much, even though carrying capacity was never a strong suite with the Flying Spur.

What it’s great at is ferrying passengers around in absolute luxury and comfort, with all the bling and perfect upholstery stitching that Bentley has built its empire upon. The plus, even though it’s one the Bentley owners in Singapore rarely ever explore, is how planted the car is in dynamic driving, helped by the nicely tuned adaptive suspension. This isn’t one of those wallowy land barges with woolly suspension damping.

With the introduction of the new ARF tax tier introduced in early 2023, luxury cars at this level are costlier than ever, even with the VES green rebate on this car. The Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid is priced in excess of one million dollars before COE and any options, so when you put it all together, and depending on what you tick on the options list, expect it to be a S$1.5mil car.

Luxury cars in Singapore are rarely about ‘smart’ purchasing, but more of an emotional decision. Is this a car that you want to add to the collection? It certainly one that does everything you expect of a Bentley, with the bonus of a low capacity electric drivetrain onboard for quiet, zero-emissions driving. 

2022 Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid 

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