All-New Bentley Flying Spur—When Sports and Luxury Meet

European luxury cars are exceptionally proud beasts, and many of them announce their arrival via an elaborate hood ornament front and center. But if you’re someone who prefers not to brag about your uber-expensive ride, the all-new Bentley Flying Spur has you covered with a retracting illuminated Flying B hood ornament. There’s not much you can do about the car’s million-dollar looks though.

The 2020 Flying Spur shares a platform with the Porsche Panamera and Bentley’s own Continental GT. This is instantly evident with the rear-wheel bias added to its all-wheel drive system, which helps push the car to a top speed of 333 kph. Such a high-performance number would make you believe that Bentley has finally made a sports coupe, but be forewarned–because the third-generation Flying Spur is a true-blue four-door sedan.

Despite the speed boost, it’s the same 6.0-liter W12 engine under the hood, putting out the same 626 hp as the top-level trim of the car’s second generation. Torque on the other hand, is boosted significantly from 820 to 900 Nm.

The new platform adds 5.1 inches to the wheelbase, which benefits the vehicle’s handling as well as the comfort of rear passengers. Other undercarriage-related adjustments include an adjustable air suspension, a more forward front axle, variable dampers, brake-based torque vectoring, and Bentley’s first Electronic All-Wheel Steering system configured with Active All-Wheel Drive and Bentley Dynamic Ride.

As for the sheetmetal, the new Flying Spur exudes Bentley’s latest sculptural design language starting with the cut-crystal effect of its LED matrix headlamps with chrome sleeve accents, to the elegant yet muscular side creases, and on to the new wrap-around rear lamps with ‘B’ motifs. Fresh 22-inch wheel designs further display the car’s unique personality and prowess. The car also features a look-back at its rich heritage with the vertical vanes in the grille. Sitting just right in front of a gloss black matrix mesh, the vanes are inspired by the 1957 Bentley S1 Continental Flying Spur.

Inside, a rotating pane serves as the focal point. When parked, the pane displays three traditional-style gauges, but when the car starts, it rotates to a foot-wide HD computer screen. As expected, the 12.3-inch screen handles the car’s infotainment needs, but it also has a bag of tricks–such as a proximity sensor that readies the system for commands as your hand draws near. When not in use, the driver can choose the third pane, which consists of a wooden panel that blends seamlessly with the rest of the dashboard trim. Fluted leather seating comes standard, as does color-matched Alcantara blinds, seven-color mood lighting, inductive ‘wireless’ charging, and two USB sockets for mobile phones.

The first batch of the redesigned 2020 Bentley Flying Spur will reach customers beginning next year. Pricing has not been announced.