2025 Bentley Flying Spur facelift – 782 PS PHEV setup from Continental GT, plus upgraded chassis, tech

Three months after the reveal of the new Continental GT, Bentley has pulled the covers off its four-door sibling, the Flying Spur. But whereas the coupé is an all-new, clean-sheet design, this car is a relatively mild facelift of the outgoing model – albeit one that hides a generational leap in terms of powertrain, chassis and in-car technologies.

In fact, so thorough were the upgrades that Crewe is classifying this as the fourth-generation Flying Spur, even though it looks almost identical to the 2019 model. The top-dog Speed, the only variant available at launch, returns to a mesh grille (the previous car had rather un-Bentley vertical slats) and features a sleeker front bumper, a body-coloured rear diffuser, new 22-inch turbine-style alloy wheels and animated Bentley Wings welcome lights from the Batur. Neat but not exactly groundbreaking changes.

But everything under that samey skin is practically all new, starting with the engine. The Flying Spur Speed gets the fourth-gen Continental GT Speed’s new plug-in Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain, headlined by an updated 4.0 litre twin-turbocharged V8.

The mill ditches the traditional vacuum system and gains higher-pressure fuel injection and single-scroll instead of twin-scroll turbos – since there’s now an electric motor to fill in the turbo lag. This reduces complexity and allows them to run hotter, minimising emissions. Cylinder deactivation has also been jettisoned, given that the car can switch off the engine completely when being driven on electric power alone. Outputs from the eight-pot are actually slightly lower at 600 PS and 800 Nm of torque.

Making up for this shortfall is a 190 PS/450 Nm electric motor integrated into the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Combined power has been bumped up by 19% to 782 PS, while torque is up over 11% to a towering 1,000 Nm. With all-wheel drive again coming as standard, the Speed sprints from zero to 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds – three tenths of a second faster than its predecessor. All this hardware also improves the Flying Spur’s weight distribution, now rear-biased at 48.3 to 51.7.

But the main benefit of the PHEV setup is, of course, the ability to drive in full-electric mode at up to 140 km/h, with the 25.9 kWh battery delivering an impressive range of 76 km (up from just 41 km on the previous Flying Spur Hybrid). This, combined with the V8, provides a total range of up to 829 km. Equipped with an 11 kW on-board charger, a full charge takes 2.75 hours.

The adoption of the PHEV powertrain has necessitated a complete revamp of the electrical architecture, enabling the fitment of the new Conti GT’s Performance Active Chassis with Bentley Dynamic Ride. This adds new twin-valve dampers that separate rebound and compression damping control, significantly improving ride comfort in Comfort mode. You also get rear-wheel steering, an electronic limited-slip differential, retuned stability control and torque vectoring by braking.

Other changes introduced as part of the architecture upgrade include new seats with 3D quilting and the optional Wellness Seating Specification on all four pews. This enables Seat Auto Climate through the heating and ventilation functions, along with Postural Adjust that constantly moves the pressure points to reduce fatigue on long journeys.

This is paired with an air ioniser, particulate matter filter and outer and inner air quality displays built into the climate control. Meanwhile, the infotainment system gains wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a new My Bentley App Studio for third-party apps. Users also get new remote park assist, charging and climate pre-conditioning functions through a smartphone app.

Elsewhere, drivers gain an environment display when using Level 2 semi-autonomous driving features, allowing them to see surrounding vehicles in the instrument display. A new Intelligent Park Assist with speed control has also been added, while other assisted driving features will be enabled each year, such as green traffic light prediction that will be increasingly rolled out across major US and European cities.

The Flying Spur retains Bentley’s trademark opulence, enhanced here with darkened exterior trim, precision 3D diamond leather on the door cards and B-pillars, optional dark chrome interior decor and new instrument display graphics. The distinctive Bentley Rotating Display, which can stow the 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen to show either three analogue gauges or an unbroken side of veneer, continues to be an option.

Also on the options list are a choice of three sound systems. There’s the “base” ten-speaker, 650-watt setup, a 16-speaker, 1,500-watt Bang & Olufsen version or the full-fat 19-speaker, 2,200-watt Naim system with Active Bass Transducers in the front seats.

Of course, we’d be remiss not to mention the scale of customisation options, including a Styling Specification aero package in carbon fibre and a dizzying 101-colour palette, expandable even further through the Mulliner division. You can choose from any colour from Bentley’s past or even create a paint match to any colour. Inside, you get 22 primary and 11 secondary leather colours, as well as four colour splits, eight wood veneers and three technical finishes such as carbon.

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