As Bentley and Bentley’s lovers gear as much as be a part of the remainder of us on the electrified mobility practice, it appears applicable to reminisce in regards to the iconic and gutsy W12 that helped in no small method to unfold Bentley’s gospel. That’s proper. The British luxurious automaker sheltering beneath Volkswagen’s cover since 1998 has bid farewell to the trusty W12 engine by way of a deliciously elegant Flying Spur GT for the 2023 mannequin 12 months. The luxurious 207-mph grand tourer is unmistakable not solely as a result of it is available in a alternative of shiny carbon fiber or all-black paint scheme, but in addition as a result of efficiency made potential by the departing Napier “W12” Lion.
To a few of us, not even the prospect of the 1,400-hp electric Bentley due in 2025 can wipe the vociferous V12 from reminiscence. Till then, the Flying Spur Speed will hold the oil boiling. Bentley has produced the Flying Spur high-performance luxurious sedan since 2005. It’s thought-about the four-door variant of the Continental GT coupe.
Bentley produces these fashions (together with the W12 engine) at its manufacturing unit in Crewe, England, with every automobile taking on 100 hours to assemble by hand. The commemorative Flying Spur Pace is as soon as once more the crown jewel of the 5 Flying Spur fashions, because of the beautifully strong 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 cranking out 617 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque.
The Three Powertrains Of The Third-Technology Flying Spur
The W12-powered 2023 Flying Spur Pace is a stable 84 horsepower and 96 lb-ft of torque extra highly effective than the next-best within the Flying Spur vary – the V8-powered Flying Spur S. It’s sooner by practically a full second in zero-to-sixty acceleration and races to a 207 mph prime pace, up from 198 mph.
The Flying Spur entered its third era in 2019 with a alternative of three powertrains, together with a twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W12, a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, and a twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 plug-in hybrid. The W12-spec Flying Spur made 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and reached a prime pace of 211 mph whereas producing a most energy output of 626 horsepower and 667 lb-ft of torque.
The dual-turbo V8 is equally strong however apparently not as highly effective, tapping out 549 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque to propel the Flying Spur to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds and a prime pace of 198 mph. The plug-in hybrid additionally used twin-turbos to force-feed the V6, permitting the electrified 2.9-liter energy plant to race to 60 mph in the identical 4.1-second mark because the non-electrified V8 and attain a prime pace restricted to 177 mph.
The electrified energy plant’s optimized city driving and skill can attain 80 mph in EV Drive mode. You don’t see that day by day. The hybrid Flying Spur makes use of a 14.1 kWh battery that’s good for 25 miles, though the EPA locations the vary at 21 miles. The Flying Spur is presently the one sedan carrying the Bentley wings for the reason that automaker pulled and left the Mulsanne with no successor in 2020.
Bentley Bids Farewell To The Iconic W12 Engine With 207-MPH Flying Spur Pace For 2023
Bentley already considerably redesigned and overhauled the Flying Spur for its third-gen debut in 2019, swapping its platform for an all-new structure that mirrors the current-gen Bentley Continental GT. What didn’t change with the overhaul was the supply of the gas-powered W12 engine.
The multi-faceted power challenges inadvertently drive propulsion expertise such that it is not a case of the larger, the extra highly effective. We’ve seen comparatively smaller engines like the Tiny Friendly Giant delivering wondrous efficiency to rival the large weapons. Bentley has joined its counterparts and introduced it’s retiring the burly W12 mill. The send-off W12-powered 2023 Flying Spur ensures the mill goes out with a bang – not a whimper.
Because the England-based automaker sprints in the direction of electrifying its whole lineup by 2030, the 207-mph Flying Spur Pace represents the top of an period for the gas-powered Flying Spur nameplate, comprising eight and twelve-pot engines. As traditional, the brand new Flying Spur Pace is a driver-focused luxurious sedan that embodies the final word in luxurious and efficiency. It will likely be the final of the Third-gen Flying Spur and can get motivation from the brand new 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine producing 626 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque.
That energy meets the asphalt by way of an eight-speed ZF dual-clutch transmission and a classy rear-biased AWD system paired with all-wheel steering. In case the enormity of the ability figures hasn’t sunk in but, we’re speaking a couple of full-size four-door luxurious sedan with all of the bells and whistles that make a Bentley a Bentley. It comes with torque vectoring and Bentley’s Dynamic Ride system to boost its highway manners.
What You Must Know About The W12 Engine Powering The Bentley Flying Spur
You’ve got most probably forgotten all about it, however you might hint the roots of the W12 in its early iteration to the 2001 Volkswagen W12 concept. Afterward, the W12 discovered its true potential within the Bentley Continental GT’s engine bay, despite the fact that the Audi A8 launched its manufacturing profession after the VW W12 debut. Respiratory freely, the W12 may churn out some 450 horses, with the forced-induction variations touching the 700 horsepower threshold in the Continental Supersport trim stage.
Bentley then launched the Flying Bitter with two gas-powered engine selections comprising 3,993cc and 5,950cc displacement flavors mated to computerized transmissions. The W12’s impending retirement celebrates what’s verifiably one of the crucial highly effective, dependable, and iconic engines to ever come out of England.
The W12’s progressive four-bank design was the thought of VW’s engine designers seeking to construct outdoors the strains of conference. They mixed two narrow-angle VR6 engines above one crankshaft at an included angle of 72° to create the turbocharged 6.0-liter W12. Bentley gave the brand new W12 the celebrity and gravitas it couldn’t discover within the VW idea or Audi A8. The timing was equally historic as a result of Bentley launched the W12 in its first automobile after its 1998 cut up from Rolls-Royce.
The W12 would later discover one other saddle within the Flying Spur two years later. Remarkably, the brand new W12 was compact and smaller than the then Audi’s 4.2-liter V8 engine. The complicated design meant the engine noticed a number of revisions, particularly with the 2015 Bentley Bentayaga, that includes each low and high-pressure gas injection methods to handle the more and more complicated clear air necessities. It additionally may shut off six cylinders when cruising, in the end turning into essentially the most environment friendly, highly effective, and cleanest model of the W12 – in addition to essentially the most sophisticated.
