The Bentley Flying Spur is a car to be driven (in)

Bentley's Flying Spur harks back to an era of grandeur that's best enjoyed from the back seat, discovers Hannah Elliott.

I have a running joke with my boyfriend about cell phone chargers in cars.

Everything we’ve driven in the past year has had USB ports – typically multiple of them – strewn about the interior... everything, that is, except the Bentley Flying Spur, which offers as an afterthought a 6-inch black cable tucked inside the glove box as compensation for its USB-less being.

The Bentley Flying Spur is the top of the line sedan from the Crewe, England-based manufacturer.

During a three-day roadtrip test drive in Southern California, we noted this irony often.

You’d be surprised how much you need USBs to charge waning battery life on a 500-mile road trip around the California desert.

There’s the inevitable route mapping and navigation that is somehow always easier to do on a phone than in a car, plus the need, of course, to take and upload photographs for Instagram.

The Flying Spur has "flying B" badging throughout the exterior and interior of the car, where it is stitched in intricate patterns on the seats.

Then there are the hours of on-the-road screen time devoted to essential duties like Googling obscure rock stars to find out who they married, whether they have died, and when they put out that one song we both claim to love but can’t remember the name of it.

You can see how constantly having to reach into the glove box to crouch over a Wikipedia thread detailing Ian Brown’s early work can be a real pain in the neck. And it makes you miss all those Joshua Trees as they fly by.

This, of course, is the prime example of where car-enthusiasts love to live: the “perfect” car is not always the best car for a given set or setting.

As with any Bentley, the car makes a bold statement from every angle. It has real presence on the road.

The joy of driving happens most indelibly in a relationship with a vehicle where the object of desire is loved in spite of its failings, and sometimes, because of them.

Which is all to say, I’d rather ride in a Bentley Flying Spur than in a “perfect” nondescript something or other any day, and I bet you would, too.

In the grand scheme of things, a missing USB port or two are minor details. The 2018 Flying Spur is so charming in its splendor that it made our spree more memorable than drives taken in cars faster, more modern, and just as costly.

The 2018 Flying Spur is a machine of charming splendor and oozes refinement inside and out.

Bentley has plenty of good things happening these days as a company. Its Bentayga SUV set a class record at the 101-year-old Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb just over a week ago in Colorado; its 2019 Continental GT, like the 2015 model, has received rave reviews since it debuted last month.

This new Flying Spur first debuted in in 2013. That was after the excellent Mulsanne came in 2010 and, of course, prior to the elegant latest iterations of the Continental sports car.

It will be replaced in the coming years with a total refresh. For now, it competes most directly with the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the long wheel base BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Maybach sedans loaded with all the options.

The Flying Spur has an eight-speed, All-Wheel-Drive automatic transmission.

In terms of all-around value and performance, the Flying Spur sits in the middle of those, just under the regal Phantom and just over the Bimmers and Mercs, both of which are faster and less expensive, yes, but which lack the personality and style of the Bentley.

As with the Flying Spur from earlier years, it remains a staid competitor in this high-echelon market, though with slight alterations from headlamp to grill, and additional customized and exclusive colorway options, to pleasing effect.

Small changes

New this year are 21-inch alloy wheels in black, while an upright chrome grille and lower chrome bumper insert give the car a muscular face. Brilliant LED headlamps elegantly soften what might have been an aggressive look overall.

Its 616-horsepower W12 engine is a tribute to the glories of British racing (let’s not forget Bentleys were champion racecars when they first started), and its silky smooth suspension belies its 5,456-pound heft. Highway 111 near the desolate Salton Sea saw the speedometer cruising past 160kph; the car didn’t break a sweat.

Top speed on the 12-cylinder Flying Spur is 320kph. Zero to 100kph is 4.3 seconds.

Top speed is 320kph – not even the Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo can go that fast. Adaptive cruise control will cost you  extra but possibly keep you out of speeding tickets, so it may be worth it.

The Flying Spur has “flying B” badging throughout the exterior and interior of the car, where it is stitched in intricate patterns on the seats.

But I chose my words carefully earlier when I said I’d rather ride in a Bentley Flying Spur. Driving is a different matter.

The shifter knob is not at the most convenient position for holding beverages or cell phones in the center console.

Not because its chiseled all-wheel-drive and Herculean brakes don’t thrill - they do – but because lounging inside whilst someone else handles the demands of the road is where the car really shines. It’s enough to give one airs.

Among its charms are health spa-caliber chairs with thick beluga hides and piano black veneer trim at every touch along the doors and dashboard.

For an understated look choose Black Crystal paint with "shortbread" interior leather seats.

Deep pile woolen overmats and Naim for Bentley speakers envelop passengers into a veritable cocoon of comfort.

The wallet-thick windows keep it vault-like quiet (watch out, Rolls). Opening and closing the air vents with the pull of a lever like an organ-stop is refreshingly tangible. In this world, tactile feedback from carpeting and knobs and levers and seating is paramount.

The headlamps are cut to look like crystal tumblers.

Champagne coolers, cedar safe-like boxes to hold mechanical watches, and stitching that looks like it belongs on an expensive Dressage saddle, are all inside upon request. Or maybe a picnic basket and matching luggage set are more your speed? Those can be had, certainly.

In a time where screens of all shapes and sizes dominate our perception and much of our awareness in how we process reality, the Flying Spur feels charmingly retro, welcomely nostalgic.

Even the center command screen is downright small compared to the foot-plus long touch screens we see today. Honestly, it might as well not even be there.

So maybe it’s better it didn’t have those USBs anyway. Halfway through the trip, we stopped using our phones altogether.