• Ultra Performance Hybrid system is very clean… on paper
• Decent zero emissions range, and you can charge on the move
• We’ve seen over 40mpg in the real world. But not all the time

How much does it cost to run?

Low running costs are not something we traditionally associate with Bentley, but that’s never really mattered given the cost of the cars themselves. But as the world becomes more environmentally conscious, even the Flying Spur has to move with the times. At least on paper.

So even though there’s a 600hp V8 under the bonnet, the presence of an electric motor in the gearbox and a 25.9kWh battery pack eating into the boot space means that the official WLTP figures say this Flying Spur emits just 33g/km CO2 and returns 202mpg.

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To achieve that you’ll need to mostly be doing short journeys and using a lot of electric power – and officially this Flying Spur plug-in hybrid will do 47 miles using the battery alone. Putting that to one side, we were astonished to see an indicated fuel economy figure of 42mpg during one of leg of the launch drive. Which isn’t bad at all for a 2.7-tonne car.

And in contrast to the previous Flying Spur hybrid, you can charge the battery while driving in this version. Which is useful for recovering some electric-only capability for the zero emissions zone at your destination – or to simply avoid waking the neighbours with the V8. Recharging using a plug requires at least 2 hours 45 minutes.

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On the other hand, put your foot down for even a moderate amount of your journey and you can expect to see that efficiency figure plummet. Still, it’s nice to have the breadth of options now, which is not something you could say about the previous W12 and pure V8 versions.

Plus, although you can expect to pay a chunky amount for insurance – as you would for any car worth over a quarter of a million quid – the low CO2 does bring some car tax advantages.

Warranty and servicing

The Bentley Flying Spur comes with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty.

Service intervals for the Flying Spur are every 12 months or 12,000 miles.

Reliability

• New V8 hybrid is yet to be proven
• Previous models are typically dependable

These cars are built with a great deal of Volkswagen Group components that, though well disguised, are often shared with more mass-market products. That means this generation of Flying Spur has few obvious reliability warning signs to be concerned about.

However, the V8 hybrid is a new powertrain for 2024 with a new electrical architecture and a lot of new suspension components. So we’ll reserve judgement for now.

Please do leave a Parkers owners’ review if you’ve got your own real-world experience to impart that might help other potential buyers.