BENTLEY CONTINENTAL FLYING SPUR 6.0 W12 4dr Auto (2005)

My other car is a house

I could genuinely live in the Bentley Continental Flying Spur. The comfort levels are so enormously superb. I challenge anyone to get out of their BMW and into a Bentley Continental Flying Spur, and not look back with a sense of deep regret.

Of course the reason it's got such a silly and ostentatious name as Bentley Continental Flying Spur is that it's so damn fast. I believe it's the fastest saloon on the road, or at least it was when the Bentley sales chap was talking me into buying it. (He was very professional and businesslike really.) I certainly find myself slipping all too easily over the limit. I find the cruise control very luxurious but a little boring at times. I can well believe it brushes up against 200mph when pushed.

However, I doubt it would get 2 miles let alone 200 at that speed on account of the poor fuel economy. This has been a problem for me before, as I've had four Bentleys over the years, and the Continental Flying Spur is no exception really. It just drinks the stuff.

And you wonder, when the more mainstream exec manufacturers seem able to get 60mpg out of a 3 litre diesel, why Bentley don't stand back for a minute and think there are people with money for a car, but who don't want to continue haemorrhaging cash for fuel to drive it.

Anyway it's the little touches that set the Bentleys apart. The aeroplane style folding down tables for the rear passengers, which also have little vanity mirrors in them, and the flip out pouches too. Safety is a concern of mine as well after an accident some years ago which left me with a dodgy shoulder, and apparently the Flying Spur has about eight airbags or some such.

I said I could live in the Flying Spur, mostly because of the space and luxury inside, but the only slight let down is the boot. It is very big, but my wife has an S Class and the boot is significantly bigger in that. Mind you the cabin feels smaller, so swings and roundabouts.