Bentley Flying Spur V8 (3rd Gen)

Scope of this guide

This guide is scoped to the Bentley Flying Spur V8 saloon of the third generation, the 4.0L twin-turbo V8 petrol car with 550 PS (542 bhp) and all-wheel drive that Bentley announced on 14 October 2020 and built at Crewe in four-seat and five-seat form. It is not a guide to the 6.0 litre W12 Flying Spur that launched the generation in 2019, to the plug-in hybrid V6 of 2020, to the later Mulliner hybrids, or to the Speed. It also leaves out the Flying Spur S V8 of 2022, which Bentley quotes at the same 550 PS but gives a sportier exhaust, trim and standard chassis equipment. Where those cars differ we say so below, because an advert that says only "Flying Spur" can describe any of them.

We have not driven this model for this article. Everything here comes from three cited sources: Bentley's own press release for the V8 on bentleymedia.com, PistonHeads' used buying guide of 8 June 2025, and the government recall checker. We also read PistonHeads' road test of 27 January 2021, Bentley's June 2022 release for the Flying Spur S and two Bentley releases dated 9 May 2024 about the end of the V8 in this model, and we flag where a point rests on them. Where sources disagree we say so. We give no prices, because they move and we cannot check them.

The figures at a glance

• Engine: 4.0L twin-turbo V8 petrol, 3996 cc, a 90-degree V8 with a cross-plane crankshaft and twin-scroll turbochargers mounted inside the V. Bentley says the cylinder bores are coated with iron by atmospheric plasma spraying.
• Power: 550 PS, which Bentley prints as 542 bhp and 404 kW. Our own check agrees: 550 PS multiplied by 0.98632 is about 542 bhp. PistonHeads prints 550hp, which matches the 550 PS figure, so do not read it as a higher bhp number.
• Torque: 770 Nm, available from just under 2000 rpm and held to 4500 rpm. That is 568 lb ft, which PistonHeads prints, and 568 x 1.3558 is about 770 Nm.
• 0-100 km/h: 4.1 seconds, which is Bentley's figure. Bentley also gives 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds, and PistonHeads gives 0-62 mph in 4.1 seconds, so the sources agree to within a tenth.
• Top speed: 318 km/h, which Bentley prints as 198 mph.
• Drive: all-wheel drive. PistonHeads describes an actively clutched system that normally sends most drive to the rear wheels, and says the earlier second-generation car had a fixed 40 to 60 split. Bentley's own V8 release does not state the drivetrain, so this point rests on PistonHeads.
• Gearbox: eight-speed dual-clutch automatic from ZF, per PistonHeads. The Bentley release does not name it.
• Weight: 2,330 kg, listed by PistonHeads as the European unladen weight. Bentley says only that the V8 is 100 kg lighter than the W12.
• Economy: 22.2 mpg combined on the WLTP cycle and 288 g/km of CO2, per PistonHeads. Bentley's release claims a fuel consumption benefit of up to 16 per cent and a range of more than 400 miles, marked as pending type approval.

When it came and when it ended

Our production row used 2019 as the start year. That is the year the third-generation Flying Spur appeared, but as the W12. PistonHeads says the generation launched in the summer of 2019 with the W12, followed by the hybrid and then the V8 from 2020. Bentley's V8 release is dated 14 October 2020 and says first deliveries would be made in the UK and Europe before the end of 2020 and elsewhere in 2021. We therefore use 2020 as the start year for this guide.

For the end year we use 2024. Bentley's release of 9 May 2024 says ordering for the UK, Europe and the Middle East had closed, that production would finish by June, and that the V8 would continue in the Bentayga. A second release of the same date announces an Edition 8 package for North America as a farewell to the V8 in the Continental GT, GTC and Flying Spur. We could not find the final build month, so treat 2024 as an approximate end and check the build date of any car you are shown.

How the V8 behaves

Bentley says four of the eight cylinders shut off under light load, when torque demand is below 235 Nm and engine speed is below 3000 rpm, and that the switch takes about 20 milliseconds. PistonHeads' road test says the changeover happens very quickly. The engine is a 3996 cc turbocharged V8 that PistonHeads says is shared with the Porsche Panamera and the Audi RS Q8, and the buying guide says the exhaust is more aggressive than the W12's and that the car is sportier than the W12 and not much slower. PistonHeads' road test says the V8 gives up only a little straight-line speed to the W12.

The dual-clutch gearbox deserves a test drive. PistonHeads says shifts are quicker than a torque converter's, but that pulling away in stop-start traffic can feel jerky and there can be a small lurch when you lift off at speed. We have not felt that ourselves, so use it as a prompt to try the car in slow traffic as well as on an open road.

Suspension, steering and brakes

Bentley lists adaptive air suspension, torque vectoring by brake, drive dynamics control and electric steering as standard on the V8. It lists the 48 volt Bentley Dynamic Ride active anti-roll system and electronic all-wheel steering as options. That differs from PistonHeads' buying guide, which writes about the active anti-roll bars and all-wheel steering as if they were part of the car. PistonHeads' own road test says the V8 it tested had passive anti-roll bars, which matches Bentley. So do not assume a given car has Dynamic Ride; ask for the build specification and confirm it.

PistonHeads says the ride is smooth over large bumps but a touch nibbly over sharp ones, and attributes this partly to the air suspension. It gives the brakes as iron discs from the Continental GT with 420 mm fronts, and the tyres as 265/40 front and 305/35 rear on wheels of 21 inches or more, with 22 inch Mulliner options. We have not checked those figures against Bentley's own specification, so look at what is fitted to the car you are viewing. Large wheels and low-profile tyres make kerb damage and tyre wear worth inspecting.

Body, interior and trims

The body is aluminium, and PistonHeads says it is about 5.3 metres long and a little over two metres wide. PistonHeads says the wheelbase is 130 mm longer than the second generation. The boot holds 420 litres, which a fridge between the rear seats reduces. A five-seat car is cramped for a fifth passenger, according to PistonHeads, and rear headroom and rear visibility are limited.

The infotainment uses a 12.3 inch touchscreen, with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard and a 360-degree camera. PistonHeads rates the screen below BMW's iDrive and mentions rear tablet-style screens, a refrigerated glovebox and a choice of Bose, Bang and Olufsen or Naim audio. Trims and packs it lists include Touring, Mulliner, City, Mulliner City, First Edition, Blackline and Styling. Check that every screen, camera and audio feature on the specification works, because we found no source that lists common faults for them.

Recalls and the DVSA check

PistonHeads' buying guide lists three recall topics: rear entertainment screen brackets installed incorrectly on some 2021 to 2023 cars, a potential front seat belt assembly problem on some 2020 to 2022 cars, and a camera holder that could let moisture in and reduce image clarity on some cars of an unstated year. We have not verified those against the DVSA database, and a recall that affects one car may not affect another.

We did not run the government checker, because we are not looking at a specific car. The page says the MOT checking service shows outstanding safety recalls for a car with a registration number, and that the vehicle recalls checker needs the manufacturer, model and year if you do not have one. It also says non-safety recalls come from the manufacturer directly and will not appear in the checker. Run the registration before you buy, and ask the retailer for the open and completed campaign history.

What to check before buying

• Confirm the engine and power: 4.0L twin-turbo V8 petrol, 550 PS, with all-wheel drive. A W12 or hybrid should not be described as a V8.
• Ask whether the car is a standard V8 or the 2022 Flying Spur S V8, which has the same quoted power but different equipment.
• Ask for the build specification showing whether the car has Bentley Dynamic Ride, electronic all-wheel steering and which wheels it has.
• Read the service history. We found no published service interval or warranty terms for this car, so ask the supplying Bentley retailer for them in writing.
• Test the gearbox in slow traffic, the cylinder deactivation, the air suspension at all heights and every screen and camera.
• Look at the wheels, tyres and discs for damage and wear.
• PistonHeads says turbocharger failures have been reported on Audi cars with this engine family but not, as far as the author knew, on the gen-three Flying Spur. That is one writer's view, not a statement that turbo trouble cannot happen.
• Run the registration through the government recall check and ask for proof that every open campaign has been closed.

How many were built

We cannot give a production figure for this car. Bentley's May 2024 release says more than 53,000 V8-powered Continental GT, GTC and Flying Spur cars have been built since the V8 arrived in 2012, but it gives no separate figure for the Flying Spur, and that count includes the earlier second-generation Flying Spur. PistonHeads says gen-three cars are scarce on the used market because owners tend to keep them. We leave the production count blank in our catalogue.

About the photograph

The picture at the top of this page is a silver car photographed on 3 September 2025 by Damian B Oh and published on Wikimedia Commons under the title Bentley Flying Spur V8 III Silver Tempest (7). We rely on that label and have not confirmed the engine from the picture. We cropped it to a wide format and resized it. The front plate mount carries a blank plate, so no registration is readable, and no people can be seen.

Verdict

The third-generation Flying Spur V8 in this guide is a 4.0L twin-turbo V8 petrol saloon with 542 bhp, 770 Nm, a claimed 4.1 seconds to 100 km/h and 318 km/h, with all-wheel drive, built from late 2020 to about 2024. It is lighter than the W12 and nearly as fast, and PistonHeads found no sign of an inherent problem with it. The cautions are practical: confirm the specification, check the options that make the ride and handling, test the gearbox and electronics, and run the recall check. We have not driven it, so use the sources and a proper inspection to decide.