• Luxury for all passengers
• Not as big inside as the outside might suggest
• Hybrid boot is hilariously tiny

How much space is there?

The Flying Spur is a big car and, compared with the outside, there’s a sense that the interior isn’t quite as vast as you might expect. But that’s not the same as saying accommodation is cramped. Far from it. There is generous space front and rear, with plenty of leg and head room for four adult passengers.

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As standard the two rear seats are almost as individual, contoured and adjustable as those in the front, but you can option more of a bench that includes a fifth seatbelt for an additional occupant. This is described as a 4+1 set-up and is more of a perch than a proper seat, so not really suitable for long-distance travel. Your third child will just have to travel in the convoy behind.

Boot space and storage

While passengers aren’t short of space, their bags certainly will be. For the boot of the Bentley Flying Spur was hilariously small even before a hybrid model was introduced – and the need to find room for the extra batteries has only made things worse.

As such, where the W12 and non-hybrid V8 models offer 420 litres of luggage capacity, the hybrids have only 346 litres – and you may need to cram in a charging cable as well. If you want a Bentley that can carry all your cases you’ll be better off with a Bentayga SUV. We suspect many owners will have their belongings sent on by other means, though, and use the Flying Spur for people and necessities.

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Storage space around the cabin is much more reasonable for a car of this size, even if it does seem a little strange there isn’t a cubby under the front centre console armrest. A drinks cabinet is optional, should that be the kind of necessity that’s important to you.

Is it easy to park?

At over 5.3m long and 2.2m wide, the Bentley Flying Spur is larger than most cars, so won’t fit easily into ordinary garages or parking spaces. But then, it’s unlikely to be frequenting too many of those.

Fortunately, it was already offered with front and rear parking sensors, an excellent 360-degree camera system, and self-parking capability. The 2024 update has also introduced Remote Park Assist, which is said to allow customers to park or even summon the car using their phone. We haven’t yet been able to test this, but similar technology is used elsewhere and is typically straightforward.

Safety

• No Euro NCAP score, as this class of car typically isn’t tested
• Strong body with stiff structure
• Lots of driver assistance tech

The Bentley Flying Spur hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP, but is built around a very strong aluminium ad steel structure that’s related to more mainstream vehicles including the Audi A8. It also comes with much of the very latest driver assistance technology, so should do its best to protect you in the trickiest situations.

Safety systems include lane assist, adaptive cruise control, night vision, traffic sign recognition, tyre pressure monitors and a head-up display, with the latest sensor package for 2024 giving you the option to observe what the car is detecting via the ‘environment display’ in the digital instrument cluster. But then, you can get most of that technology on your average family hatchback these days as well. Isofix mountings for child seats are available in the rear.