2009 Bentley Continental Flying Spur/Flying Spur Speed

Since its introduction as a 2006 model, the Bentley Continental Flying Spur has delighted the well-heeled with immense performance, supreme refinement, and seemingly boundless customization. Naturally, for 2009, Bentley has done to the Flying Spur what any rational ultraluxury brand would do-given it more performance, more refinement, more customization, and, at $180,395, more bottom line.

That sum represents the standard Flying Spur, which enters '09 with a new front fascia and rear bumper, a retuned suspension, a new adaptive cruise-control system, acoustic side and rear glass, and trilaminate undertray and wheel-arch liners, the last two combining to achieve a 5 db reduction in interior noise. Inside, the Flying Spur now offers a rear bench seat with electrically adjustable outboard seats and a $6900 Naim audio system with 15 speakers and an 1100-watt amplifier.

Still spurring the all-wheel-drive Spur is a 6.0L twin-turbo W-12 good for 552 hp and 479 lb-ft. Bentley estimates 0 to 60 in 4.9 sec and a top speed of 195 mph. Want more speed? Then go for the new $204,795 Speed, whose dark-tinted front grilles, wider tail pipes, and split-spoke 20-in. alloys distinguish it from its gentler sibling.

Essentially a four-door version of the Continental GT Speed that made its debut last year, the CFS Speed gets a more potent version of the W-12 that, due to reduction in internal losses, produces 600 hp and 553 lb-ft, all of which means 0 to 60 in only 4.5 sec and a top speed of 200 mph. To complement its extra oomph, the Speed sits 0.4 in. lower than the standard CFS, uses stiffer springs and dampers, larger anti-roll bars, an upgraded Bosch 8.1 stability-control system with Dynamic mode, and the aforementioned dubs, which frame optional $16,500 carbon ceramic brakes. Those snazzy stoppers save roughly 22 lb per wheel and boast monstrous 16.5-in. front discs that could easily serve a pair of Thanksgiving turkeys. Further, the Speed sports a front subframe bolted directly to the frame (versus a rubber-mounted one for the standard car) that, with help from a retuned Servotronic steering system and stiffer rear bushings, delivers quicker, sharper turn-in and better sense of the road through the new three-spoke steering wheel. The ride is still more of a glide, but it's noticeably firmer and better suited for taming a twisty road.

After learning the price of the Speed, a friend described it as a "total waste of money." Then we went for a spin. And then another. He smiled and laughed in utter amazement. Owners, no doubt, will smile and laugh all the way to 200 mph.