Bentley Continental Flying Spur - the world's fastest four door saloon

However, the driver will always be just a push of the accelerator away from instantaneous response and the car's full potential. The ability of the gearbox to lock its torque converter during normal driving conditions replicates the immediacy of a manual transmission but without sacrificing any of the smoothness of an automatic gearbox.

The six-speed transmission can be left in full automatic mode or changed to a Tiptronic function that allows it to be used as a clutchless manual where gear changes take place only on the command of the driver, via either the gearlever or paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. Naturally the transmission constantly monitors the engine speeds and selected ratios to ensure that it is not possible to over-rev the engine when changing down in tiptronic mode or stall the car by slowing too much in a high gear.

These subtle but essential points sum up the character of this remarkable car. From a sound basic concept was devised a four-door grand tourer that delivers on every front. "Our job was to ensure that the car was exceptionally sporting and stable yet still refined and luxurious," says Dr Ulrich Eichhorn. "I always tell my teams that it is the concept that defines the potential but the detailed execution determines the result."

Safety

The increase in wheelbase over the Continental GT coupe means the Continental Flying Spur will react differently to the physical forces created in the event of an accident. The change in what is known as its 'crash pulse' means it has a revised crash structure between the engine and front bumper. To ensure the highest possible protection in the event of a head-on crash the car was subjected to a series of advanced simulated crashes on a super-computer as well as more standard real world tests.

Bentley's advanced Dynamic Crash Analysis (DCA) capability means much of the trial and error traditionally associated with providing a car with good impact resistance has been bypassed. Indeed, so highly developed are the procedures that Bentley's engineers can put the Continental Flying Spur through a real world crash test with great confidence that the result will vary in no major way from those predicted in the virtual world.

Nevertheless it should be understood that DCA, as with all virtual design work, will never replace real world test procedures, nor was it ever designed to. Its role is simply to ensure that by the time these tests are conducted, the product is in as good a shape as possible to meet each new challenge.

To protect its occupants, the Continental Flying Spur is equipped with a full suite of safety equipment. There are two front airbags, four side thorax airbags for the front and rear-seats and full-length curtain bags that extend to the back of the cabin. Seat-belt pre-tensioners are used for all seats and a passenger occupant sensing system in the rear seats automatically raises the rear headrests to ensure the best possible protection against whiplash injuries.

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