2026 Bentley Flying Spur Azure Review: People Pleaser

My eyes register that we’re moving, but my inner ear isn’t convinced.

I picked up the 2026 Bentley Flying Spur Azure outside of LAX and quickly pointed it inland. We’re currently somewhere on the 91 en route to Palm Springs to meet a distant sibling. With audio off the big sedan whisks down the highway with only the occasional woofle from the V8, somewhere in the next zip code up ahead. The Flying B sitting proud on the nose shows we’re tracking true, and a glance at the speedo confirms a healthy clip too, but the cabin is so calm and uninfluenced by the outside world we may as well be sitting still.

Forty-eight hours later, I’m threading the Azure along the Pines to Palms highway, often forgetting there’s nearly a Tahoe’s length of car surrounding me, all accompanied by an Akrapovič-tuned exhaust note reverberating across the Santa Rosa mountains.

This is the Bentley’s greatest ability. There are vehicles capable of this level of pampering or performance, but not both. Ditching the W12 for a plug-in hybrid V8 hasn’t dampened the Flying Spur’s appeal: it’s created a more perfect union.

Not a whole lot has changed within the Flying Spur family—or in fact the broader Bentley car lineup, hardcore Supersports aside—since a facelift for both this and the Continental touched down almost two years ago. Subtle styling changes here, improvements to tech there, and the aforementioned retirement of the W12 engine that arguably relaunched Bentley as a brand over 20 years ago. A variation of the 4.0-liter turbo V8 is now the only engine underhood, joined by an electric motor wedged between it and the eight-speed automatic transmission. The result is the most powerful production Bentley ever with the “Ultra-Performance Hybrid Powertrain” making 771 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque.

The Azure uses the “High Performance Hybrid Powertrain” version of the engine, detuned to just 671 hp and 686 lb-ft. Yes, still more than any W12 save the previous generation Supersports.

Whereas the Conti has evolved a more modern, eyebrowed, single-lens look up front, the statelier Flying Spur is a creature of tradition. A quartet of truly jewel-like headlights frame the upright grille, replete with Azure-specific vertical slats. Strong character lines flow back from those peepers, defining the otherwise sparse flanks before gently fading aft of the B-pillar. Soon after the rear shoulder picks up and gives the Flying Spur deliciously dramatic haunches. Chrome usage is somehow ample and yet restrained: there’s a lot of canvas to work with, after all.

There are multiple ‘B’ shapes scattered across the design, from the LED signature of the taillights to the swept-back side intakes behind the front wheels. The winged flying B emblem sits proud of the grille, both illuminated and retractable.

It’s a testament to the engineering might of the VW Group in general, and the autonomy of Bentley in particular, that this V8 plug-in has a unique character. Mere days after experiencing it in the Flying Spur, I witnessed a 729-horsepower iteration of this same essential setup in the Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid. While there are natural similarities—the 25.9-kilowatt-hour (net) battery pack, for instance—how the Bentley delivers its ample power is quite different.

Where the Cayenne thumps up the road in one barely-interrupted stream of shove, the Bentley by default is softer, smoother, yet barely less rapid. The Spur cups you in its big, impossibly smooth leather hands and whisks you effortlessly horizon-bound in a way only large modes of transport can. Think Dreamliner.

Yet there’s a significant difference in attitude available via the knurled-metal rotary dial in the center console. By default the standard B mode prioritizes electric propulsion, but Sport preps the whole package for maximum attack. The urgency and response tick up but the smoothness remains; the Flying Spur would never do something as uncouth as a neck-jolting shift.

That’s not to say the big sedan isn’t prepared to get acoustically dirty, though. With the finest exhaust Slovenia can provide the Bentley tears velvet as it rockets forward, doing the sophisticated muscle car thing in a way only the Brits can. Yes, you can and will hear pops and bangs on the overrun. No, you shouldn’t apologize.

I knew the Azure would be effortlessly quick. What I didn’t know going into my first taste of Crewe’s finest was just how adept a handler it would be. Then again, this is sitting on the same platform that underpins the Porsche Panamera.

While the plug-in setup adds weight over the outgoing W12, it’s where that extra poundage goes that matters here. The V8 slices weight from where drivers don’t want it (in the nose) while the batteries all go where they do (low down, near the rear axle).

Mix in the incredibly trick Bentley Dynamic Ride system, the 48-volt anti-roll system that can near-instantly adjust stiffness at each individual corner to quell lean, and the result is a limo that is surprisingly limber. The Flying Spur doesn’t exactly dive into corners—Dynamic Ride sees to that—but it does enjoy the time spent in them, with crisp and responsive steering. Rear-axle steer is standard, effectively shrinking the big sedan’s footprint at lower speeds and improving agility, but never in a way that feels unnatural.

Of course the Flying Spur is exceptionally comfortable all the time. How could it not be? As part of the lineup’s facelift, Bentley engineers brought in twin-valve dampers, allowing for individual control of both rebound and compression. Spin the dial to Comfort and the Flying Spur is a rolling transmogrifier, hoovering up uneven bitumen and, for a brief second, turning it into smooth tarmac before it reappears in its original form behind the car. Sheltered from the outside world underneath layers of lambswool, leather, and wood, only California’s corrugated highways inject any sort of unselected hum into the cabin.

Every seat in the house is extravagant—well, 80 percent of them are, as this tester skips the extended rear console and thus has a center seatbelt, though with the massive transmission tunnel I can’t imagine anybody will actually sit there. The rest of the seats have heating, ventilation, and massage functionality, and Bentley even altered the perforation pattern for better temperature control. The Nappa leather is buttery and every single stitch is millimeter perfect.

Storied brands like Bentley face a challenge: balance tradition with the modern tech expectations. The Flying Spur has a simple answer: both, please. The rotating center display is a bit of theater that never gets old: it flips away to display a clean trio of analog temperature, compass, and timing dials. The 12.3-inch touchscreen is easy enough to use, utilizing a layout not dissimilar to Audi with easy-access main tabs on the left and a variety of large tiles in the main area. It’s here where I wish the Bentley departed at least a little bit more from the corporate parts bin, especially as a digital display is a relatively easy way to do it. Yes, wireless pairing works seamlessly.

$308,850, including destination. That’s simply where the Azure starts, and this one has a healthy $71,095 in options ladled on top. At this elevated level value is an entirely personal measure, but for the folks who value audio in all its forms, the titanium sport exhaust ($14,600) and Naim sound system ($10,525) will provide so, so many grins. The 22-inch alloys almost seem reasonable at $2,190, while the illuminated flying B ($5,820) may be less so. The rotating display is also one of the pricier boxes checked here at $7,615.

Yet nearly $380,000 almost makes sense when one considers a loaded Maybach S-Class will push $300,000 and it’s still an S-Class, while the Rolls-Royce Ghost starts above this and can’t match the athleticism. You’re not getting that incredibly flexible plug-in powertrain anywhere else, either.

Peggy Olsen was onto something when she opined that nobody “ wants to be one of 100 colors in a box.” Those fortunate enough to be shopping in this rarified air want a car that speaks to them, that addresses their very specific needs for comfort, luxury, presence, and yes, driver involvement. The 2026 Bentley Flying Spur Azure maxes the ratings on every measure. While the W12’s end means cylinder-count bragging rights go to the aforementioned competitors, the PHEV setup only accentuates the Bentley’s reputation as the driver’s super-lux limo, offering more interaction. That it’s also slightly nicer to the environment is merely a bonus.

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