Bentley Continental Flying Spur: Sex on wheels

Interesting article of the Taipei Times about the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, calling it "sex on wheels".

With such avoirdupois, the Flying Spur has none of the mallet-in-the-back-of-the-head suddenness of a Porsche Carrera; the Spur's acceleration is majestic. Visualize a mile-long freight train powered by a Saturn 5 moon rocket. Your progress is unexpected, forceful and, for once, the word awesome applies. If you're on an unrestricted autobahn and you keep your foot down, you'll achieve 318.6kph, neck and neck with the latest Porsche 911 Turbo.

Accordingly, Bentley has taken certain measures. Lurking behind my test Spur's seven-spoke 50cm sport wheels (a US$3,440 option, but what the heck), are the world's largest brakes on a production car -- 40.3cm discs in front, 33.5cm at the rear. Tromp on these at speed and the monsters have enough force to stand the Santa Fe Super Chief on its nose. Nothing succeeds like excess.

Speaking of excess, the Flying Spur's twin front seats offer not six, not eight, but 24 adjustments and features. These include four-way lumbar support, heating, cooling and, when you choose, a lumbar massage that sends magical mechanical hands rolling up and down your back as you drive. Imagine pressing your lower back against the blob in a lava lamp from the Grateful Dead era and you have the gist of it. Groovy.