2020 Bentley Flying Spur Spied Testing V8 Engine, Gets Passed by Taycan

One represents the future, the pinnacle of the million or so electric cars VW Group wants to sell every year. The other is probably the last direct link Bentley has with its past but updated to the most modern luxury standards.

We know that the fresh Flying Spur has already been revealed, but it's not on sale yet, and we could be dealing with another version of the 4-door Continental. Judging from the exhaust system, this isn't the W12 model.

Four pipes should mean a V8, although the heavy Nurburgring traffic is keeping us from making a positive ID. This could also be a diesel, though it's less likely. A Flying Spur Hybrid should launch within two years, though it would have one fueling door than this prototype has.

The new Flying Spur is based on the same platform as the Panamera, while the V8 will have basically the same thing under the hood as a Panamera Turbo. It's a V8 turbo producing 550 horsepower of Mercedes S560-rivaling power.

The car is fitted with the latest 48V electric hardware which powers things like the rear-wheel steering and 3-chamber air suspension system with about 60% more volume inside. This explains how it can be both a luxury car and one that corners flat on the Nurburgring.

The level of autonomy has gone up as well, thanks to the VW Group parts bin, while features like self-parking and night-vision will make it easier to maneuver the boat-sized machine around a car park.

Compared to the older model, the wheelbase has increased by a substantial 130mm, and while the car is stationary, we can see the ultra-luxury interior. It also doesn't feature the pop-up flying-B emblem, but we'd still stop way short of saying this is the base model.