Back Sea
Driver?

BY HARR

PHOTOGRAPH1

h, dilemma — hire
a driver and sit in
the extraordinarily
comfortable back seat, or drive
the "fastest four-door sedan in the
world"?
That's what you think when
you peer inside the 2005 Bentley,
Continental Flying Spur.
Tune into MTV and you'll see
tricked-out Bentleys in the drive-
ways of some of the most famous
hip-hop artists in the States, but
the demo I'm driving is still one
of the most awesome cars I've
ever seen.
With a base price of $171,285,
including destination and gas-guz-
zler charges, my Bentley — all
right, it's not really inv Bentley,

but I did come close to stealing it
— costs $181,215.
Sure, it weighs almost 5,500
pounds, but the 6.0-liter twin-
turbocharged \V-12 engine gives
you 551 horses under the hood.
That comes to zero to 60 mph in
4.9 seconds and a top speed of
195 mph. I had it a fair way up
the speedometer, and it was
extremely smooth and steady.
The Flying Spur's six-speed
auto transmission comes with a
"sport" mode that makes the car
feel friskier Nv h e n you stomp on
the gas, or you can use the manual
paddle-shifts behind the steering
wheel to feel Indy-like.
Whatever you choose, the car
floats over a typically bumpy road

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8 • JANUAR) . 2006 • JNPLATINUM