Compare the2024 Bentley Flying SpurVS 2024 BMW M8

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Bentley Flying Spur have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW M8 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Bentley Flying Spur are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW M8 doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Both the Flying Spur and M8 Gran Coupe have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Flying Spur has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The M8’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Flying Spur has standard whiplash protection, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the whiplash protection system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The M8 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

An active infrared night vision system optional on the Flying Spur helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera and near-infrared lights to detect heat, the system then projects the image on the windshield, near the driver’s line of sight. The M8 doesn’t offer a night vision system.

The Flying Spur has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the M8’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Flying Spur has standard Reversing Traffic Warning and automatically engage the brakes. BMW charges extra for Cross Traffic Warning on the M8 and the M8’s Cross Traffic Warning does not include automatic braking.

Both the Flying Spur and the M8 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras and available lane departure warning systems.

The Bentley Flying Spur weighs 577 to 1228 pounds more than the BMW M8. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

The Flying Spur comes with a full 3-year/unlimited-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The M8’s 50,000-mile basic warranty expires sooner.

The Flying Spur’s standard 4.0 turbo V8 produces 15 lbs.-ft. more torque (568 vs. 553) than the M8’s 4.4 turbo V8. The Flying Spur’s optional 6.0 turbo 12-cylinder produces 9 more horsepower (626 vs. 617) and 111 lbs.-ft. more torque (664 vs. 553) than the M8’s 4.4 turbo V8.

On the EPA test cycle the Flying Spur Hybrid running on electricity gets better mileage than the M8 Competition (43 city/50 hwy MPGe vs. 15 city/22 hwy).

On the EPA test cycle the Hybrid Flying Spur running its gasoline engine gets better fuel mileage than the M8 Competition (17 city/22 hwy vs. 15 city/22 hwy).

The Flying Spur Hybrid can travel with zero emissions for 21 miles. The M8 can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Flying Spur (except Hybrid)’s fuel efficiency. The M8 doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

The Flying Spur Hybrid’s standard fuel tank has almost a gallon more fuel capacity than the M8 (21 vs. 20.1 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Flying Spur’s standard fuel tank has 3.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the M8 (23.8 vs. 20.1 gallons).

The Flying Spur offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The M8 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Flying Spur’s brake rotors are larger than those on the M8:

For better traction and acceleration, the Flying Spur has larger standard rear tires than the M8 (295/40R20 vs. 285/35R20). The Flying Spur’s optional rear tires are larger than the largest rear tires available on the M8 (315/30R22 vs. 285/35R20).

The Flying Spur’s optional 315/30R22 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 30 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the M8’s 35 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Flying Spur offers optional 22-inch wheels. The M8’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

The Flying Spur offers active sway bars, which help keep it flat and controlled during cornering, but disconnect at lower speeds to smooth the ride and offer greater off-road suspension articulation. This helps keep the tires glued to the road on-road and off. The M8 doesn’t offer an active sway bar system.

The front and rear suspension of the Flying Spur uses air springs for a smoother, controlled ride than the M8, which uses coil springs. Air springs maintain proper ride height and ride more smoothly.

The Flying Spur offers an available adjustable active suspension system, which counteracts cornering forces actively, limiting body roll and improving handling and stability. BMW doesn’t offer an active suspension on the M8.

The Flying Spur has a standard automatic front and rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Flying Spur’s height leveling suspension allows the driver to raise ride height for better off-road clearance and then lower it again for easier entering and exiting and better on-road handling. The M8 doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Flying Spur’s wheelbase is 14.4 inches longer than on the M8 Gran Coupe (125.7 inches vs. 111.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Flying Spur is 1.8 inches wider in the front and .7 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the M8.

For better maneuverability, the Flying Spur Rear Wheel Steering’s turning circle is 2.7 feet tighter than the M8 Competition Coupe’s (36.3 feet vs. 39 feet). The Flying Spur’s turning circle is 4.8 feet tighter than the M8 Gran Coupe’s (37.6 feet vs. 42.4 feet).

The design of the Bentley Flying Spur amounts to more than styling. The Flying Spur has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .298 Cd. That is significantly lower than the M8 (.34) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Flying Spur get better fuel mileage.

The Flying Spur has 2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the M8 Gran Coupe (102 vs. 100).

The Flying Spur has 1.3 inches more front shoulder room, 6.3 inches more rear legroom and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the M8 Gran Coupe.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Flying Spur’s rear seats recline. The M8’s rear seats don’t recline.

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the M8, the Flying Spur has standard driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Flying Spur to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The M8 doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

Standard air conditioned seats in the front and rear seats keep the Flying Spur’s passengers comfortable and take the sting out of hot leather in summer. The M8 doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats in the rear.

The Flying Spur has standard massaging front and rear seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the M8.