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| Spur is no fuss at 180mph |
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But this prototype track is different: the angle of banking is gentle and the track a luxurious 7.5 miles around. In the top lane at Millbrook the angle of the banking and the centripetal force cancel each other out at 100mph, the speed at which you can theoretically take your hands off the wheel. At this Italian track, it's a rather more senior 150mph. But what would it be like at 200mph? There was only one way to find out.
The first 180mph was easy: it may seem faintly incredible to read that 180mph is the speed that the Spur will just go to, at once and without fuss, but as a driver, I've experienced more drama at 50mph on the Paris peripherique. Believe this: 180mph in a Flying Spur is easy, as easy as 100mph in a good hot hatch.
At 190mph the only problem is the one in my head. The car feels as stable as if it were parked; there's wind noise for sure but I can chat with Alex the photographer as he trains his lens on the GPS readout, waiting for a number starting with a '2' to appear. But I cannot forget we're travelling at 190mph which, by any land-bound standard is awfully fast.
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| Car feels stable as 200mph approaches |
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As its claimed 195mph top speed comes and goes, I look over to the tyre pressure monitors. This is the big worry: tyres pushed harder than they care to go at speeds like this don't just gently deflate, they explode. And it's always the one doing the most work that goes, which is the one you need most. Despite the Spur's four-wheel drive hardware and stability systems, trying to keep control at 200mph on three wheels while going round what is now quite a pronounced corner is not something I even want to think about. But despite the simply horrendous forces to which the vast Bentley must now be subjecting its Pirellis, the pressures never move.
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