The 2025 Bentley Flying Spur Speed Is a Plug-in Flagship
As far as flagship engines go, Bentley’s twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W12 is more than deserving of the title. With a legacy that dates back to the early 2000s and the work of industry legend Ferdinand Piëch, it’s an iconic powerplant. However, given that the British brand produced its final W12 last year, it now faces a dilemma: what to replace a flagship engine with?
The answer arrived last year under the hood of the fourth-generation Continental GT Speed: a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 paired with an electric motor and a 25.9 kilowatt-hour battery pack. It’s a plug-in hybrid combo that also powers the Lamborghini Urus SE and the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. This week, I’m in the newest flagship to adopt this hybridized setup, the 2025 Bentley Flying Spur Speed.
Developing 771 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, it produces 145 hp and 74 lb-ft more than the outgoing Speed’s engine. However, as the Spur’s much-loved W12 was never short on power, is its plug-in hybrid successor just a case of downsizing to meet stricter emissions regulations, or does it have a charm of its own?
From a visual standpoint, there isn’t much that distinguishes the latest Flying Spur Speed from its predecessor. That’s because, unlike the Continental GT Speed, which entered a new generation last year alongside the arrival of its new engine, Bentley’s sedan is still in its third iteration. As such, it still rides on the same platform that underpins the Porsche Panamera and, despite major updates to its powertrain, retains the use of a dual-clutch automatic transmission and the carmaker’s stellar active anti-roll system.
While they are subtle, the Flying Spur Speed does adopt some aesthetic updates. The most significant addition is the availability of a dark tint option for the sedan’s exterior and interior brightwork. Think of Rolls Royce’s approach to its Black Badge models. Its aero package, as part of the Styling Specification, now comes finished in body color, while it rides on a new set of 22-inch ten-spoke wheels. Open its doors, and you’ll spot new LED puddle lights, rounding out this sedan’s relatively short list of revisions.
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It’s a similar story as you step inside, with the Bentley Flying Spur Speed retaining its digital instrument cluster and its 12.3-inch infotainment screen, although the pair sport new graphics. Its seats are adorned with a new 3D quilted pattern, which you’ll also find on its door cards. You can also darken its brightwork via the aforementioned Dark Chrome Specification, as seen on my tester.
Starting at $276,450, this specific car pairs its dark trim with a two-tone black and Mandarin orange interior, a $9,615 Naim sound system, a $6,995 rotating touchscreen display, and a $22,135 Mandarin exterior finish. This brings its total as-tested price to $367,060.
As you might expect, these updates pale in comparison to what’s going on under the Spur’s hood. For the 2025 model year, it’s only available as a plug-in hybrid, even if you opt for the slightly detuned “base” model. That said, the least powerful sedan Bentley currently makes still produces 671 hp and 685 lb-ft. However, step up to the Speed, and those figures rise to 771 hp and 738 lb-ft, making it the most powerful sedan the British carmaker has ever produced.
Its twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 sets the base for those immense numbers, producing 591 hp and 590 lb-ft on its own. An electric motor develops up to 187 hp and 332 lb-ft, pairing with a 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery pack to provide an estimated electric-only range of up to 47 miles. More on that later.
Given the V8’s lighter weight when compared to the outgoing W12 and Bentley’s decision to position the Speed’s new batteries close to its trunk, it now sports a rear-biased weight distribution of 48:52. Those stats translate to a sedan, which, despite gaining 460 pounds over its W12 predecessor, totaling a 5,833-lb curb weight, still sprints to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds and tops out at 177 mph.
In the real world, it’s difficult to overstate just how rapid the Bentley Flying Spur Speed feels. It accelerates with a ferocity no car in its weight class should be capable of. While its V8 already generates its peak torque output at 2,000 rpm, the accompanying electric motor steps in to both bolster that performance and fill in to counteract the effects of turbo lag. The result is a throttle response that feels instantaneous when dialed up to the most aggressive drive mode, allowing it to pick up speed effortlessly.
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Its dual-clutch automatic transmission complements this performance well, executing shifts without delay. At the same time, the Spur’s all-wheel-drive system enables it to put all that power down without any loss of traction. However, the V8’s engine note remains a highlight of the experience. Despite powering an ultra-luxury sedan, Bentley pairs this powerplant with a decently vocal and relatively free-flowing exhaust, allowing it to play its burbly, muscle-car-like tune.
Straightline acceleration aside, part of what made the previous Bentley Flying Spur Speed special was its ability to marry an ultra-luxury experience with a driving experience that retained some authentic sportiness. That’s something this latest model is both better at and worse than the Spurs that came before it.
Its rear-biased weight distribution plays a significant role, especially when you factor in that it no longer has a hefty W12 over its front axle. Turn into a bend, and the new Speed follows your commands without defaulting to understeer like its predecessor. Bentley quickened its variable electric power steering to make it feel as agile as possible. However, its calibration oscillates between being far too slow in Comfort and too twitchy in Sport. Somewhere in the middle would generate a more natural feel.
As standard, the Bentley Flying Spur Speed comes equipped with the brand’s Performance Active Chassis. It includes items such as 48-volt active anti-roll bars, rear-wheel steering, torque vectoring, and an electronic limited-slip differential in the rear. It’s a hardware suite that eliminates much of this 5,833-lb sedan’s body roll while maximizing its mechanical grip, allowing it to exit corners confidently.
Paired with new twin-valve dampers, the Speed can firm its ride more significantly in Sport mode without sacrificing its plushness in the Comfort setting. Its dampers work in conjunction with an adaptive air suspension setup. As such, its back road performance is as impressive as its ability to soak up road imperfections around town and on the highway.
However, these gains come with some losses. As of the time of writing, Bentley has yet to announce plans to produce a V8-powered Flying Spur without a hybrid system. While this is likely due to emissions regulations, I’d like to briefly revisit the Flying Spur S V8 I tested over two and a half years ago. While its 542-hp output and four-second time to 60 mph are certainly less impressive than what you get in the latest Speed, the S weighs nearly 700 fewer pounds.
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While a 5,137-lb curb weight doesn’t turn a Bentley into a Lotus, it allows many of the active systems you get in the current car to work more effectively. With less weight to counteract, its Dynamic Ride enables the S to corner completely flat and achieve a level of balance and stability no W12 or plug-in hybrid Flying Spur has been able to match since. It changes direction instantly, handling like a car whose curb weight starts with a four. True to the Bentley spirit, the S is an ultra-luxury car that still delivers a proper thrill.
This is where the new Bentley Flying Spur Speed struggles. As quick as it is in a straight line and through the bends, it lacks the light-on-its-feet feel achieved by the S that preceded it. As such, while it’s tremendously capable, far exceeding the level of enjoyment offered by the Speed it replaces, by gaining more weight, it limits its ability to provide a true dual personality.
There’s a significant upside to the Speed’s gains, however, and that’s its electric-only range. While this matters more to owners in Europe who have to deal with ultra-low-emissions zones, US-based buyers still benefit from this setup’s increased efficiency and its ability to cover up to 47 miles without ever firing up the car’s V8. For those who want the quietest commute, it’s an ideal setup.
Starting at $276,450, the updated 2025 Bentley Flying Spur Speed marks an impressive entry into the plug-in hybrid world. It’s more powerful, quicker, and more efficient than the car it replaces while retaining its good looks. More importantly, its V8 engine oozes character thanks to both its performance and its burbly engine note.
Inside, its cabin benefits from refinements to its seats as well as an expanded list of customization extras. Thanks to its use of an electric motor and a battery pack, the Speed backs up its world-beating performance with the added flexibility of electric-only cruising.
While there’s no denying this car’s flagship status, its need to mask its ever-rising weight means it’s not quite the luxurious driver’s car it once was.
Review: The 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Is Already One of the Greats
by Gabriel Vega
in Reviews
While Miami, FL may thrive as a land of excess, particularly following a post-pandemic migration of nouveau riche residents, it’s not an ideal home for automotive enthusiasts. Sure, the scenery is gorgeous, and there is no shortage of exotics or ultra-luxury machines around, but unless a road network designed in the spirit of a spreadsheet is your idea of fun, you’ll have to look for thrills elsewhere.
Yet it’s in this very setting where I find myself behind the wheel of the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, a 668-horsepower super sedan whose output finds its rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. It’s a recipe that promises to prioritize driver engagement. And given this car’s $124,005 as-tested figure, you’ll soon learn why that’s both a blessing and a curse. Still, can what reads like Cadillac’s most exciting four-door to date shine where the roads feel like the work of a toddler with an etch-a-sketch?
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The short answer is yes, as long as you buy the right CT5-V. For the 2025 model year, Cadillac will sell you two versions that, at first glance, look nearly identical. The first is the plain jane CT5-V, which utilizes an uprated version of the same 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 you’ll find in the standard CT5. Although the American carmaker markets it as an official member of its V-Series family, it’s far closer in spirit to the base car than it is to the range-topping Blackwing.
Given the brand cache and diehard fanbase established by the discontinued CTS-V lineup, Cadillac slaps that extra letter on the CT5-V’s name with hopes of creating appeal for what otherwise reads like only a mildly sporty sedan. It’s a page out of the BMW M playbook and a surefire way to dilute a subbrand that’s taken over two decades to establish. In short, this isn’t the one you want.
For the full-fat sports sedan experience, you’ll want to step up to the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. From a price perspective, it’s more of a leap than a step, considering the $38,600 premium the Blackwing commands. Add in some optional extras, and that’s how you get to my tester’s $124,005 out-the-door price. More on that later.
The 2025 model year marks the arrival of the Blackwing’s mid-cycle refresh. Aesthetically, Cadillac has focused most of its work on this car’s front end. It sports a redesigned front bumper accented by new vertical LED headlights. The latter will put on a brief light show as you walk up to or away from the car. Is this a gimmick? Sure, but it creates a sense of occasion, and that’s always welcomed in a vehicle focused on delivering a memorable experience.
The rest of the exterior carries over mostly untouched. A set of 19-inch wheels is standard equipment, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber measuring 275/35 up front and 305/30 in the rear. Three new colors join its available palette for 2025, with this tester wearing the best shade: Typhoon Metallic. And should the Blackwing’s look not be quite aggressive enough in stock form, you can option a $5,600 Carbon Fiber 1 Package like my tester to introduce new aero components, or take it even further with the $6,730 Carbon Fiber 2 Package it lacks.
From a visual perspective, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing gets it right. It has a wide and low stance that pairs with interesting but not overdone styling. This is, after all, still a full-size luxury sedan. And despite what it hides beneath its hood, the Blackwing gets away by being somewhat understated. It’s a proper IYKYK car. While its widely circulated German rivals are often overlooked, Cadillac’s flagship pulls in the enthusiast’s eye like few cars I’ve tested over the years.
That said, there’s no denying how eerily similar the Blackwing looks to its lesser CT5-V sibling. The non-Blackwing V sports identical styling cues, equally wide bodywork, and a trapezoidal quad-exhaust setup. I can only imagine that pulling up to one at a stoplight in your six-figure rendition of the same car can’t be a great feeling.
However, as close as they may be from a visual standpoint, they’re worlds apart regarding performance. Like all of the sport sedan greats that came before it, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing centers its driving experience around an engine that is as exciting as it is impressive on paper. It’s a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 developing 668 hp and 659 pound-feet of torque.
As you’d expect from a GM small block with a 1.74-liter blower on top, it sounds fantastic. Its quad tips crackle on a cold start while its throaty note crescendos as you work up the revs. It’s not just loud but musical. There’s still some digital engine noise through its speakers. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound overly synthetic like what you’ll find in some recent AMG or BMW M products. While you don’t get a flood of supercharger wine a lá Hellcat, the Blackwing produces just enough to keep things interesting.
In a world where the latest hybridized BMW M5 develops 717 hp, it’d be easy to underestimate the Blackwing’s 668-hp output. That is until you factor that because it weighs 4,123 pounds equipped with a manual transmission, the Cadillac is 1,267 lb lighter than its closest German rival. That’s thanks to its lack of electrification or an all-wheel drive system. Option a clutch pedal, and the Blackwing sprints to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds or 3.4 seconds if you opt for the automatic.
Regardless of your transmission choice, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing delivers straight-line performance you can get drunk on. With what feels like an endless power reserve available via your right foot, the Blackwing is rapid from a dig or if you’re already cruising at highway speeds.
My tester’s manual transmission sweetens the deal with a precise shifter whose short throws and nicely weighted clutch make quick shifting a joy. However, if you want more speed, you can lean on its No Lift Shift feature, which, as its name suggests, allows you to keep your right foot on the floor even as you row through the gears. On the other end, while Miami isn’t an ideal place to test this car’s $9,000 carbon ceramic brakes, they prove to me more than powerful enough for those moments when the vehicle on the shoulder looks suspiciously like a Dodge Charger with a light bar on top.
Midway through my week with the Blackwing, Florida’s skies predictably turn gray and pour over the city for a few hours. It presents an excellent opportunity to dial back the Cadillac’s traction control settings, which you can adjust independently from its drive modes, and see how it behaves on a slick surface with 668 hp going purely to its rear tires. The results are predictably hilarious, thanks partly to this car’s standard limited-slip differential. The Blackwing swings its tail at the lightest throttle input, but because of its long wheelbase, it’s never a handful to reign in.
In contrast to BMW M’s insistence on fitting all its products with ultra-quick steering racks that feel as authentic as going for a Sunday drive in Forza Horizon, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing employs a far more relaxed ratio. While it’ll pick up weight as you dial up to this car’s more aggressive drive modes, it does so all the time rather than mainly under load where the information is most useful. Simultaneously, it remains relatively light on feedback.
The Blackwing’s party piece is its suspension. If a rear-wheel drive sedan equipped with a supercharged V8 and a manual transmission isn’t convincing enough, learning that it’s also luxury car plush might do the trick. This range-topping CT5-V sports GM’s latest Magnetic Ride Control system, now in its fourth iteration. In short, this setup allows this car’s dampers to react instantaneously to road imperfections, broadening their versatility. They can thus be plush in the chillest Tour mode and genuinely firm in the top Track setting.
While my tester lacks it, the Cadillac allows you to track-prep your Blackwing via its $18,000 Precision Package. Aside from equipping this sedan with carbon ceramic brakes, this option adds even firmer dampers and front suspension arms, providing greater alignment flexibility and the ability to dial in more negative camber. And while it’s great for those looking for the utmost performance, it’s unnecessary if the daily commute is more of your home turf.
Step inside, and you’ll find the second largest update introduced for the Blackwing’s mid-cycle refresh: its massive curved 33-inch LED display. This setup will feel familiar if you’ve ever been in an Escalade. Crucially, it’s a significant step up from the outgoing Blackwing’s dual-screen setup that looked dated from when Cadillac unveiled it. Yet despite integrating a new touch screen to the right of the steering wheel, all of your vital controls remain mapped to physical buttons and switches.
Given that the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is a full-size luxury sedan, its cabin is spacious, with plenty of room in the front and second rows. At the same time, it also sports a sizable trunk. My tester sports an $8,090 set of carbon-backed seats, an option that also wraps the cabin in semi-aniline leather. While pricey, these buckets are a must-have option. They are supportive while remaining comfortable on longer drives and look far sportier than the bland chairs Cadillac offers as standard.
Remember how I said this car’s choice to center itself around the driving experience is both a blessing and a curse? Well, that’s evident the moment you start poking around and feel just how flimsy many of the plastic trim and buttons feel throughout this cabin. Cost-cutting isn’t inherently a bad thing, mainly when it’s hidden well. Still, you won’t feel great about spending six figures for the privilege when you’re left to interact with cheap switchgear and look at a dashboard wrapped in a soft-touch material masquerading as stitched leather.
With a $95,595 starting price, the 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing I’m in costs $124,005 once you’ve tallied up all of its optional extras and a $1,395 destination fee. For context, a 2025 BMW M5 starts much higher at $119,500, while a 2025 Audi RS 6 Avant Performance asks for even more with its $126,600 base price.
As I near the end of my time with the Blackwing in a city whose roads are as inspiring as AI-generated art, it’s clear that Cadillac’s flagship will shine regardless of where it is. Thanks to its visual updates, it looks better than ever, even if the lesser CT5-V dilutes its feeling of exclusivity. Meanwhile, tech improvements to its cabin make the user experience feel more cutting-edge than what you got in its predecessor.
However, this sedan’s supercharged V8 remains the star of the show. It’s endlessly powerful, produces an intoxicating noise, and thanks to its manual transmission option, it’s as engaging as it is thrilling. Throw in a versatile suspension setup and a playful demeanor when you want it to be and planted when you don’t, and you get a proper driver’s car.
The Blackwing asks you to make a trade-off. Sure, you can spend up for a BMW M5 or an Audi RS 6 and get cabins with nicer materials. Still, if there’s anything these over-isolated machines teach us through each new generation, this approach leads to a driving experience that’s often disconnected and forgettable. While Cadillac’s flagship won’t win you over with its materials, its focus on delivering thrills over everything cements it as one of the all-time greats.
Learning the Limit at Radford Racing School
by Gabriel Vega
in Reviews
Step into any high-performance vehicle on sale today, blast up your favorite mountain road, or partake in a local track day, and you can feel like a hero. Whether in a zillion-horsepower super sedan or a mega-lightweight hypercar, modern traction and stability control systems do much more to keep us on the road than we often realize. They make cars accessible to anyone, to a fault.
Since 2021, I’ve been lucky enough to drive practically every new exotic car built. Yet, as these machines become ever quicker, my belief that driver training is the best investment any enthusiast can make has become unshakable. It’s why I’m in Chandler, Arizona, attending Radford Racing School’s four-day GT Road Racing course. Because, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced driver, we’ve all got more to learn.
Formed from the famed Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, the establishment re-opened as Radford Racing School in 2021. Dodge is Radford’s current partner, featuring a fleet of Challengers in R/T Scat Pack Widebody and SRT Hellcat Widebody form. Although I’m here to obtain my SCCA full competition license, Radford’s offerings extend well beyond its flagship racing school. Attendees can also choose from performance driving, drag racing, and defensive driving programs offered in configurations ranging from one to four days.
My classmates and I have two cars to choose from: a Challenger SRT Hellcat restricted to 500 horsepower by its black key, for those who want an automatic transmission, or a 485-hp Challenger R/T Scat Pack, which features a manual shifter. We start with basic maneuvering and car control, working through various braking, collision avoidance, and reaction time exercises to cement the fundamentals we’d learned in the initial classroom session.
Then we move on to the Maricopa Oval, a sub-section of Redford’s Main Track, to practice the skill this course revolves around: trail braking. Whether you’re in a Scat Pack like I am, or the SRT Hellcat, both are large coupes with heavy V8 engines positioned ahead of their front axles. Given how much momentum that heft carries, they tend to understeer, even if these school cars wear upgraded Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 rubber. Radford has a relatively laid-back vibe, unlike other driving schools I’ve attended. At the Maricopa Oval, my classmates can drive as much or as little as we want, and this is a theme that’s continued throughout the course.
Day two picks up with a significant change of pace, focusing more intensively on car control techniques in the classroom. Instructors go over the basics of under- and oversteer, weight transfer, and how to recover from an unintended slide. I step outside and find Radford’s skid car waiting. At first glance, it may look like a standard Dodge Charger SRT 392, but it’s fitted with mechanical arms and wheels that lift its front or rear axle on command. It’s hilariously fun, and a few laps in, as my instructor lightens the rear so I can practice my figure-eight drifts for a handful of laps.
Then we take that learning to Radford’s East Track. Unlike the Main Track, which looks as new as the school’s name, the smaller course we’re running today is much older and thus has a rougher surface. We revisit the importance of trail braking properly, and our instructors offer ride-alongs, and eventually release us for open track time. Given its added low-end torque and extra horsepower, I leave my manual Scat Pack in favor of an automatic Hellcat. Since I’ve spent most of my life driving old Porsche 911s, the Hellcat represents the complete opposite of my comfort zone, and having my instructor jump in the driver’s seat, showing me how hard I can lean on the car’s front end, convinces me to break my habit of braking solely in a straight line.
Day three opens with a trip to the classroom for more instruction before I’m back in the Hellcat, headed for the Main Track. Its surface is smooth, and its longer layout comprises a greater combination of low- and high-speed sections with a few elevation changes baked in.
Although learning a new course so quickly after memorizing another might seem daunting, the amount of class and seat time Radford provides makes it a breeze. A few laps in, I’m feeling confident. I’ve got my trail braking down, and started working with my Hellcat, instead of fighting it.
I stop frequently at the pits for pointers, and my instructor assures me that I’m headed in the right direction. Although I’ve had plenty of track experience before, being in an environment with instructors ready to answer any questions means that what would’ve taken me quite a while to figure out, I can take in and apply almost instantly. It’s a level of skill progression that would be practically impossible to replicate elsewhere. Although class starts at seven in the morning and ends by three, I’m exhausted, drenched in sweat, but loaded with new information.
The final day is spent almost entirely out on the track. By now, the school has thinned out and only my class of five remains. It feels like we have Radford’s facilities to ourselves… because we sort of do! With news that we’re heading back to the East Track, I quickly settle back into my Hellcat to maximize my track time.
Since I’m completing the course to obtain my SCCA Full Competition License, Lead Instructor Will Parker and his colleague Canaan O’Connell have been paying close attention to my driving to determine whether they can sign off on my certification. And by this last day, O’Connell is confident that I can handle the Hellcat with all its systems disabled.
Although it only generates 500 hp in this configuration, I’m keenly aware of how a Hellcat can bite back when provoked. However, as I go to the East Track, I’m immediately back in familiar territory. See, the thing that makes driving an old Porsche 911 special is how easily you can help point its nose by inducing a bit of oversteer. Back in the Hellcat, that’s precisely what I can experiment with. I can trail brake when needed, and scoot the rear end with throttle when I don’t.
It doesn’t take long before this exercise in car control devolves into huge drifts with clouds of smoke littering the course as the East Track eats up the Hellcat’s tires. It’s one of only a few ways to experience a car at its limits without fear of a major accident or having to foot the bill for pricey consumables. This period concludes with a handful of simulated race starts, a requirement for those looking to get our racing licenses, and then it’s back into the classroom for a quick break, which gives Radford’s staff enough time to fit my Hellcat with a new set of rear tires ahead of my second stint.
My final time heading out to the East Track is bittersweet. Although Radford’s four-day program is the longest it offers, I’m eager to stay and continue improving. The last afternoon’s session sees me mixing up methodical fast laps and drifting screamers. Although I came to the school with plenty of experience, I’m walking away with an added layer of confidence created by the ability to quickly work on problem areas to become an even stronger driver.
For the $6,999 that this four-day GT Road Racing course costs, the experience Radford provides makes it more than worth its entry price. Given the vastness of the school’s facilities, its onsite repair shops, and the variety of exercises offered, even experienced drivers will find no difficulty learning new skills. If, like me, you complete the course to receive a certificate that makes you eligible for an SCCA Full Competition License, the course is a stepping stone to an infinite world of motorsport events.
While performance cars have never been easier to drive, experiencing them to their fullest will never be possible without proper driver training. And despite how well modern stability and traction control systems can quite easily hide poor driving skills, you’ll never have as much fun as going out on track, learning how to dial them back confidently, and seeing what your sports or supercar is truly like at the limit.
Petrolicious Film Friday: The Mirage of a Porsche 964 Turbo in Dubai
in Petrolicious
Petrolicious, the creator of quality, original films and articles for classic car enthusiasts, has released its latest video, featuring Mirko Müller’s Porsche 964 Turbo.
Petrolicious celebrates the inventions, the personalities, and the aesthetics that ignite a collective lust for great automotive machines, and it seeks to inform, entertain, and inspire its community of aficionados and pique the interest of those who have been missing out.
Today, Petrolicious takes up Mirko’s story…
Imagine it’s the early 1990s. You’re in a Tercel on the way to return some videotapes. The blower motor is squeaking. The stereo goes to the AM band for a moment when you hit a pothole. The serpentine belt squeals like it’s begging for retirement. The power windows gave up years ago. The AC hasn’t worked in months, and the vents only blow dust.
You think to yourself, “At least the thing still runs.” And then, off in the distance, shimmering through a cracked windshield in the heat of another too-hot afternoon, you catch a glimpse of something blurry just above the asphalt. Something you’ve never seen before. A mirage, maybe, of something that doesn’t belong.
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In modern times, Dubai is a mirage of its own. A strange backdrop, carved out of dust by two incredible human levers. It took sheer will and incredible wealth to build a city like Dubai. The Turbo fits here because it also feels built from contradiction. Overpowered and imperfect. Built on a compromised engine layout, flawed in exactly the right way.
The Turbo doesn’t really belong anywhere in particular. It’s compromised, flawed, and hard to place, built for conditions that rarely exist. But Dubai is the same. A contradiction surrounded by nothing. Defiant in its presence. The car fits here not because it matches, but because it clashes. Ironically. Perfectly.
Built by Manufaktur 964, a Porsche 964 specialist in Germany, this particular 964, owned by Mirko Müller is all flow, beauty, and turbo lag. “I just love the rear end,” Mirko says. “Standing back and having that view, it’s priceless. The flow of the rear wing, tapering to the front. To me, that’s elegance and power.”
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In 1990, the 964 Turbo came out carrying old bones. Porsche hadn’t finished developing its new turbocharged flat-six yet, so it recycled the 3.3-liter engine from the outgoing 930. Internally, it was known as the M30/69, the same basic layout, but tweaked with improved engine management and a larger intercooler. It made 320 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, enough to launch it to 60 mph in under five seconds. Still, it wasn’t what people expected. The chassis was sharper than the 930, but not sharp enough. There was still lift-off oversteer. There was still turbo lag, enough to catch the unaware.
The press at the time didn’t quite know what to make of it. It was quick, yes, but carried the DNA of something older. Porsche purists were mixed. Some saw it as a placeholder until the proper 3.6 arrived in 1993. But that in-between-ness, that refusal to be new or old, is what gave the car its identity. It didn’t care about being the right answer. It just was.
The last truly analog turbo Porsche ever built. And one of the most misunderstood. Three decades after it was built, the car’s still out there. Still a mirage. Still having the same effect on people that it did all those years ago. This one shimmers through the outer edges of Dubai, past the glass spires and sunburnt overpasses. It doesn’t cruise downtown or flex outside the valet line. It rips down desert roads that feel forgotten. Blacktop dusted with wind swept sand, curling away from the pointed skyline.
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There’s no one out here. No cell signal. Just heat, horizon, and the sound of a single flat six finding its rhythm. “It is weird driving this car in the desert,” Mirko says. “On roads, obviously, not in sand. It’s such a pleasure sitting in it. Bringing it here was absolutely the right call.” To Mirko car makes sense here in a way it never could in the city.
“Aside from that, I lived through the Bad Boys release,” Mirko says. “That left an everlasting impression on me. That black Turbo 3.6, the sound, it was a pure dream. Owning this one, I now know that sound was right.”
If you’re lucky enough to see one coming at you across the desert, it’ll feel just like it did in the 90s: like something you shouldn’t be seeing. Like something you might not see again. Like a flash of the future in the wrong decade. A fever dream on four wheels.
A mirage you can drive.