Bentley Bentayga: big, bold and daring

Producing 600 horsepower and a rated top speed of 301 kph, this Bentayga isn’t just the most expensive production SUV, it is also the fastest.

It isn’t often you get to define your own little part of the world. The Bentley Bentayga has landed, and is perhaps the truest definition of the phrase “land yacht” yet.

The fourth model line of the Bentley marque, this new ultra-luxury SUV is big, bold, but in breaking with the nickname, definitely doesn’t handle like a boat.

The engineers in Crewe took almost a “cost is no object” approach in the development of its systems and technologies to make everything that much better than the current market offerings or indeed those in the next several years.

Not content, for example, with how quickly electronic and electrical impulses travel within the Bentayga’s systems, they chose 48 volts rather than the usual of lesser cars.

This helped to improve the speed of communication between the different systems and sensors with, for example, the two electric motors that now sit in between the split anti-roll bar.

This means that when the wheels begin to sense a bump, they react immediately by moving the particular wheel or wheels appropriately so less shock is transmitted to the well-heeled passengers in the well-appointed interior.

More than luxurious

That interior, in typical Bentley style, is as sumptuous or sporty as you wish it to be if you choose to take advantage of having it built just the way you want it.

Bentayga even gives you the option of a mechanical tourbillon as a dashboard clock that is set in a special cradle to allow it to be wound, this to cost more than most other SUVs that idly use the word “luxury.”

Fastest SUV

An all-new twin-turbocharged six-liter engine powers the Bentayga.

Producing 600 horsepower and a rated top speed of 301 kph, it isn’t just the most expensive production SUV, it is also the fastest.

Don’t assume that power is used to overcompensate: the vehicle is more efficient than what you would expect to support all of this. Bentley claims a surprisingly fluid drag coefficient of 0.24.

The Bentayga is all that, and more. It handles. The systems are so efficient in their dealing with quick turns and fast curves while isolating the cabin and the crew, that the engineers had to keep a little sway. They needed to give the driver enough feedback to know what the body would normally be doing.

During test runs in slaloms, or on curves and emergency braking boxes set up on the Singapore Formula One Circuit, the racing instructors briefing us would smile when they told us to go as fast as we wanted.
And indeed, we were pleasantly surprised.

Photo above shows the Bentayga Diesel, displaying consummate balance between luxury, performance and practicality. The four photos at left feature interior shots showcasing the cocooned comfort of the cabin, creating an environment that justifies spending long periods of time within