The Bigger They Are The Harder You Fall
James Fossdyke has never been a fan of the big Bentley SUV, but the brilliance of the latest model has made him a Bentayga convert
Rather ironically, talking about unpopular opinions has become a very popular pastime, so I’ve chosen this month to mention one of my own. And it’s a whopper; a blue-on-blue assault aimed directly at one of our own. So here goes...
Despite its undeniable luxury and capability, I have always been ambivalent towards the Bentley Bentayga. It’s not that I’ve harboured some kind of loathing towards the big 4x4, but I’ve always thought it struggled to live up to the Bentley name and the Bentley price tag.
Yes, the enormous SUV was beautifully built, imposing to look at and impressively quick. It even came with some lovely hand-finished details. But the car was based on an Audi Q7, and that showed in some of the switchgear and the interior features. It was basically a big, heavy, German SUV with quilted leather seats, some new heater controls and an outrageous asking price. So no, I’ve never really warmed to the Bentayga, but now there’s a new model, and I considered it my solemn duty to give it a second chance.
From the outside, it looks much the same as before, with a massive grille, round headlights and some enormous dimensions. This car is well over 5m long and 2.2m wide, and it weighs a faintly ridiculous 2.4 tonnes. It’s massive. But it’s more elegant than before, with some oval tail lights and more delicacy to the details in the bodywork. So while the recipe is similar, it’s a vast improvement on what went before.
That’s a synonym for the cabin, which still has plenty of German DNA, but it’s hidden away beneath a layer of hand-built loveliness. The whole thing is an absolutely stunning environment packed with hand-finished leather upholstery – more than a dozen bulls laid down their lives for that interior – and high-quality woodwork. The veneer on the dashboard, door cards and even the tray tables behind the front seats is a work of art. It’s sublime.
All of which means the Bentayga no longer feels like a German family bus in drag. There’s some natty in-car entertainment tech that’s shared with sister company Porsche, but that’s no bad thing. It just means it works properly, and that can’t always be said about British brands’ tech.
Less easy to forgive are the indicator stalks, which are essentially the same as those you’ll find in an Audi A3 hatchback, albeit with some extra chrome. The same could be said of the steering wheel buttons, too. There’s nothing wrong with that per se – they all work well and feel relatively premium – but borrowing bits from a £30,000 hatchback isn’t a good look for a car that costs the best part of £200,000 once the options have been considered.
But those are small issues in a quiet, comfortable space that’s packed with fabulous features. Our test car, for example, came with one of the best optional extras fitted to any 4x4 currently available. Between the two rear seats, there was an overgrown armrest with two small slots and what looked like an enormous cupholder. Opening the armrest section, however, revealed two champagne flutes and space for a bottle of Bolly. The flutes fitted into the slots in the armrest, while the fizz could be chilled in the cupholder arrangement, effectively turning the Bentayga’s back seats into a mobile champagne bar.
It’s features like this that prove the Bentayga is still a car to be driven in, rather than a car to drive. Sitting behind the wheel gives you access to plenty of power and performance, but the rear seats are the best in the house. Not only are they electrically adjustable, but they come with plenty of room to stretch out and bags of headroom. Oh, and the ride is better in the back.
Not that it’s lumpy up front. The driver’s seat is plush and supportive in all the right ways, while the huge range of electrical adjustment means it’s comfier than a hot bubble bath. The driving position is pretty much perfect, too.
Then you get oodles of power to play with. Bentayga customers get a choice of three different engines, but all of them have more horses than the Household Cavalry. For eco-conscious buyers (stop laughing at the back), there’s a 443bhp V6 plug-in hybrid, which will do around 30 miles on electric power before the petrol engine is required. If you want more performance, you can have the silky W12 petrol engine that pumps out 626bhp, or the engine we sampled: the 4.0-litre V8 with 542bhp.
Although it isn’t the fastest version of the Bentayga, it is supposed to be the sportiest. Everything is relative, but it does weigh slightly less than any other Bentayga, and it’s designed to handle better too. For the most part, however, the Bentley feels like a big, wafty cruiser. The suspension is soft, the steering is surprisingly light, and the engine is quiet unless you really push it. At which juncture it emits a subtle, menacing growl.
But if you go for the sportiest driving mode, everything changes. The suspension tightens up, disguising the car’s immense weight more effectively than you might imagine. It’s like the whole car breathes in. And then it unleashes the dogs of war. The V8 sounds like distilled gunfire, and the car accelerates like a two-and-a-half tonne gazelle with a lion in tow. Getting from 0-62mph takes just 4.5 seconds. And that’s quite something when you’re driving a sort of four-wheeled Blenheim Palace. At full chat, this thing covers ground at 180mph.
But as impressive as the speed may be, it’s the handling that steals the show. Where it feels relaxed and almost sloppy in comfort mode, winding the selector round to its sportier positions suddenly gives the car immediate control of its bulk. Rather than wallowing through corners, it dances through. It’s light on its feet. And the roll you expect from that massive body is kept in check surprisingly well.
Yet the way this car works off-road is even more surprising. It might be a luxury SUV, but it can tackle surprisingly difficult terrain, clambering over boulders and wading through deep water with minimum fuss and the usual refinement. It’s like a luxury tank.
Combine that with the opulent interior, powerful engines and startling handling, and the engineers in Crewe have finally made the Bentayga feel like a proper Bentley. It’s brilliant.
Bentley Bentayga V8
Price: £193,245 as tested
Gearbox: 8-speed automatic
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 petrol
0-62mph: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 180mph
Power: 542bhp
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