The Bentayga’s fundamental chassis and body-in-white have been little changed since its 2015 launch, but substantial design and technology upgrades – including the addition of new bodystyles and powertrains – have helped to keep Bentley out near the front of an increasingly busy super-SUV field.
The Aston Martin DBX and Lamborghini Urus have fully embraced their supercar-on-stilts billing, gaining angrier styling, even more outlandish power figures and more heavily dynamically oriented chassis set-ups as part of recent updates, while the Rolls-Royce Cullinan – also recently lightly overhauled – continues to stand alone in the very highest echelon of luxury SUVs, with a focus on peerless refinement above all else.
The Bentayga seems to sit somewhere in between, with a similar do-everything-really-well remit to the likes of the Range Rover and Porsche Cayenne, but breathing somewhat more rarefied air, courtesy of an entry price that’s approaching £200k.
The Bentayga can be specified with either a 3.0-litre V6 plug-in hybrid powertrain (which will no doubt be phased out soon in favour of Bentley’s new V8 ‘Super Hybrid’ PHEV system), or a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, which chucks out 542bhp and 568lb ft as standard, or a faintly ridiculous 626bhp and 664lb ft in the range-topping Bentayga Speed, which no longer uses Bentley’s whopping 6.0-litre W12.
It is always four-wheel-drive, and always sends its herds of stallions roadwards via an eight-speed ZF automatic, albeit with different mapping depending on variant.
Tested here is the Bentayga S, which was effectively the ‘hot’ Bentayga after the W12-powered Speed bowed out, but now that version is back with a 626bhp V8, it’s basically the most ostensibly driver-focused version of the ‘standard’ Bentayga. You can’t have it in conjunction with the Extended Wheelbase, and it comes exclusively with the Blackline trim package. Got that?
It keeps the 542bhp V8 but brings “extra sporting agility” courtesy of its 15%-stiffer dampers, recalibrated torque vectoring and standard-fit 48V anti-roll control system, which is capable of sending up to 885lb ft at a time to each corner to mitigate squat and dive.
You know it’s the S, because it’s riding on bespoke performance-style 22in wheels, the exterior trim is all finished in black, it has a chunky rear spoiler, the lights are tinted and there’s a mean-looking quad-exit exhaust. Prices start just north of £170,000, but if you like the look of our test car’s extroverted Orange Satin Flame paintwork, put another £24k on top of that.