MOTORING FACTFILE


MODEL Bentley Bentayga


PRICE £160,200


PERFORMANCE Top Speed: 187mph 0-60 mph: 4.1 seconds


CO2 EMISSIONS 292g/km


FUEL CONSUMPTION 23.2mpg


Bentayga – has a mountain to climb


Bentley is a brand synonymous with luxury and high performance. But in 2015 the prestige marque entered the high-end 4x4 sector with the launch of its Bentayga model. Nick Jones tested its potential.


Prestige car maker Bentley entered the high-end luxury 4x4 sector in 2015 with the launch of its Bentayga. The name comes from a 4,642 peak – Roque Bentayga – on Spain’s


Grand Canary Island. But with an on-the-road price of £160,000, very few Bentayga UK drivers are likely to venture off the black top – an occasional sortie into a flat field for summer sports event aside – to see if the all- terrain capability is up to much. The Bentley badge is owned by Volkswagen Audi Group, which believes


the Bentayga can exploit a gap in the market. But it’s a gap quite a long way above the top flight offerings from BMW, Porsche and Range Rover and, one might suggest, didn’t exist until the Bentayga was built to fill it. Without doubt, anyone buying a Bentayga is going to be wealthy and


will expect to be cossetted and pampered. The Bentayga doesn’t disappoint on that score – the interior is fantastic and unmistakably Bentley. Sumptuous leather and wood cover just about every surface and any exposed metal bits are highly polished indeed. The olfactory onslaught as you open the door is divine and you just


know it will last for years - you could buy one of these just for the joy of sitting in it. They are also heated or cooled to requirement and will even massage your back as you drive… as I said, you could buy one of these just to sit in. There’s an entertainment system built in, powered by an eight-inch


touchscreen in the front and a removable ten-inch tablet-based system in the rear. All this luxury means the Bentayga is no lightweight. In fact, it weighs in at a hefty two-and-a-half tons. So little surprise, therefore, that under the bonnet Bentley has decided to


pack a mule with some grunt. The basic engine is the six-litre W12 unit – three banks of four cylinders


driving a single crankshaft, a bit like one-and-half V8s. Two turbos and 608bhp mean this leviathan can shoot to 60mph in just 4.1 seconds on the way to nearly 190mph – quick by supercar standards, super quick for mud-plugger. If you want to attach a trailer, or change the rotation of the planet, the


engine delivers 900Nm of torque – that’s the real power measure – which is phenomenal.


56 business network March 2017 It would be nice to say that nothing in the sector could match its


performance, but what else is there in this sector? In short, it can dash very quickly between petrol stations, but won’t pass many with a combined consumption of 23.2mpg, although it does have a rather large fuel tank, so you won’t need to stop at every garage. To make sure the Bentayga copes with the tight, twisty stuff, Bentley


(VW) has fitted a brilliant, fast-acting, electric anti-roll bar system which makes the car supple over pot-holed roads without wallowing in the corners. The standard air suspension works well, plus there’s the ability to raise or lower the car’s ride height with the flick of a knurled switch. As a 4x4, many buyers would shudder at the thought of taking it off-


road, but I am reliably informed it has plenty of ability. It’s not going to be cheap to tax under the new regime coming into force


this month. With emissions of 292g/km it will command a £2,000 road tax premium in year one and £310 on top of the basic for the next four years - not that the extra cost is going to put off anyone wealthy enough to buy one in the first place. For those happy to leave the planet gently rotating on its current access,


there is a tamer V8 diesel variant. With regards costs, the Bentayga comes as standard with virtually


everything available as an optional extra on lesser cars, but there is still an options list with which to personalise your car and drive the price up, and up… But what about the aesthetics? It has to be said that the looks were not


everyone’s cup of tea, among those I asked anyway. From the front there is no mistaking that the Bentayga is from the


Bentley stable. But from the side and rear it’s… well… ordinary. In fact, the back end is not dissimilar to that of the Kia Carens – if the Carens had stylised twin exhausts, that is. I got used to it as the days went by, but if the car were a permanent


feature on my drive would I think it reflected the £160,000 I’d invested. Possibly not. But you don’t look at the outside of the car when driving and to be


cossetted by that sumptuous interior… I’d certainly buy one if my six numbers came up.


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