Bentley Bentayga V8
Less expensive and less powerful but set up with a more sporting edge – the new V8 version brings the best out of Bentley’s vast SUV. By Ben Barry
The gamest Bentayga yet?
DOWNSIZING IS a relative term in the parallel universe of Bentley. A new V8 model is the latest addition to its Bentayga SUV range, which reduces the cylinder count by a third and the price by approximately £30k versus the W12, which remains the range topper. But that still equates to a twinturbocharged V8 engine, £136,200 price of admission and 542bhp of muscle – the latter only just short of the recently bumped up Range Rover Sport SVR, the punchiest Range Rover ever. But it’s not all about less: product line director Peter Guest describes the V8 as a Bentayga with ‘slightly more of a sporting edge’.
The new 4.0-litre V8, with its twin-scroll turbos mounted inside the vee, has been designed by Porsche for the Cayenne and will also do service in the Lamborghini Urus, but Bentley’s had a hand in development too. It’s been calibrated to work with a different torque converter gearbox, and its unrestricted 180mph top end required additional cooling and durability work.
Wet, derestricted autobahn somewhere in Germany. Squish throttle into plush carpet at an already high cruising speed and the eight-speed auto drops instantly, the nose rises and the V8 gathers speed with furious, relentless energy. The W12 is 57bhp and 96lb ft richer still, but immediately you know you’ll never miss it because the V8’s speed is just so over-abundant.
It sounds suitably characterful too, purring like a lioness when you lightly blip the throttle, roaring like a muscle car when it races past 6000rpm, and so quiet at an amble that you wonder if it’s actually switched on. Selecting Sport mode sees to that, with an extra layer of woofly bass to underline the sporting intent.
The V8’s 542bhp is complemented by 568lb ft of torque, so the Bentayga pulls effortlessly in the low- and midrange, and yet still races for the redline like it’s got super-unleaded shooters lined up on the bar and hasn’t got the good sense to stop. Although by these standards, the 2388kg, V8-powered Bentley isn’t a particularly heavy drinker; the stop/start system and ability to imperceptibly deactivate four cylinders in 20 milliseconds under light throttle loads contributes to that.
Fuel efficiency and emissions improve from the W12’s 21.6mpg and 296g/km to a slightly more socially acceptable 24.8mpg and 260g/ km CO2, but perhaps of more appeal to the Bentayga’s cash-rich, time-short buyers is the increased driving range – based on the official figures, the V8 can stretch to 465 miles on a tankful, where the W12 owner is on the forecourt every 404, though normal driving will typically see both figures shrink considerably.
The chassis has been tweaked to account for a slight change in weight distribution that comes with the smaller, lighter new engine, though – impressively and surprisingly – the W12 is only 25kg heavier anyway. The biggest change seems to be in the steering, now with a chunkier feel on centre, but the same speed of response, precise detail and natural loading as you carve into a corner. The rest is familiar
Bentayga brilliance, with air suspension and a 48-volt anti-roll control system that conspires to deliver both a luxuriously supple ride on our car’s 21-inch alloys (22s are available) and high levels of roll support when you thread down a twisty road at speed.
Carbon-ceramic brakes are coincidental with the V8’s introduction, 10-piston 440mm whoppers that still manage to save 20kg and are offered across the range. Our test car got the standard items, which worked fine for us, even if they were a little over-eager at very low speeds, just like the throttle.
Our off-road driving extended no further than sliding the Bentayga about between snowbanks, but it worked perfectly in an environment more arduous than many owners will tackle – Bentley doesn’t have all that Range Rover baggage, so there’s no great expectation.
The Bentayga V8’s design is lightly altered with a gloss-black grille and unique exhaust pipes, and there’s optional extra black trim to replace the chrome. Inside, there’s the option of gloss-black carbonfibre, as well as a new crossstitch pattern that alone takes 30 hours of graft. More importantly, the Bentayga remains the same hushed haven of refinement and luxury – though the Conti has moved the infotainment game on – and there’s nothing offered to any other Bentayga buyer that can’t be specified for the V8, and vice versa, including the four-seat and seven-seat arrangements that supplement the standard five-seater.
The V8 is understandably predicted to be the biggest seller in the Bentayga line-up. Vastly wealthy buyers might simply want the range-topping W12 regardless, leaving the real question mark hanging over the Bentayga Diesel. Once a solid alternative to the far more expensive W12, it now finds itself almost identically price-matched to the new V8. Diesel buyers have really got to want to spend less time on the forecourt (its range is a huge 669 miles thanks to a handy 11mpg extra) to see the appeal. For everyone else, the Bentayga V8 is not only the best Bentayga, but the world’s best luxury SUV.