BENTLEY’S KING OF THE SNOW!
WITH the ski season in full flow and the Winter Olympics hogging headlines, what better time to put a new, sporty, 180 mph SUV through its paces on Alpine snow?
British luxury car maker Bentley took to the Tyrolean slopes with its new V8 Bentayga 4x4, which it’s fitted with an impressive new 4-litre twin-turbo petrol engine.
Indeed, the high-speed antics I experienced on a specially created off-road ice track made it feel like an automotive entrant to TV’s Dancing On Ice.
With prices from £136,200, the Bentayga’s high-revving engine is a welcome addition to the existing line-up of the bruising, range-topping 6-litre W12 petrol and the more recent diesel ‘triple-charged’ 4-litre V8.
Just ahead of next month’s Geneva motor Show, and the new 18 plate from march 1, I drove it on more than 200 miles of road from the ski resort of Kitzbuhel into Germany and back again, ahead of first deliveries this spring.
On Germany’s de-restricted motorways, the 180 mph top speed and 4.4 second zero to 60 mph acceleration time gobbles up the miles, but the 542 bhp engine comes into its own on mountain passes, when overtaking and when simply having fun.
Cosseted in sumptuous leather seats and riding high for a great view, it’s comfortable and refined. Switching to sport mode brings blistering acceleration when needed. The cost is an average fuel CO2 emissions economy of at 260g/km. 24.8 mpg, with Carbon-ceramic brakes are also offered for the first time. On my test car, there was more than £58,000 of extras, including a four- seat airline or chauffeur style combo with a rear centre console and rear screens with maps, which pushed the showroom price up to £195,015. The new V8 engine, a collaboration with Porsche, is built in Hungary and tweaked in Crewe. It also features in the Porsche Cayenne and Panamera and is destined, too, for Lamborghini’s new Urus 4x4.