Bentley powers up Bentayga for flagship Speed model
BENTLEY WILL CROWN its Bentayga range with a flagship Speed version later this year, aiming to deliver the ultimate balance of performance and luxury in an SUV package.
Set to be unveiled in the first half of this year and go on sale soon after, the Bentayga Speed will adopt the firm’s twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre W12 petrol engine. A mixture of hardware and software changes will boost torque and power from 600bhp to 650bhp.
Autocar understands that will translate to a top speed of 190mph and a sub-four-second 0-62mph sprint time. This will be achieved not only through more power but expected revisions to the car’s eightspeed automatic gearbox. For comparison, the 631bhp Lamborghini Urus – with which the Bentayga shares much of its underpinnings – tops out at 189mph and is capable of 0-60mph in 3.6sec.
The Speed’s focus won’t just be on beating its Italian sibling on the straights, however. There will be revisions to the standard Bentayga’s chassis to give the SUV more of a performance character, without impacting negatively on comfort levels. There won’t be a reduction in mass: a kerb weight nearly identical to the existing W12’s 2.44 tonnes is likely.
That’s because Bentley is targeting the Speed as the pinnacle of the Bentayga range in every sense. As such, expect interior trim and upholstery enhancements bespoke to the Speed, while subtle exterior design upgrades in line with the previous Continental GT Speed will feature.
In terms of pricing, Autocar anticipates the Bentayga following the cost structure of previous Speed models. The car’s £165,000 price tag will therefore be boosted to around £185,000, before customers have entertained Bentley’s vast array of options and customisation choices.
Following the launch of the Speed, the long-awaited Bentayga plug-in hybrid variant will finally go on sale with deliveries commencing in October.
The production car was unveiled at the 2018 Geneva motor show, but delays caused by WLTP testing capacity have pushed the launch back a year later than expected. The Bentayga Hybrid uses an electric motor mated to a turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, shared with the Porsche Cayenne E-hybrid (driven on page 29).