Bold & Beautiful

Bentley’s new Bentayga Speed might be the best Bentley yet

Mthat “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog,” but in the case of the 2021 Bentley Bentayga Speed such ponderables are irrelevant. The Bentley is a huge dog with huge fight, and if it were an actual living dog, it would be a gorgeous snarling monster, a no-contest Best in Show raised on raw meat and rocket fuel, and it would eat Mark Twain and his typewriter and then blow through the entire library so fast that all of the pages in all of the books would explode into the air in a massive cloud of jumbled words, and however the smoldering mess fell to earth… Well, that’s all you’d need to read about the Bentayga Speed. It’s dizzying. It’s gorgeous. And if you’re comfortable shopping at this price point then it’s also kind of practical. In fact, it might be the most “Bentley” Bentley we’ve driven, and we love it. What’s more, we didn’t expect to.

Anyone who’s driven anything from the storied marque knows it: Bentleys are not small. But while formidable weights and measures to some could seem curious in a car, in an SUV they make perfect sense. SUVs are meant to accommodate numerous passengers, haul cargo, capably deal with a wide array of conditions, and generally intimidate people in those odd tiny European cheese-wedge two-seaters that were popular for a minute some years ago. Put simply: SUVs are meant to be big, and Bentley’s Bentayga certainly is that, at just under 17 feet long, just over 7 feet wide across the mirrors, and with a kerb weight of 5,542 lbs, slightly heavier than a fully grown white rhinoceros. But in the Bentayga Speed’s case there are two differentiators [widely] separating it from other SUVs, and they are (1) performance and (2) comfort.

The weight hardly is noticed thanks to Bentley’s superlative 6.0-litre Twin-turbo W12 TSI, specific to the Speed in the Bentayga lineup (non-Speed Bentaygas get Bentley’s solid V8). Here the W12 makes 626hp and 664 lb-ft of torque, getting the Speed from 0 to 60mph in 3.8 seconds en route to a top speed of 190mph, hence Bentley’s claim that the Bentayga Speed is the fastest SUV in the world. Under hard acceleration from a dead stop, the experience is thrilling: shoved back in your seat, arms stretched, a glorious engine note growling as the model-specific 22-inch wheels claw at the road, but the thrills aren’t limited to straight-line fun. The Speed is agile as well—and it’s unlikely you’ll be dragging it. More practically, driving on South Florida’s two-lane Tamiami Trail, aka “Alligator Alley,” the Bentayga Speed allowed us to confidently pass the lumbering train of RVs, family wagons and others slowly ambling across the state. A flick of the wheel, a touch on the accelerator, and we leapt ahead, worry-free and on our way.

A range of driving modes are available—Comfort, Sport, Custom and “Bentley” (a nice balance between Sport and Comfort)—and “Sport” best showcases the vehicle’s capabilities, generally tightening things up and optimizing combined performance from the 8-speed transmission, all-wheel-drive system, suspension and power plant. Bentley’s Dynamic Ride system includes an impressive active roll control component that keeps the Speed planted, and it’s a wonder to experience. Electric motors on the front and rear axles provide instant, variable resistance as and when required, keeping things level through turns and bends, while optional Carbon Ceramic Brakes reassuringly wait to stop the ride when needed. At 440mm, these are among the largest on the market in this class and they’re the most powerful brakes ever fitted to a Bentley.

Off road things can be as nice, with an All-Terrain Specification option that rather invisibly ensures off-road performance and ride quality mirror on-road, no manual configurations required. More than just fast and fantastic around town or on the highway, the Bentayga Speed genuinely is capable beyond the pavement as well, and for us this ticks a “credibility” box that SUVs should, in our opinion, have. This is a serious vehicle on or off-road.

But then who wants to get it dirty? Best to leave the competition in the dust—and the dust on the competition. The Speed’s design details, from the tip of the polished “Flying B” on the hood to the W12-specific oval tailpipes at the rear, create a compellingly beautiful form that communicates hand-crafted confidence and status. It’s stately, and the Bentayga Speed turned a lot of heads during the several days we drove it around South Florida, whether parked outside one of Miami’s trendy mid-day eateries or shining under the stars at the edge of the Everglades. Low and showing ample carbon fiber thanks to our “Black Specification” (on the splitter, spoiler and side sills), the vehicle’s sporty exterior suggests its power, but inside things are much more refined. Hand-built, Bentleys always have offered myriad personalization options, including a wide range of colors, woods and trims for dash and seating surfaces and so on, and truly Bentley customers can get the Bentley they want, as bold or understated as they like. Ours, with “Havana” exterior paint, had Alcantara on the seat cushions and back rests, on the steering wheel and elsewhere throughout the cabin. Crown Cut Walnut veneer covered surfaces, as did contrast stitching in diamond quilting, and there were numerous other touches. “Speed” appears in various places as well, including on the floor sill, on the dash and in the seats, further underlining that this is an extraordinary version of what is already a less-ordinary vehicle, and fit and finish all are to Bentley’s incredible standards. There isn’t an inch of the interior that doesn’t appear rich, supple, well-considered and well-crafted, and the overall effect is immensely satisfying.

So, too, is the cabin experience, elevated with an array of cutting-edge technologies that help either to improve the driving (e.g. well-engineered navigation and “birds-eye view” parking camera on a huge, bright touchscreen; adjustable heads-up display and more) or comfort and enjoyability, as the top-drawer Naim for Bentley audio system and [surprisingly effective] in-seat massage options did. Again, no matter whether we were in Miami’s sophisticated downtown or in the wilds of the Everglades, the Bentayga Speed’s cabin was a world unto itself, cool, uncluttered, supremely designed and incredibly comfortable, with the music and climate always set to “perfect.” Add in the fact

The Bentayga is the most complete Bentley we’ve ever driven—beyond capable in a variety of environments

that our camera gear and luggage didn’t come close to filling the 62.6 cubic feet of cargo space (that’s total; 17 cu ft behind second row) and that the 22.5-gallon tank offers near 400 miles in range and it’s understandable that we genuinely liked our time with the Bentayga Speed. SUVs have become the practical workhorse vehicles of the modern era, shuttling kids and their accessories around, handling grocery and shopping duties, managing friends and golf equipment across town and being ever-ready for an extended road trip. To have a vehicle that handles all of the practical demands of an SUV while providing sportscar-like performance—all of it in supreme comfort—really is quite a feat. And while a road trip in any Bentley is a wonderful experience, if we had to pick just one vehicle from the factory at Crewe, something to handle everyday life and occasional adventures as well, it would be hard to look further than the Bentayga Speed.