Bentley Bentayga S

      We’ve always been quite fond of the Bentley Bentayga out here in The Far Unlit Unknown. Granted, it is a bit big; finding space in which to park on the local High Street can sometimes be a challenge – so too in the Aldi car park. And a Bentayga might be seen by some as perhaps a tad ostentatious, what with its massive mesh grille, those quad, jewel-like, LED headlamps, and its deep and very expensive-sounding baritone exhaust note; let’s not mention how much certain Bentaygas like to drink in order to produce such intoxicating noises… Nevertheless, the “ownership” experience – albeit, we’ve only ever borrowed “our” Bentaygas – has never been anything less than pleasurable, to say the least.

      Climb up in to a Bentayga’s cabin and you’re instantly ensconced in the softest of wonderfully aromatic hand-stitched leathers, matched burr-walnut marquetry and/or machine-turned aluminium dashboards, delightfully smooth sliding  organ-stop air vent controls, lambs-wool carpets so deep you could contemplate sheering them for their fleeces, and familiar, although decidedly shinier, VW-Audi switchgear. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The digital dash is instantly recognisable as being all-a-bit-Ingolstadt too.

     Double glazed windows insulate you from nearly all of the unnecessary chatter, a Naim hi-fi system provides near symphonic musical entertainment – it sounds better than many a nerdy record-collector’s home stereo set-up – and sat high in the Bentayga’s heated or cooled, and massaging of course, seats, you are master of all you survey, that vast bonnet stretching forth before you.

     And remember a Bentayga is four wheel-drive. Very handy; practical too. Although one imagines a Bentayga’s natural habit is more that of carefully raked gravel driveways, or perhaps the sand dunes near the owner’s oil field than it is the mud and ruts of soggy Sunday morning spent green laning. Perhaps Bentley should consider adding a Polo Club carpark mode to the already diverse range that can be selected by rotating the little black button on the centre console.

    The boot is huge, ideal for a Fortum’s supermarket sweep, or a brace of shotguns before a shoot, and “our” Bentayga even had the luxury of an electronically deployable tow-bar. If only I could have borrowed a suitably salubrious trailer…

     Ah yes, I almost forgot to tell you about “our” most recent Betayaga: It was a Bentayga S: the sportiest Bentayga you can buy.

     Identifiable from other (it’s hardly fair to say lesser) Bentaygas by its black, rather than polished, grille, 22 inch alloy wheels, and a subtle smattering of black carbon fibre trim – most notably on the rear hatch spoiler – plus a new burblier sports exhaust system, the Bentayga S looks and sounds all the more assertive.

     The Bentley boys and girls at Crewe have resisted tinkering with their twin-turbo V8’s already more-than ample power and torque outputs, 542bhp and 568lbft respectively, and instead turned their attention towards the  three-chamber air suspension, which is now up to 15 per cent stiffer than on the conventional (that’s a better word than lesser too)  Bentayga. You can still waft around as if riding a near three-tonne magic carpet if that’s your thing, or you can select Sport mode.

     If you can live with the light steering that lacks a little in feedback, the Bentayga S can be punted along at quite the pace. The ride is firm but forgiving, and as I’ve said somewhere before, just how the boffins at Crewe (or was it Audi’s engineers all along? The Bentayga and the Q7 share the same underpinnings) – have managed to control such leviathan loads must surely be the work of witchcraft. It may not be quite as sharp as to drive as Aston Martin’s almost aggressive DBX707, or Lamborgini’s all-a-bit-too-Audi-for-my-liking Urus, nevertheless I know exactly which one of the three I’d prefer to cover big miles in. And despite what JLR might claim about their Range Rover, there’s a huge difference between the premium interiors they manufacture and the luxury ones Bentley make.

      It’s nearly ten years since I first saw a Bentayga, back then it was considered quite the ugly duckling, however, like all things very expensive Bentley’s big SUV has got significantly better with age. And, after a little re-acclimatisation, it’s a still very much a car of which I remain very fond indeed.

Bentley Bentayga S

Engine: 3,996cc V8-Cylinder, twin-turbo, petrol

Power:  542bhp / 550 PS / 404 kW @ 5750-6000 RPM

Torque: 568 lb ft / 770 Nm @ 2000-4500 RPM

Transmission:   ZF 8-speed automatic with Manual Mode & permanent all-wheel drive

0-62 Mph: 4.5 sec

Max Speed: 180 mph (290km/h)

MPG: 22.1 (WLTP Combined)

CO2: 296 g/km.  

Price: from £197,300 (as driven £237,943)

@bird_liam

Many thanks to Mike at Bentley Motors Crewe for the loan of the Bentayga

www.bentleymotors.com