Bentayga [Official] Bentley Bentayga

[ThroughandThrough]

Without surprise, the Bentayga is selling here in Dallas.

 

[sako97]

VAG decided to quietly launch the first Bentley diesel..

Predictably its the SQ7's. triple-charged 4.0-liter V8 that produces 429 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque.

This week, Bentley launched its first ever diesel car, the Bentayga Diesel SUV. A 4.0-litre V8 engine sits aboard, with two sequential turbos and an electric supercharger to eliminate turbo lag.

The unit, co-developed with sibling brand Audi, who have put it in the bonkers SQ7, makes this Bentayga derivative the world’s fastest diesel car. The SUV is capable of 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed of 168mph. The engine develops 429bhp and 664lb ft of torque, and gives this Bentayga derivative the lowest CO2 output of any Bentley - 210g/km - and a potential maximum range of 1,000km (621 miles).

Of course, the point about this maximum range, is not so much that millionaires are bothered by the miles-per-gallon figure, but that refuelling is a decidedly plebeian past-time, involving inconvenience, an ugly view and physical discomfort if it’s cold or raining. As Bentley deliciously points out, that range means you could make it from London to Verbier, Bordeaux or the Scottish Highlands on one tank. That makes the Bentayga Diesel more of a grand tourer than an SUV

I had a ride in the car last week, driven to the Crewe factory in it by Peter Guest, the Bentayga project line director. Unsurprisingly, Bentley has done a marvellous job of dialling out the noise and vibration from the cabin, so that, unless you look at the revs, you’d be hard-pushed to know you were in a diesel. From the outside, there’s a slightly gruffer engine note, and if you really hammer it with the windows down, you might notice the derv rattle, but barely.

And so the face of luxury in the car world is changing. Bentley is doing diesels and plug-in hybrids, and looking at wood, protein leathers and stone to replace walnut burrs and cow hides. Ferrari uses hybrid systems, and Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini are building SUVs.

If you ask younger generations to define a luxury car, descriptions will be about the levels of connectivity with the life you and I leave behind, often on purpose, when we get in the car to go somewhere else. But, barely one generation removed, customers don’t want to sever links with work, home and friends.

A truly luxurious automotive lifestyle is now one in which we are tethered to our links, not one in which we buy the most powerful engine to take us as far away from those links, as quickly as possible.

The only surprising facet in all this is just how quickly consumers, the world over, adapt to new realities. We really are sheep, willingly led round the marketplace by advertisers, marketeers and brand experts who, at the drop of a hat, divert our brainwaves, like signals moving train tracks, to a different line of thought altogether, and before we know it, a diesel SUV looks like the very height of luxury.

I was told by Bentley that the diesel version will bring younger buyers and more women on board - two very sought-after demographics. Much of the reason for this is the price. The Bentayga Diesel will go on sale at £135,800 - £30,000 less than the W12 entry level. The Bentayga has also brought a lot of new customers (“conquest sales” in industry parlance) to the brand, many from Land Rover’s Range Rover pool, and the diesel should bring still more.

But, as if to remind us that plus c’est la même chose in the world of luxury, Bentley also unveiled a new veneer for the diesel version, called "Liquid Amber". A more strident, yellowish wood with darker streaks running through it, the veneer is taken from the American Gumtree. Bentley describes it as “a contemporary wood with a straight grain”. It’s striking, but not overtly so, and the first new veneer for five years, so a rarer thing than a new model.

I love that sort of detail; it’s a reassuring token of an older world of luxury, and British marques are masters of that type of evolution, transforming their brand while nursing the genes that brought them this far. Clever, clever stuff.

I doubt I'll post any more pics of the Bentayga; it's offensively ugly any way you slice it.

 

[Zafiro]

This came with Mclaren in the trailer...

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

Interior is nice, and this new veneer is indeed striking, but calling it "Liquid Amber?" Might as well call it tinklewood.

 

[Centurion]

VAG decided to quietly launch the first Bentley diesel..

I doubt I'll post any more pics of the Bentayga; it's offensively ugly any way you slice it.

That V8 diesel is one hell of a power plant. It's clever that the eco mode shuts of a turbo than deactivates a cylinder - less fuel consumption but with smooth engine response. Bentley owners should not be embarrassed about this engine because there is nothing lame about it.

 

[sako97]

That V8 diesel is one hell of a power plant. It's clever that the eco mode shuts of a turbo than deactivates a cylinder - less fuel consumption but with smooth engine response. Bentley owners should not be embarrassed about this engine because there is nothing lame about it.

I think its safe to predict that within a year or two, like the Range Rover, at least 70% of UK Bentayga sales will be the diesel.

 

[domleo999]

Finally I have had a close up encounter with the Bentayga. As much as I am charmed by the interior and impressed by its uncompromised off road capability, I have to admit that it looks like shite.

Stand it next to the Cayenne Mk.1 and you would think that the Bentley too is a car from 2002. It simply doesn't convey the appearance of a £220,000 car released in 2016. If anything it resembles an SUV moulded by a 5 year old using playdough.

Only when Bentley have released the 2nd generation Bentayga will they admit that this one is a design mistake. There is nothing enviable about the design and even the X5 and Q7 that are a fraction of its price look more aspirational.

You'd think the ML63 opposite is the more
Expensive car

 

[Rainer271]

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[Monster]

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No matter how hard he tries, you can't avoid the fact that it is a very expensive Q7, and the Q7 is better looking too. In fact, i can get a brand new and well equipped Q7 plus a slightly used Continental GTS for one of these things.

 

[sako97]

Apologies for the slander, but I'm quite convinced that the Bentayga is the ugliest ultra luxury vehicle without a Mansory, Liberty walk, or Lumma kit:

 

[hovabongZA]

Theses things are selling I've seen 3 already here in Johannesburg.

 

[Mr Robert]

I've seen a few, and for once, the car looks worse irl than in pictures. Damn.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

If it weren't for the Bentley badge, non of them would be sold. To buy this Bentayga you need money, bad or no taste at all and a serious complex to prove yourself to others. Sorry for the harsh words to the fans...

 

[Emex]

Probably going against the consensusus too, but you get that. Have driven one (Kelvinator Cyclic Defrost White...or whatever they call it) and wasn't in love with it. Massage seats, power delivery all very nice. But it had the soul of a fat Golf (soul-less, clinical, boring) and at 600k I want something a bit more than that.
Given that I was going into the test drive with an open mind not sure what to expect, now I know and, not a fan.

 

[lukeswiss]

Don't judge me, I was in the area and I know the sales guy... took this for a drive.... and it was lovely. Unfortunately I can't get past the side and rear look.
Workmanship is beautiful inside, the only fault is the indicator stalks which I recognise well from the Audi A1 I had. V12 engine is a dream.

 

[Monster]

Workmanship is beautiful inside, the only fault is the indicator stalks which I recognise well from the Audi A1 I had. V12 engine is a dream.

The panel for the light switches are straight from Audi too. Not a fan of that light brown. white and black interior combination.

 

[Centurion]

Don't judge me, I was in the area and I know the sales guy... took this for a drive.... and it was lovely. Unfortunately I can't get past the side and rear look.
Workmanship is beautiful inside, the only fault is the indicator stalks which I recognise well from the Audi A1 I had. V12 engine is a dream.

Lucky you! I can imagine it being a car that from behind the wheel everything that's outside becomes irrelevant, but a car the price of a Ferrari should be faultless on the outside too. How was the comfort, handling and engine noise?

 

[Rainer271]

I was also sceptical about this car. But I was surprised in positive way when I have seen the Bentayga in Frankfurt. I like it.

 

[Centurion]

I was also sceptical about this car. But I was surprised in positive way when I have seen the Bentayga in Frankfurt. I like it.

In some trim levels it gets away with it because of the plentiful chrome garnish. I have seen it in green and in black without no bling what so ever, and that's when I saw it for what it really is.

For now it's can enjoy the limelight as the Range Rover feels a bit mass produced on the inside, but when the Rolls Royce SUV debuts, the Bentayga is likely to look very ill-designed. What its sales figures say is that the appetite for ultra luxury SUVs exist. I wonder whether Land Rover will introduce a flagship car above the Range Rover as aftermarket Overfinch versions of it are not far off the Bentyga in price.

 

[lukeswiss]

I think the S-Coupe is quieter, apart from the V8 of course.

They should really change those indicator stalks. The haptic is awful compared to everything else, which is really beautiful to touch.