2025 BENTLEY BENTAYGA SPEED

Cowboy Country, British Blazer

- WORDS RAMESH SOMANI

MONTANA - USA ontana’s where cowboys wear denim, drive dually trucks, and tip their hats at sunsets. So naturally, I showed up in a blazer — with a British V8 that could outgun a herd of stallions. But not just any British brute. This is the 2025 Bentley Bentayga Speed. The W12? That’s long gone. What we’ve got here is a 4-litre twin-turbo V8 pushing out 641 bhp and 850 Nm of peak torque - making it not just fast for an SUV, but blisteringly bonkers for something that weighs 2.5 tonnes and tows 3.5 more. It'll do 0 to 100kmph in 3.4 seconds and top out at 310kmph. That’s not a typo. That’s a five-star suite hitting sports car numbers — while your Nappa leather seat is gently massaging your back. But the real question is: Was all this performance required in Big Sky Country?

Before we answer that, let me introduce Montana — the fourth-largest state in the USA by area. It sprawls across a vast 380,800 square kilometres (roughly the size of Germany), yet is home to just 1.1 million people (for context, Germany has about 85 million). That means the cows — and even the mountains — easily outnumber the humans. Nicknamed “The Last Best Place”, Montana’s true USP lies in its unfiltered natural beauty: snow-capped peaks, gushing rivers, open prairies, and two crown jewels — Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. It’s a land where cowboys still ride, fly fishing is a religion, and the skies stretch endlessly into the horizon. Bozeman, one of its fastest-growing cities, is now a quirky blend of tech entrepreneurs, artists, and ranchers. If you're looking for a place where life is slower, the air cleaner, and adventure just outside your cabin door — Montana is the place to be.