BENTAYGA ON SPEED

Bentley's new super-SUV has enough V8 grunt to outdrag an Aston Martin DB12

- Story by RICHARD LANE

A drift mode and titanium plumbing from a respected but extroverted Slovenian supplier are not what we commonly associate with Bentley, or indeed SUVs. Then again, Bentley has successfully gone racing with the improbable, 2.3-tonne Continental GT3 and once enlisted Juha Kankkunen to fire a bioethanol-powered, rag-top Conti Supersports to more than 320kph on a frozen bit of the Baltic Sea. Nobody can say the company doesn't have a bit of an unpredictable streak.

This is the new Bentayga Speed. The main thing is that the old 6.0-litre W12 engine is out, its 626bhp and 900Nm supplanted by a lighter 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with more power and only a fraction less torque. Performance is monstrous — think 309kph and a BMW M5 Touring-beating 0-100kph time — but the suspension calibration in Comfort mode is as per the regular Bentayga, so it has manners too.