Bentley Bentayga Speed

FIRST DRIVE Twin-turbo V8 gives latest Bentayga Speed SUV a fantastic balance of high performance and premium luxury

- By Dean Gibson

IT'S been a decade since the Bentley Bentayga first arrived, and the luxury SUV is showing no signs of slowing down. Far from it, actually, because a new Bentayga Speed has been launched, and we've sampled it on UK roads.

If you haven't been paying attention, it's a case of Speed by name and speed by nature. The last version was based around Bentley's now-retired W12 engine, but the new car employs the firm's 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, as seen in cars such as the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus. Bigger turbos and revised internals mean it makes 641bhp here, plus there's 850Nm of torque from 2,250rpm. That allows this 2.5-tonne, four-wheel-drive luxury SUV to sprint from 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds, which is half a second faster than the old W12 Speed. To make the most of the powertrain, Bentley has also fitted launch control to the Speed for the first time.

Not only does it accelerate faster than before, it also has a soundtrack to do its performance justice. A sports exhaust is standard, while our car had an optional £7,740 titanium system from specialist Akrapovic. It adds quad exhaust tips and an even throatier note, but you can tailor the noise to your liking, with a more refined sound feeling better suited to Bentley's pedigree of luxury performance.