Man Maths: Bentley Bentayga

The name came from the Roque Bentayga, a mountain rock in Gran Canaria. To prove this wasn’t taking a name in vain, Bentayga the car drove there as part of the launch activities which elsewhere had journalists playing around in Bentley’s new luxury SUV in sand dunes and afterwards being chauffeured in them to dinner. There was also towing of speedboats, traipsing through forests and wading across rivers, and driving on road and around speed tracks at very high speeds – indeed, a Bentayga even set a class record for climbing Pikes Peak. All to prove the point that there was – and, I proffer, still is – no car on sale with a wider breadth of abilities than a Bentley Bentayga.

The W12 was joined by an even more controversial diesel derivative in 2017. Albeit one with eight cylinders, 429bhp and 900Nm of torque, enough to pull a plane. No, Bentley didn’t actually do that but Volkswagen did with a Touareg which used a version of the same platform, so we can assume a Bentayga would do it, too.

The engine also found its way into the Audi SQ7 although unlike that car, the Bentayga had no artificial exhaust noise enhancement and in daily usage is almost as tranquil as the W12. You’d have double the range, too: 900 miles is possible on a full tank. I know because I was fortunate to own one for a year and sold it 10,000 miles later for what I paid for it. With only 500 sold in the UK, and its unique mix of abilities, they’re in demand. Now, I’ve volunteered here the comparison to the Bentayga’s worthy Group siblings. But to experience them back-to-back, their Crewe-born relative is like a distant and highly educated cousin. That not only went to university but got a PhD.

Bentley also offered a V6 hybrid (borrowed from Porsche) which will go down in history as its first electrified car. If not its best ever car. A lot more fun and the most prevalent of first generation Bentaygas is the 542bhp V8. This is a cracking engine and, yes, it will produce the odd crack and pop from the exhaust. And with cylinder cut off technology, it’s not as thirsty as you might think.

All can be identified from the rear by a pinch in the middle of the twin exhaust outlets. If you’re looking at a Bentayga with four round pipes then you have the loudest, rarest and baddest of them all: a 626bhp W12 Speed with optional Akrapovič exhaust. This was the world’s fastest SUV… for about five minutes until Lamborghini decided to ignore family protocol and claimed 1mph more for the Urus. You can buy a new Bentayga Speed today powered by a V8 with 641bhp costing three times what a W12 Speed is worth today. Including an interior swathed in Alcantara.

Which brings me onto specs. I will need a lot more words than Andrew has given me to go through the 20 billion different configurations of Bentayga that could be ordered from the factory. Paint, leather and veneer is down to personal choice. The most popular veneer being Piano Black which is actually painted and lacquered walnut. No plastic here. And every steering wheel is stitched by hand. Indeed the company only employs two robots in its production halls, so no wonder a Bentayga takes 130 hours to build. In that time, Nissan would have churned out 15 Qashqais on the other side of the UK.

Look out for Front Seat Comfort Specification – identifiable by the many buttons on a seat side – and talking of seats, you want a five- or seven-seater if you’re going to use the Bentayga’s full luggage and dog carrying capacity as the rear seats don’t fold on the chauffeur-spec four seater. Any land owners among you will find Terrain Specification useful although any Bentayga can swim through up to half a metre of flood water. Which could be handy if we believe future weather forecasts.

Prices start in the mid-£40,000s for a car that’s done 100,000 miles. And of that, don’t be fearful. Bentley itself still has hard-abused hacks with more and I’ve heard of a W12 in Europe that’s done over 186,000 miles on the same engine. I would advocate – strongly – looking for a Bentayga from a Bentley retailer under the Certified previously enjoyed scheme. Not least for the adverts which list every item of specification in delicious detail. As they say, if you want to fly first class, then pay the price. And it’s a handsome fare if an unloved Bentayga goes amiss. Which you don’t have to worry about, at least for the first year, when buying Approved. But if you see one you like in the network, please hurry. I missed out on a beautifully-specced car recently because I dithered.

Note thus far, I’ve ignored what might be the most controversial aspect of the first Bentayga: its exterior design. Indeed it’s not for everyone which was partly admitted by Bentley with the perhaps premature refresh of 2020. But it is for me and many others who love their Bentaygas. I use the M6 Toll as my automotive catwalk. Those big sweeping roads, often near empty, make it a great place to appreciate a car in motion. Fast motion, usually, although if that’s you do watch out for unmarked police cars.

And I have two particular and special sightings that I remember most. One was a Citroën SM in full flight. The other a Bentayga W12. Positively comparing the styling of a Bentayga to the SM? Now that’s not controversial at all.