Bentley Bentayga Speed review

Bentley's go-faster Bentayga derivative swaps W12 shove for V8 gargle and more besides

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A drift mode and titanium plumbing from a respected but rather extroverted Slovenian supplier are not what we commonly associate with SUVs, but this is the Bentley Bentayga Speed, after all.

And Bentley has successfully gone GT3 racing with the improbable, 2.3-tonne Continental GT and once enlisted Juha Kankkunen to fire a bio-ethanol-powered, rag-top Conti Supersports to more than 200mph on a frozen stretch of the Baltic Sea. So nobody can say the company doesn’t have a bit of an unpredictable streak.

The main thing here is that, compared with the previous Bentayga Speed, the 6.0-litre W12 engine is out, its 626bhp and 664lb ft being supplanted by a lighter 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with more power and only a fraction less torque.

Performance is monstrous – think 193mph and a BMW M5 Touring-beating 0-60mph time – yet the suspension calibration in Comfort mode is supposedly as per the regular Bentaya, so on paper this car should still have manners. 

With a starting price of £219,000 (with an awful lot of head room for optional spend), the Speed slots into the range between the standard V8 Bentagya and the Bentayga EWB.

You can most easily tell it apart from the others by its vast 23in wheels (optional, but most owners will have surely them), which facilitate 440mm carbon-ceramic front brake discs – the largest of any production car. Those and the big spoiler. 

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Engage Sport mode and the damping rates go up 15% versus the regular car and the mapping for the eight-speed ZF transmission and the throttle response are been sharpened.

There’s the fruity new optional exhaust system from Akrapovic (that titanium construction saves 12.5kg) too and retuned stability-control electronics.

It means that if you have the Speed in its ESC Dynamic setting, the brake-based torque-vectoring is now more assertive in its attempts to have the chassis pivoting sideways, before letting the driver to carry yaw forward with the throttle. A gimmick? Sure, but entertaining on gravel, where to some extent mitigates the Bentayga's lack of mechanical rear limited-slip differential.

The apportioning of drive between the axles is, as ever, done via a Torsen centre differential, although the variable torque split favours the rear for longer in the Speed than in the regular Bentayga.

The 48V active anti-roll bars that form part of Bentley's Dynamic Ride system for the Bentayga (and that can apply up to 959lb ft in 0.3sec) have also been given a Speed-specific makeover, and they have to work a little less harder than before: this new V8-powered Speed is 25kg lighter than the old W12-fired one. The weight distribution is also better.

INTERIOR

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The brightware that catches the eye in every Bentayga can be had in a more ghostly, darker tint in the Speed, and there's a new Precision Diamond quilting pattern on the seat-shoulder and the door cards.

It's also likely that many Speeds will have a smattering of suede-like Dinamica trim dotted about in a constrasting colour (some of the cars on the launch were very punchy indeed – acid green and suchlike), but otherwise the cabin is business as usual for Bentley's SUV.

Which is to say very fine indeed, with not only lavish materials but fantastic build quality and a good amount of physical switchgear. It's these fantastically solid buttons and dials and toggles that now separate the Bentayga from, say, an extremely highly specced Audi Q7 or Mercedes-Benz GLS, because lower-rung SUVs that have gone all-in on touchscreens, to the detriment of both usability and straightforward luxury feel.

The ergonomics are, as ever, superb, with a driving position both commanding and cossetting, and an abundance of space wherever you sit. The big decision for owners will be whether to go for the 4+1, four-seat or five-seat configuration. The first two of those result in outer seats that aren't far off what you get in the front. A Champange cooler is optional. 

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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In truth, this powertrain is about far more than the 3.4sec 0-62mph time with which it endows the Speed. It's a more charismatic performer than the old 6.0-litre W12, spinning more freely and with greater shape – and with only a very slight deficit in terms of low-rev torque.

The W12 pumped out 664lb ft from only 1500rpm, whereas this new V8 manages 627lb ft from 2250rpm. Torque junkies will notice the small difference but everyone else will revel in the way this car still piles on acceleration in an improbably high gear.

More broadly, with the Continental GT now having adopted a PHEV powertrain, the pure-ICE powertrain in this Bentayga perhaps feels like an anachronism. If it does, it's only in the best way possible.

An optional Akrapovic exhaust (again, most owners will have this box ticked) is a touch overbearing for this sort of application, but there’s no doubt the 4.0-litre V8 – entirely unaided by synthetic elements within the cabin – sounds fantastic when piped through it on a charge.

The transmission calibration is also excellent, as is throttle response, despite the fact the Speed uses bigger turbochargers and higher boost levels than the regular V8. Roll-on acceleration comes dreamily easily. 

The brakes too offer more consistency and feedback than they do in the PHEV Conti GT, which of course now has to blend in a regenerative effect before physical pad-on-disc braking takes over. 

RIDE & HANDLING

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With the central knurled rotary control you can sweep through the various driving modes. You will most often use Comfort, Sport or the Goldilocks mode, named Bentley.

We found that while the body take on a gratifyingly languid attitude when the suspension is in Comfort, it's actually the marginally firmer Bentley mode in which the Speed feels sweeter. That extra edge of control makes for a neater gait and there's seemingly no trade-off in ride quality.

At a quick flow, you're treated to a touch of lean, resolutely cushioned, and balance that's good enough for you to enjoy pushing the car a bit.

Add in steering that has surprising life to it, with a motion that invites you to guide the Speed gently and precisely, and the result is a 2466kg super-luxury SUV that is genuinely satisfying to drive.

Rear-wheel steering, seen for the first time on the Speed, also gives the car a useful bit of added manoeuvrability.

We would however be wary of the 23in wheels, particularly in the UK. They leave little in the way of sidewall and, with such a gargantuan wheel-and-tyre-package, which represents a considerable amount of unsprung mass, any imperfections in the road can be transmitted more faithfully than you would want in a £220,000 luxury SUV.  

 

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The Speed starts at £219,000 but, after optional spend (carbonfibre interior fascias, contrasting leather and of course those 23in wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes won't come cheap), most of these cars will be close to £300,000.

That sounds like an awful lot, and the basic price is a considerable hike on the circa-£180,000 figure of the old Speed, which was launched in 2020, with four additional cylinders.

Equally, the upcoming Aston Martin DBX S (the Bentley's chief rival) is expected to cost roughly the same, and that's also true for the Lamborghini Urus SE.

The more rarified Rolls-Royce Cullinan and astonishingly expressive Ferrari Purosangue are an order of magnitude more expensive still, so the Speed's asking price is high but broadly in line with what you would expect.

Don't expect much in the way of economy, either. Unlike the new Continental GT, the Bentayga doesn't pair its V8 with an electric motor, so expect circa-20mpg in normal driving, dropping to the mid-teens if you're 'on it'. 

 

VERDICT

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So the Bentayga Speed is good. Better than good in many ways, although I do fear for the ride quality on British roads with the 23in wheels. On the American roads of the launch event, the body long-wave movements were spectacularly measured and cushioned, as you would expect, but the chassis did transmit the impacts of expansion joints and the like just a touch too readily, in a way one imagines a regular Bentayga wearing 21in wheels wouldn’t.

With its sumptuous cabin, the Speed is otherwise that rare thing: an overbearing, overpowered, over-the-top SUV that’s not just very capable but likeable too. 

 

Richard Lane

Richard Lane, Autocar
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and like all road testers is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel (or, these days, a yoke).

As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests and performance benchmarking, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found presenting on Autocar's YouTube channel.

Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat.