{"id":20418,"date":"2017-10-23T11:31:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T11:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/?p=20418"},"modified":"2018-04-12T09:43:21","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T09:43:21","slug":"review-bentley-bentayga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/review-bentley-bentayga\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Bentley Bentayga"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is it?<\/h3>\n

The Bentayga is, according to Bentley, the best SUV in the world. At AED 1.3 million, it\u2019s certainly one of the most expensive, but it\u2019s also one of the fastest, and absolutely one of the most luxurious. But the Bentayga is more than a simple collection of superlatives shoe-horned into the SUV package that every carmaker is desperate to offer. It\u2019s actually the answer to a problem that Bentley\u2019s had for years \u2013 what to offer customers with a family and dog to ferry around. For that, the Continental GT certainly won\u2019t do, and the Continental Flying Spur and Mulsanne aren\u2019t exactly ideal. Really, the Bentayga is the only model you can consider if you\u2019re dead-set on a Bentley, but want to use it for the school run.<\/p>\n

\"Bentley<\/h3>\n

How does it drive?<\/h3>\n

First, let us give you some numbers. The Bentayga comes with a heavily reworked version of Bentley\u2019s 6.0-litre W12 engine, which here develops 600 bhp and 663 lb ft of torque. That means that this 2.4-tonne beast will do the 0-100 km\/h dash in 4.0 seconds flat, and go on to a top speed of 300 km\/h.<\/p>\n

The thing is, the Bentayga isn\u2019t actually as extreme to drive as any of those numbers suggest. Press the starter button by the centre armrest, and the big W12 comes to life with a gentle purr. Even when you put the pedal to the metal, there\u2019s very little aural drama to go along with the enormous surge in speed.<\/p>\n

That said, the speed is vastly entertaining. Flick the drive selector into sport when you\u2019re stopped at a set of traffic lights, and you brace yourself as the suspension lowers by a few inches. From start, full-throttle results in an almighty kick to the stomach as the physics-bending performance of the Bentayga is unleashed. It\u2019s outrageously fast, this thing. But it gathers speed with very little drama. The automatic gearbox upshifts smoothly; the engine hums rather than snorts. It\u2019s a bit like being in the first-class cabin of the Japanese Bullet Train. You build vast momentum very quickly, but you\u2019re largely unaware of the messy details that go into said momentum-building \u2013 you just kick back in your luxurious seat and watch the world fly by.<\/p>\n

Indeed, this is a car that puts luxury ahead of driving thrills. The steering is light, the gearbox silky smooth, and the suspension immensely supple \u2013 as far as the driver is concerned, the road surface simply changes colour when going over speedbumps. The Bentayga was clearly designed to make piloting such a wide car effortless. And it\u2019s largely succeeded in that mission. That it\u2019ll devastate all but the fastest Porsches in a drag race is simply the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

All of that said, the Bentayga feels surprisingly good around the corners. However, \u2018good\u2019 is relative in SUV land. It won\u2019t pitch and roll like, say, a full-fat Range Rover will (thanks to its new 48-volt active anti-roll system), but it doesn\u2019t have the sharpness of the Continental GT, either. Still, the Bentayga feels much lighter than it is through the bends, and the grip is mighty impressive. You can get on the power very early on the exit, and the car will just go.<\/p>\n

The Bentayga will go off-road, too. While we weren\u2019t allowed to test it in the dunes, a cursory search on YouTube will show you that this big Bentley can take plenty of off-road punishment. Not that you\u2019ll let your AED 1.3 million Bentayga anywhere near the desert if you own one, mind.<\/p>\n

\"Bentley<\/h3>\n

Interior quality and tech<\/h3>\n

This is a Bentley, so of course the interior is astonishing. Plush, quilted leather adorns the seats and side-sills, intricate stitchwork holds the materials together, and thick carpets cushion your feet. Our test model had the optional panoramic sunroof fitted, and it\u2019s an option we recommend ticking \u2013 it\u2019s a phenomenal piece of engineering, stretching all of the way to the back of the rear seats.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of cubby holes in which to store your bits and pieces, and rear leg room is excellent \u2013 never mind the kids, you could transport a government minister in the back of this thing and not be embarrassed. And there\u2019s a large, carpeted boot where the dog (or the mother of all shopping loads) can go. Naturally, it\u2019s electronically operated.<\/p>\n

On the tech side, the Bentayga has been fitted with a more-than-capable eight-inch, touch-screen infotainment system that finally brings the Bentley range up to modern standards. Functionality-wise, it\u2019s pretty standard Volkswagen Group stuff, meaning Bluetooth pairing and media playback is a cinch. Meanwhile, you can spec rear TV screens, and load up the on-board 60 GB hard drive with films to keep the kids entertained on long drives. There\u2019s also adaptive cruise control, lane assist, an excellent 360-degree park assist system and a configurable TFT display in between the rev-counter and speed dial.<\/p>\n

However, those classic Bentley issues with tech did rear their head on our test car. The check engine oil light refused to turn off throughout our time with the Bentley. And once, when switching to sport mode while on the move, the system had a meltdown and displayed massive warnings on the screen telling us to have the car checked at our Bentley dealer. Another time, the driver\u2019s door (which has a self-closing mechanism) failed to close properly. A quick restart of the car solved two out of three of these issues, but you get the impression that they wouldn\u2019t have come up if you were in a BMW, Audi or Mercedes.<\/p>\n

\"Bentley<\/h3>\n

Running costs<\/h3>\n

Okay, you\u2019re spending AED 1.3 million on your car. You don\u2019t care about running costs. Still, in terms of fuel economy, you\u2019re looking at 25.3 l\/100 km. Using some quick MotorGeeks maths, this means you\u2019ll be filling up the 85-litre fuel tank with Super 98 for AED 180 every 350 km or so. For insurance, you\u2019ll be paying anywhere between AED 26,000 and AED 50,000 for a fully comprehensive policy. And, upon driving out the showroom, you\u2019ll immediately knock something like AED 300,000 off the resale value.\u00a0Is that a price worth paying for your own slab of ultimate Bentley luxury? Some will say yes.<\/p>\n

\"Bentley<\/h3>\n

Our verdict<\/h3>\n

This is arguably the most capable Bentley currently available. It may not have the sleek looks or the sportiness of the Continental GT, but it delivers so much more space, luxury and practicality that that\u2019s a trade-off worth making. If you want a Bentley, this is probably the one to have.<\/p>\n

You might look at the Bentayga\u2019s price tag and conclude that the Range Rover represents much better value. And you\u2019d be correct. But this is an SUV for the super-elite. It defies logic in its pricing, and instead looks to attract buyers for whom car purchases are an emotional, rather than logical, decision. Plus, Bentley is largely correct when it says that the Bentayga is the best SUV in the world. Having driven it, we\u2019d struggle to disagree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is it? The Bentayga is, according to Bentley, the best SUV in the world. At AED 1.3 million, it\u2019s certainly one of the most expensive, but it\u2019s also one of the fastest, and absolutely one of the most luxurious. But the Bentayga is more than a simple collection of superlatives shoe-horned into the SUV…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,2666],"tags":[2602,2601,2595,2605,2603,2604,2608,2534,2606,2570,2607,2559,2560],"class_list":["post-20418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motors","category-reviews","tag-bentayga","tag-bentley","tag-dubai","tag-four-wheel-drive","tag-luxury","tag-luxury-cars","tag-motorgeeks","tag-off-road","tag-road-test","tag-suv","tag-tested","tag-uae","tag-united-arab-emirates"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}