The Bentley Bentayga is a
mid-size luxury crossover SUV
A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles ( ...
produced by
Bentley Motors since late 2015. It is the first SUV to be produced by the brand. Its body is manufactured at the
Volkswagen Zwickau-Mosel Plant
The Volkswagen Zwickau-Mosel Plant (german: Volkswagenwerk Zwickau) is an automobile factory, which was founded on 26 September 1990 in today's Zwickau district of Mosel and together with the Chemnitz plant and the Transparent Factory belongs to ...
in Germany, then painted by Paintbox Editions in
Banbury
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...
, United Kingdom, with final assembly being at
Bentley Motor's factory in Crewe, United Kingdom.
Concept car
Bentley's first SUV was previewed as the Bentley EXP 9 F concept car at the
2012 Geneva Motor Show. The concept car was based upon the
Volkswagen Group MLB platform
The Volkswagen Group MLB platform is the company's platform strategy, announced in 2012, for shared modular construction of its longitudinal, front-engined automobiles.
It was developed by Audi and first introduced in 2007 on the Audi A5 then, c ...
, powered by a 6.0 L
W12 engine
A W12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where three banks of four cylinders are arranged in a W configuration around a common crankshaft.
W12 engines with three banks of four cylinders were used by several aircraft engines from 1917 unt ...
producing .
The initial design of the EXP 9 F was redesigned to achieve "more traditional SUV proportions and less retro surfacing."
The production version was announced in July 2013. The Bentley EXP 9 F's design proved to be controversial, and it received a mixed response from the automobile press. After some criticism for the design of the EXP 9 F, Bentley announced that it would change the styling for the production versions.
Overview
The production Bentayga debuted at the
Frankfurt Motor Show
The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...
in September 2015 as Bentley's first SUV – using
unibody
A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.
Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...
construction and full-time
all-wheel drive
An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand.
The most common forms of all-wheel drive are:
;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...
as well as Volkswagen Group's bi-turbo
W12 engine and
MLB platform, the latter shared with the
second-generation Audi Q7 and the
third-generation Porsche Cayenne,
Audi Q8
The Audi Q8 is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV coupé made by Audi that was launched in 2018. It is the flagship of the Audi SUV line, and is being produced at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant.
Overview
BMW launched its coupe SUV in 2008, the B ...
, and
Lamborghini Urus
The Lamborghini Urus is a high performance luxury SUV manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini. It was unveiled on 4 December 2017 and was put on the market for the 2018 model year. The name comes from the urus, the ancestor o ...
.
Available in seating configurations for four, five, or seven, the Bentayga was claimed by the manufacturer as the SUV which has the highest top speed as well as the second most expensive production SUV.
A total of 608 "First Edition" units were manufactured upon introduction, of which 75 were allocated to be sold in the US market.
The original prediction for 2016 was that 3,500 Bentaygas would be sold. When the entire production volume for the year sold out in advance, production was increased and resulted in 5,586 units being sold.
Despite its high price tag, the car was a sales success for Bentley in 2016 and became Bentley's most popular model.
Bentley revealed the name Bentayga in January 2015. The name comes from
Roque Bentayga, an emblematic highland rock situated in
Tejeda
Tejeda is a village and a municipality in the mountainous central part of the island of Gran Canaria in the province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
Location
The village of Tejeda is situated north-west of the Pico de las Nieves and s ...
,
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...
,
the subtropical
Canary Island
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocco ...
. The company also drew inspiration from a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...](_blank)
'', the world's largest transcontinental snow forest, composed of the first four letters of Bentley and an altered spelling of taiga. Bentayga also means "carried interest" in
Swahili.
An early name for the model was the Falcon.
Assembly
Originally slated by
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
to be produced at the
Volkswagen Bratislava Plant
The Volkswagen Bratislava Plant is an automotive factory and co-located test track owned by Volkswagen Group in Bratislava, Slovakia.
History
Funded by the ruling Communist Party to expand car production across Czechoslovakia, it agreed a part ...
in Slovakia where the factory where all other models based on the platform are produced, an agreement was reached with the British Government for the model to be produced at the Crewe factory. Bentley has invested £800 million in a new facility in Crewe and employed 1,000 new employees to meet the demand for 3,000–4,000 SUVs per year.
Although assembly of the Bentayga was moved to Crewe, initially production of the Bentayga's body shell remained at the Bratislava facility. Body shell production was moved to Volkswagen's
Zwickau-Mosel Plant at the end of 2016.
Powertrains
W12
The 2016 Bentayga was the first to receive Bentley's new twin-turbo
W12 engine
A W12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where three banks of four cylinders are arranged in a W configuration around a common crankshaft.
W12 engines with three banks of four cylinders were used by several aircraft engines from 1917 unt ...
. Initially, the W12 was the only engine and it was capable of bypassing 6 cylinders if needed.
Bentley claimed the 6.0 L capable of in 4.0 seconds, in 4.1 s, and a top speed of .
The manufacturer self-proclaimed the vehicle to be the world's fastest production SUV in 2016.
The Bentayga uses a 48-volt electrical system to control its electrically controlled
active anti-roll bar
An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheel ...
(EWAS), which helps the heavy SUV reduce
body roll
Body roll is the axial rotation of a Vehicle, vehicle’s Vehicle frame, body towards the outside of a turn. Body roll occurs because the Compliant mechanism, compliance in Car suspension, vehicle suspension allows the vehicle body, which sits upo ...
.
[
]
Diesel
Starting in 2017, a diesel V8 derived from the VW Group diesel V8 was available. This engine is Bentley's first diesel and only offered in the Bentayga. Included are a badge on the front wing and the trapezoid quad exhaust tips. Bentley claims performance of the 4.0 L, twin-turbo diesel of in 4.6 seconds, in 4.8 s, and a top speed of .
V8
A V8 engine became available in 2018. Bentley claimed the 4.0 L, twin-turbo will have performance figures from in 4.4 seconds, in 4.5 s, and a top speed of . Its combined cycle emissions are 272 g/km and its fuel consumption is .
Hybrid
A plug-in hybrid model was revealed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show and went on sale in the UK, Europe, and North America in October 2019. It combines a 3.0 L V6 turbo petrol engine and an electric motor, for a system output of and of torque. The lithium-ion battery pack offers a range of as per NEDC testing.
Engines
2020 facelift
The facelifted model was released in June 2020. Changes include new 3D elliptical tail-lights with animated LEDs, similar to those on the third-generation Continental GT, and a rear number plate re-positioned onto the bumper to allow for ‘Bentley’ to be spelled out across the tailgate. The rear spoiler was enlarged. New side vents, a new wheel design, and two paint colours were added. New oval-shaped split tailpipes, heated wipers with 22 washer jets in each arm, and an optional Blackline variant with blacked-out chrome complete the external alterations.
Changes were in the cabin, such as in the rear, where new seat frames in combination with extra reclining allow a increase in knee space. There are ventilated rear seats and the car can be had with four, five, or seven seats. Rear passengers also receive an updated 5.0-in removable touchscreen tablet to control entertainment and comfort functions.
The infotainment has a new system with a higher resolution 10.9-in touchscreen. Included are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Android Auto is a mobile app developed by Google to mirror features of an Android device, such as a smartphone, on a car's dashboard information and entertainment head unit.
Once an Android device is paired with the car's head unit, the syst ...
as well as USB-C
USB-C (properly known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical connector. The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be confused with the conn ...
ports, air ioniser
An air ioniser (or negative ion generator or Chizhevsky's chandelier) is a device that uses high voltage to ionise (electrically charge) air molecules. Negative ions, or anions, are particles with one or more extra electrons, conferring a net n ...
s, wireless smartphone charging, and an embedded SIM card
A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)
A GSM mobile phone
file:Simkarte NFC SecureElement.jpg, T-Mobile nano-SIM card with NFC capabilities in the SIM tray of an iPhone 6s
file:Tf sim both sides.png, A TracFone Wireless SIM card ha ...
for data services. The traditional instrument dials have been replaced with a digital display (like in newer Bentleys) and the head-up display shows much more data. The audio system is a 790W, 12-speaker stereo with an optional Naim system that has 1780W and 20 speakers.
The optional W12 engine is no longer available for the 2020 model. The base model features a 4.0 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine generating . Optional is the V6 plug-in hybrid which will come to the market by late 2020. A new Bentayga Speed was introduced in August 2020. It shares the same 6.0 L Twin-turbocharged W12 engine with the older Bentayga Speed which generates .
2022 Bentley Bentayga S
In 2022, Bentley has announced details of the new Bentayga S, providing sportier agility.
Mulliner
Mulliner is Bentley's internal customisation company, which creates limited-edition options and accessories. Customers are able to customise the cars including custom paint and colours as well as interior hide and carpet colours. An option is the Mulliner Tourbillon dashboard clock designed by Swiss watchmaker Breitling. The clock spins 3 times every 15 minutes.
2023 Bentley Bentayga EWB
In May 2022, the Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase, intended to replace the Bentley Mulsanne, was released. It features a V8 twin-turbo 4.0-litre engine that produces , active anti-roll bars, and rear wheel steering.
Recall
Some seats had not been secured properly during assembly, and Bentley issued a recall for 378 cars in November 2016.
References
External links
*
Bentley Bentayga at Pikes Peak
at Official Bentley channel on YouTube
{{Bentley timeline 1998 to date
Bentayga
The Bentley Bentayga is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by Bentley Motors since late 2015. It is the first SUV to be produced by the brand. Its body is manufactured at the Volkswagen Zwickau-Mosel Plant in Germany, then painted by Pa ...
Cars introduced in 2015
2020s cars
Mid-size sport utility vehicles
Luxury crossover sport utility vehicles
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Hybrid electric cars
Plug-in hybrid vehicles
Expanded length sport utility vehicles