Bentley Bentayga Review (2015-present)

What is the Bentley Bentayga?

There are luxury SUVs that manage to be rather discreet, despite their immense size. The Range Rover, for example. Paint it silver, leave it standard, and it doesn’t shout too loudly. There are also luxury SUVs that fill the road with their presence, letting all and sundry know they’re there. The Lamborghini Urus, for example, or the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

The Bentley Bentayga is the latter. From the moment you first clap eyes on it, it is unmistakably a Bentley, because the front end is particularly reminiscent of the Continental GT. But its bulging bodywork and huge mesh grilles are more in-your-face than most of the manufacturer’s other offerings. Perhaps, dare we say it, a little crass?

Bentayga owners will probably want to be noticed, and even if they don’t, they will be. However, the main draw of the Bentayga is not how it looks from the outside, it’s the interior, which is about as lavish as it gets for an SUV. Leather seats butt up against leather door panels; yet more leather swaddles the ceiling and the dashboard, where you’ll find great slabs of wood – or aluminium if you prefer that – and lovely knurled switchgear for the climate control system. Look closer, and there are a couple of bum notes. The plasticky column stalks, sourced from Audi, aren’t as nice as the bespoke items you get in the cheaper Continental GT, for example, but for the most part the Bentayga is a fine place to be.

How practical is it?

The Bentayga is available with four, five, or seven seats, so new buyers have the choice of practicality or exclusivity. Whatever configuration you choose, there isn’t quite as much room in the back as you might expect, despite its immense size. The huge, chunky front seats extend a long way back into the rear footwells, and the protruding fold-down tray tables take up more of your knee room. It won’t be a problem for most people, but taller passengers sitting in the back may feel a little cramped. That said, folk in the front have acres of room.

Boot space is, frankly, disappointing for a car of the Bentley’s dimensions. The four-seat model has two individual rear seats in place of a conventional rear bench, and that layout means it has the smallest boot at 382 litres. To put that into context, a Volkswagen Golf has a 374-litre boot. The five-seater’s boot is larger at 484 litres, but even that is paltry in such a massive vehicle. Bentley doesn’t quote figures for the seven-seat version with the rear seats upright, but it’s probably safe to assume there isn’t much room to spare.

As another benchmark, the seven-seat Audi Q7 SUV – which isn’t as posh as the Bentley but is still very much at the premium end of things – has a 740-litre boot with five seats upright.

What's it like to drive?

The Bentayga’s driving experience is dominated by its air suspension. It’s been set up to be soft, so it wafts effortlessly over larger bumps, but it can’t quite damp out the smaller imperfections that make their way through the thin tyres and big wheels. The result is that the Bentayga never feels quite as settled or as composed as Bentley’s Continental GT coupe or Flying Spur saloon.

It makes a half-decent fist of things when you come to a corner, though, with plenty of grip, thanks to standard four-wheel drive, and positive, direct steering. This is a big, heavy car, though, so it can only bend the laws of physics so far. Brake hard, and the Bentayga’s middle pedal can feel soft and the brakes themselves don’t haul it to a halt quite as effectively as you might like. If you’re after an SUV that handles well, then a Porsche Cayenne is a better choice.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

You’re unlikely to want for much inside the Bentayga. The latest version includes an excellent 10.9” touchscreen infotainment system with gesture control, satellite navigation with a 3D building display, Apple Carplay and Android Auto, voice control, a 4G phone and Wi-Fi hotspot, and a touchscreen remote for the rear cabin controller – among other things.

The standard 590-watt audio system comes with 12 speakers, and, for a pretty penny, you can upgrade that to a 1,780-watt, 20-speaker Naim set-up. There’s also an optional digital TV, up six USB-C slots, a packet of electronic driver assistance systems and more paintwork and leather options than you could ever need – although bespoke ones are available on request, probably for a significant premium.

Bentley Bentayga running costs

If running costs are even the slightest consideration for you, then you’ll probably want the diesel, which should return around 25-30 mpg in everyday use, and the fuel economy figures go downhill for all the other models. Don’t expect to break 20 mpg too frequently with the V8, while in either the standard W12 or the Speed model, 15 mpg will be about as good as it gets.

Don’t be fooled by the hybrid’s official figures, either. They might look good on paper, but the official test flatters plug-in hybrids, so in the real world you stand little chance of achieving them, and it is entirely dependent on how frequently you charge the battery. Expect an average of 40mpg or so with a full charge, and around 20-25mpg once it’s depleted.

Servicing, parts, and general repair costs will be high, which is to be expected with a top-end prestige car. That’s worth bearing in mind if you’re hoping to buy a cheaper second-hand example, though; it may cost less than a new one, but you’ll still have to spend a lot of money on maintenance.

One thing you won’t have to shell out for, though, is a timing belt. That’s because instead of a rubber belt, which needs replacing every few years, all Bentayga engines feature a metal timing chain, which is designed to last the lifetime of the car.

Bentley Bentayga reliability

It’s hard to get a handle on exactly how reliable a Bentayga will be because they’re pretty exclusive things, and most Bentley owners don’t tend to take part in reliability surveys. However, Bentley’s reputation is not stellar, with lots of complex electronics to go wrong and stratospheric costs to repair things when they break.

The manufacturer’s three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty is commensurate with other premium brands – Porsche, Mercedes, and BMW, for example, all offer the same level of cover – and extended warranty packages for older models are available.