Bentley Bentayga
The Bentley Bentayga is a mid-size, front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-door luxury crossover marketed by Bentley, beginning with model year 2016. Its body is manufactured at the Volkswagen Zwickau-Mosel plant, then painted by Paintbox Editions in Banbury, and finally assembled at the company's Crewe factory.
Development
An evolution of the 2012 Bentley EXP 9 F concept car, the production Bentayga debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2015 as Bentley's first SUV — using unibody construction and full-time all-wheel drive 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, and Lamborghini Urus.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.
Bentley officially unveiled the name "Bentayga" in January 2015. The name comes from Roque Bentayga, an emblematic highland rock situated in Tejeda, Gran Canaria, the subtropical Canary Island. The company also drew inspiration from a portmanteau of Bentley and Taiga, 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.
Bentley EXP 9 F
Bentley's first production SUV was first 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, powered by a 6.0 L W12 engine 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.
2020-2021 facelift
The optional W12 version of the updated Bentley Bentayga will be no longer available, which means that the base model of the updated Bentayga will be powered by a 4.0L twin-turbocharged V8 engine generating 542HP. The other optional engine choice is the V6 plug-in hybrid which will come to the market by late 2020. The updated Bentayga Speed will keep the same 6.0L twin-turbocharged W12 engine with the current Bentayga Speed and it is expected to be on the market by the year of 2021.Detail changes include new 3D elliptical tail-lights with animated LEDs, similar to those on the Continental GT, and a rear numberplate repositioned onto the bumper to allow for ‘Bentley’ to be spelled out across the tailgate.
There’s also a larger rear spoiler, new side vents and a new 22in wheel design, plus two new paint colours. 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.
There are significant changes to the cabin, too, most significantly in the rear, where new seat frames in combination with extra reclining allow a 100mm increase in knee space.
There are ventilated rear seats, too, while the Bentayga can still be had with four, five or seven seats. Rear passengers also receive an updated 5.0in removable touchscreen tablet to control entertainment and comfort functions.
Up front, the ageing infotainment is overhauled with a new system shown on a high-resolution 10.9in touchscreen. This gets as standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Further up-to-date features include USB-C ports, air ionisers, wireless smartphone charging and an embedded SIM card 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 has been upgraded, too. As standard, there is a 790W, 12-speaker stereo, with an optional Naim for Bentley system taking that to 1780W and 20 speakers.
Powertrains
W12
The 2016 Bentayga was the first to receive Bentley's new twin-turbo W12 engine. Initially, the W12 was the only engine option for the Bentayga, capable of bypassing 6 cylinders if needed. The 6.0 L, twin-turbo gives the Bentayga performance figures of in 4.0 seconds and a top speed of.The W12 Bentayga now has a top speed of and can go from in 4.0 seconds. The manufacturer self-proclaimed the vehicle to be the world's fastest production SUV in 2016.
The Speed version gets 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 190 mph.
The Bentayga uses a 48 volt electrical system to control its electrically controlled active anti-roll bar, which helps the heavy SUV reduce body roll.
Diesel
Starting in 2017, the Bentayga received an additional powertrain: a diesel V8 derived from the VW Group diesel V8. This engine is Bentley's first-ever diesel, and the Bentayga is only Bentley offered with a diesel powertrain. A Bentayga Diesel is identified by either the optional badge on the front wing, or the trapezoid quad exhaust tips. The performance of 4.0 L, twin-turbo version of the Bentayga include in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of.V8
The Bentayga V8 became available in 2018. The V8 version will have a lower MSRP than the W12. The 4.0 L, twin-turbo will have performance figures from in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of.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 3.0L V6 turbo petrol engine and an electric motor, for a system output of and of torque. The 17.3 kWh lithium-ion battery pack offers a range of 51 km / 31.7 miles as per NEDC testing.Engines
Source: Bentleymedia.com as of Jan 2018Production
Originally slated by Volkswagen to be produced at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Slovakia, 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.
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. These additional 1,500 units were also reserved by buyers in advance. The Bentayga had an order backlog that stretched into 2017; in some markets, the Bentayga was sold out for the next two years.
Despite its high price tag, the car was a sales success for Bentley in 2016 and became Bentley's most popular model.