I'm taking the Bentley Off-Road: WHAATTT

admin   Fri, 13 May 2016  MACHEENE | Report Abuse

It is a new world, filled with great offering from all angles of the automotive spectrum who would have thought we would have a choice of offerings from a an electric car that seats 4 and is faster than a Ferrari, a car with 700hp factory (we know its american), and hypercars with the speed and agility to stay with some indy cars. Scary and fun times but the bread butter is still in the CUV market. I have talked in previous articles on how this market ooozes high dollars and any company, and I mean any company that doesn’t build a CUV is missing out on large market shares. Back to taking the Bentley Off-Road I introduce you to the Bentayga (Pronounced ben-TAY-gah).

  

Bentley the luxury arm of VW has now jumped into the SUV/CUV wars in the past it was left to the middle luxury brands to hold the crown. Bentley has seen the success of Porshe moving from super niche to ultra popular and the trivial decision that automakers have to make in alienating some of the loyal followers. In my mind the more the better if your in the game for profit and Porshe still has an outstanding name and following the models still teeder the line between high end luxury to super niche which makes it a player. Can Bentley become this type of player in the market, well if you don’t know where to start, get a SUV/CUV. Hell while you’re at it, underpin it to the strikely gorgeous Audi Q7 which has won awards as the top SUV/CUV in its class coupled with Volvo.



The Bentayga development began as the company had to determine what route it would go as far as new development. They had a beautiful coup in development but due to the pressures rumours of the Lamborghini Urus, and Maserati Levante the team decided to execute on the volume rather than a specialty variant. As the company that redefined the grand tourer the question is why not redesign the premium SUV market. Though underpinned by the 2nd Gen Q7 this vehicle has 80% unique parts as expected. Let’s take a look at the specs to see what we are dealing with:





   
If your looking at the top speed and saying uh ohh your right. This is the fastest SUV in the market on paper. Bentley’s entry had to be a bang and they have done so. Is this thing all go and no off road, no space in the back lets get into where it fits in the market place. First things first this is not meant to be a Range Rover but is certainly capable off-road. So we keep the Bentley charm on road with the addition of some technological advancements for further enjoyment. So first there is air suspension set up that allows you to maneuver up and down depending on the situation so for speed you sit lower and for rock climbing you sit higher to the tune 275mm at its max. There are also 8 select modes you can choose to make sure that your optimized for off-road/on-road action this is an optional feature that include names with the likes of:

• Snow & Grass - slippery surfaces
• Dirt & Gravel - use on loose surfaces
• Mud & Trail - steep gradients and obstacles
• Sand Dunes - surf driving in deep sand

These can all be monitored via the computer controlled driver information panel which gives you information on ride height, drive mode, transverse inclination, wheel suspension travel, steering angle, and compass bearing. Bentley stamps off the off road capabilities with the Dynamic ride solution that utilizes some electric power to maintain stable performance and potential high center of gravity hop to keep the vehicle plugged to the road.

  



So we add up performance figures and realize this vehicle is a monster and capable of doing many things well, we than get to the reason a Bentley is a Bentley and that is the luxury and craftsmanship. Let’s leave a moment of no doubt that these things are transferrable. A Bentley wouldn’t be such without a tolerance level for interior trim down to the millimeter, mirror finish paint work, Veners, Acoustic glazing for sound deadening, and a 130 hour prep time just to build this handcrafted marvel.

It will be exciting to see how this performs in sales sad thing to say like most Bentleys you would be lucky to see one.