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THE BRIEF IS SIMPLE: BUILD THE FASTEST, MOST LUXURIOUS AND MOST EXPENSIVE SUV IN THE WORLD
BENTLEY WO R D S JA KE A R MFIELD
EET the Bentley Bentayga. It’s powered by a 6.0-litre W12 that develops more than 405kW and 720Nm, enough grunt to take it comfortably beyond 275km/h, say the Bentley boys. The interior is a sensual delight, redolent with the rich tang of high-quality leather, and suffused with the warm glow of wood and sparkling highlights of white-bright chrome. And the price? Don’t expect much change from half a million bucks. The Bentayga makes its public debut at the Frankfurt motor show this month, but in the course of the past few months we’ve spent time with Bentley’s development engineers and designers, and driven lightly disguised, near-production prototypes. And, yes, we’ve driven them off-road. Bentley’s new SUV is built on a variant of VW Group’s MLB architecture (longitudinal front engine, all-wheel drive) codenamed PL73. It’s similar hardware to that used for the new Audi Q7, but the Bentayga gets its own suspension and brakes, and debuts VW Group’s
58 wheelsmag.com.au
