2026 Bentley Bentayga Speed | UK Review
Not sold on a 1,156hp battery Cayenne? Its Crewe cousin still believes in the pull of pure petrol
Were proof ever needed about how simply and affordably (in relative terms) electricity yields horsepower, it’s served this week by two, rather different VW group super-SUVs. The new Cayenne Turbo Electric is the most powerful Porsche road car in history, its 1,156hp peak is almost double that of a Carrera GT yet conducted to the ground fairly masterfully via a whole suite of chassis tech. While Sam was overseas getting a big grin silently slapped on his face, I was back on British shores driving a louder, pricier yet half as powerful alternative.
The Bentley Bentayga Speed is a known entity to PH and it’s my hands which tapped the first drive from its global launch in Montana last summer. This is a chance to reassess it on the narrower, bumpier roads of home, where an errant house cat or kamikaze pheasant is more likely to stroll into the road than a bison or bear.
Plenty about the second-gen Bentayga Speed marks it out as special – more special than its modest exterior upgrade portrays, however much orange highlighting it’s been gifted. The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 up front develops 650hp and 627lb ft, the former 100hp healthier than a standard V8 Bentayga and the latter on tap from just 2,250rpm – enough for 0-62 in 3.4 seconds and a 193mph top speed, both neat improvements upon the older, W12-motivated Speed. All four wheels are driven through an eight-speed automatic transmission and the lack of any hybrid assistance keeps its kerb weight below 2.5 tonnes. Small mercies, of course, but that new Porsche is significantly chunkier while wearing much less bougie trim inside.
The bigger news, though, is the Bentayga debut of an ESC Sport mode and Launch Control – so long as you’ve spent ten grand on the ‘Dynamic Specification’ and its carbon ceramics to unlock the option. Those measure 440mm up front to tie the Speed with the Lamborghini Urus and Conti GT for ‘world’s biggest production brakes’ honours. While the Speed’s other drive modes are tuned the same as its base car, twisting the delightfully knurled dial to Sport ramps up the steering response (at both axles), stiffens the damping by 15 per cent and opens up a more agile world of brake torque vectoring and the newly languid grasp of its stability control.
A car that proved riotous on a sprawling Montana ranch is still wholly satisfying on the tighter confines of UK roads. It potters along very nicely indeed in its default Bentley mode, the mellifluous burble of its V8 – given louder voice by a £7,740 titanium Akrapovic setup – underscoring a car that still places comfort and luxe above all else. Twisting to Sport doesn’t ruin the ambience, crucially, and while the auto ‘box now clings more keenly onto lower ratios, it treads a finely judged line between dynamism and decorum. So long as you’re mindful enough to upshift through villages to avoid making too much of a racket.
It’s also a gratifying thing to drive once the village limits end and the road opens up. A 48v anti-roll system keeps a deliberately soft grasp on things, the Bentayga still allowed to pitch and roll in corners to neatly sidestep the overly taut nature of some of its myriad rivals. There’s plenty of performance and control, but the core, Bentayga character – ‘a Bentley, but higher’ – appears sacrosanct to the Speed treatment. We know it can cut loose and show a sharper dynamic edge, but you get a welcome sense of assertion on the road without it undergoing an uncouth transformation in character. Standard air suspension soaks up any dynamic disadvantage that comes with its optional 23-inch wheels, too.
The Bentayga is a ten-year-old car now, and it’s remained something of a benchmark amid the luxury and performance 4x4 Venn diagram for that entire decade. Its legacy status also means a sensibly sized touchscreen, finely crafted physical climate controls and a nice, round steering wheel with only a light smattering of buttons. Decorum indeed.
This first UK drive permitted us a handful of laps around Goodwood Motor Circuit, too, where its outright traction and smart balance made it a pleasing thing to throw around – its 650hp proving sufficient to not frustrate the supercars we shared track space with. Even 440mm ceramics don’t permit the same braking points as a 296 or Temerario, of course, yet the Speed acquitted itself well in a situation I don’t imagine too many will ever find themselves in. Even if it does hold the ICE SUV record on Goodwood Hill.
“Bentley is probably keen to shoehorn in any ICE-only specials before the electrified grasp of its Beyond100+ strategy irrevocably tightens,” I said last June. Since then, we’ve seen its powertrain popped into the Pastrana-approved rear-drive Conti Supersports and an apparent further dilution of Crewe’s electrification plans. The Luxury Urban SUV is still coming, sharing a platform with that new Cayenne, and it won’t be re-engineered to take an ICE setup. But other EVs scrawled on the big Bentley whiteboard may not be immune to such a pivot. Bentley is far from alone in having to alter broad, forward-looking philosophies. In this context, the Speed appears less of a high-intensity send-off than it did just nine months ago – though it feels no less satisfying for it.
SPECIFICATION | 2026 BENTLEY BENTAYGA SPEED
Engine: 3,996cc, V8 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 650@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 627@2,250-4,500rpm
0-62mph: 3.6sec
Top speed: 193mph
Weight: 2,466kg
MPG: 21.6
CO2: 298g/km
Price: from £219,000
I doubt Mr Miliband reads these pages but if he did I'd like to think he'd be convulsing over his own clipboard full of net zero targets whilst Rachel from accounts watches on in compromised glee at the thought of more road tax from ICE subjects like this knowing full well it will help plug the black hole tax spiral she's spinning in.
The tree huggers can probably sense my near complete contempt against E.V but remember this. When Rachel either stops spinning or the tax take from ICE drops sufficiently enough for someone at hmrc to tell her so she'll cock her leg higher up your wonderful little slice of wheeled net zero. (That's if she and the rest of her money grubbers are still in a job) It'll be still be the same whatever the political landscape.
Some holding their EV plugs will be seen rodent faced at the betrayal but many will be content at their environmental contribution whilst still grimmising at every pot hole they hit.
I do have genuine admiration for the EV adopters in trying to preserve our wonderful country (btw lots of people I speak to say it's screwed) but when I take a helicopter view at many other countries it's evident that despite our efforts they are pissing up the UK tree we are hugging and they will continue to do so for many years to come.
What's the point when you can see we are all pissing in the wind?
And for those of us who see life through rose tinted specs a final thought. All that reduced heat and clean air we will be contributing to won't be ours with exclusivity.
That's why the world is apparently still warming up and we are still breathing some other countries polluted air.
And that's why.
I pity the fuel.
The list is far to long for this post.
Google: (copy & paste).
who are the countries that are simply not doing net zero or are failing with their targets.
Yep the UK is there as well.
So you can lambast my post if you wish but it will be lost on deaf ears. Use your time wisely.Better to e-mail the county leaders with your thoughts and ideas.
I doubt Mr Miliband reads these pages but if he did I'd like to think he'd be convulsing over his own clipboard full of net zero targets whilst Rachel from accounts watches on in compromised glee at the thought of more road tax from ICE subjects like this knowing full well it will help plug the black hole tax spiral she's spinning in.
The tree huggers can probably sense my near complete contempt against E.V but remember this. When Rachel either stops spinning or the tax take from ICE drops sufficiently enough for someone at hmrc to tell her so she'll cock her leg higher up your wonderful little slice of wheeled net zero. (That's if she and the rest of her money grubbers are still in a job) It'll be still be the same whatever the political landscape.
Some holding their EV plugs will be seen rodent faced at the betrayal but many will be content at their environmental contribution whilst still grimmising at every pot hole they hit.
I do have genuine admiration for the EV adopters in trying to preserve our wonderful country (btw lots of people I speak to say it's screwed) but when I take a helicopter view at many other countries it's evident that despite our efforts they are pissing up the UK tree we are hugging and they will continue to do so for many years to come.
What's the point when you can see we are all pissing in the wind?
And for those of us who see life through rose tinted specs a final thought. All that reduced heat and clean air we will be contributing to won't be ours with exclusivity.
That's why the world is apparently still warming up and we are still breathing some other countries polluted air.
And that's why.
I pity the fuel.
I doubt Mr Miliband reads these pages but if he did I'd like to think he'd be convulsing over his own clipboard full of net zero targets whilst Rachel from accounts watches on in compromised glee at the thought of more road tax from ICE subjects like this knowing full well it will help plug the black hole tax spiral she's spinning in.
The tree huggers can probably sense my near complete contempt against E.V but remember this. When Rachel either stops spinning or the tax take from ICE drops sufficiently enough for someone at hmrc to tell her so she'll cock her leg higher up your wonderful little slice of wheeled net zero. (That's if she and the rest of her money grubbers are still in a job) It'll be still be the same whatever the political landscape.
Some holding their EV plugs will be seen rodent faced at the betrayal but many will be content at their environmental contribution whilst still grimmising at every pot hole they hit.
I do have genuine admiration for the EV adopters in trying to preserve our wonderful country (btw lots of people I speak to say it's screwed) but when I take a helicopter view at many other countries it's evident that despite our efforts they are pissing up the UK tree we are hugging and they will continue to do so for many years to come.
What's the point when you can see we are all pissing in the wind?
And for those of us who see life through rose tinted specs a final thought. All that reduced heat and clean air we will be contributing to won't be ours with exclusivity.
That's why the world is apparently still warming up and we are still breathing some other countries polluted air.
And that's why.
I pity the fuel.
Live your own life
I doubt Mr Miliband reads these pages but if he did I'd like to think he'd be convulsing over his own clipboard full of net zero targets whilst Rachel from accounts watches on in compromised glee at the thought of more road tax from ICE subjects like this knowing full well it will help plug the black hole tax spiral she's spinning in.
The tree huggers can probably sense my near complete contempt against E.V but remember this. When Rachel either stops spinning or the tax take from ICE drops sufficiently enough for someone at hmrc to tell her so she'll cock her leg higher up your wonderful little slice of wheeled net zero. (That's if she and the rest of her money grubbers are still in a job) It'll be still be the same whatever the political landscape.
Some holding their EV plugs will be seen rodent faced at the betrayal but many will be content at their environmental contribution whilst still grimmising at every pot hole they hit.
I do have genuine admiration for the EV adopters in trying to preserve our wonderful country (btw lots of people I speak to say it's screwed) but when I take a helicopter view at many other countries it's evident that despite our efforts they are pissing up the UK tree we are hugging and they will continue to do so for many years to come.
What's the point when you can see we are all pissing in the wind?
And for those of us who see life through rose tinted specs a final thought. All that reduced heat and clean air we will be contributing to won't be ours with exclusivity.
That's why the world is apparently still warming up and we are still breathing some other countries polluted air.
And that's why.
I pity the fuel.
It's not as powerful as the Cayenne, and with a 22 gallon tank might just tip 400miles if driven by a Karen. So isn't the range worse too?
Now I see why the writer forgot to do a comparison.
Not that I really care, unlike the first poster............
Looking at those prices, it’s mind blowing to think what a good deal the base model Touareg is.
There's no point in trying to rewrite history when that history is still within living memory and everyone knows Leyland, Rover, Ford, Vauxhall etc effectively stopped manufacturing cars pretty much last century and all that remains today is a few heavily subsidised assembly plants for overseas firms such as Nissan which all primarily export and are at risk due to external global economics.
The chaps frothing the most on PH about the eco stuff are all old enough to have witnessed this first hand and most will have gleefully partaken in the U.K. car manufacturing demise the instant PCP arrived and allowed them to get hold of a BMW instead of a loser Ford or Vauxhall. For them to now be wailing that it's all the fault of people today that they don't like is just a bit silly.
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