Bentley Bentayga Speed returns with even more power and 193mph top speed

The Bentley Bentayga Speed held the title as the world’s fastest SUV for a while, thanks to its legendary W12 engine catapulting it to 190mph. Now the car is back – with V8 power. 

Bentley stopped building W12-equipped cars last year with the new Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain acting as a replacement. The Bentayga Speed, however, gets a 641bhp 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 without plug-in assistance – making it less powerful than the 771bhp Ultra Performance Hybrid and the recently-announced 671bhp High Performance Hybrid. 

Still, that’s more than the old 6.0-litre W12 Bentayga Speed produced (626bhp), and while there’s 50Nm less torque, the new V8-powered Bentayga Speed shrugs off the 0-62mph sprint 0.4 seconds quicker, taking just 3.4 seconds. The top speed has increased to 193mph as well. 

It’s not only faster in a straight line, either. With the old model, we always felt the V8 S was the sweeter option for keen drivers thanks to its slightly more favourable kerbweight, and with the new Speed, Bentley has implemented several changes to give it the dynamism the name suggests.

Alongside the Comfort and Bentley driving modes which are unchanged from other Bentayga models, the Sport mode has been recalibrated for the Speed. It creates more responsive steering, helped by 15 per cent stiffer damping and brake torque vectoring, which is aimed at giving the Speed more agility in bends, too. 

There’s also four-wheel steering, a new launch control function and a new ESC Dynamic mode to allow for “exhilarating drift angles where appropriate”, according to Bentley.

With the Speed’s supercar levels of power and near 2.5-tonne kerbweight, we’d imagine most buyers will specify the optional carbon ceramic brakes, which can be painted in no fewer than seven different colours. They sit behind a set of optional 23-inch wheels bespoke for the Speed, with 22-inch rims reserved for the steel brake set-up. 

Helping the Speed look distinct to the rest of the Bentley range is the black roof, finished in either gloss or satin. There’s also a rear spoiler and dark-tinted exterior trim, with chrome Speed badging on the doors and unique headlights up front. 

Inside, you’ll find the usual suite of Bentley extravagance full of diamond-quilted stitching and chrome, although the Speed also gets a unique driver’s display with extra information on the car’s performance set-up, Speed badging on the seats and the option of green accents – just like the exterior. 

Pricing for the Bentayga Speed hasn’t been announced yet, but we expect it to cost more than the old W12 model, possibly sitting over the £250,000 mark.

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