2016 Bentley Bentayga - passenger ride

There’s nothing harsh about sitting inside a Bentayga, its cabin instantly recognisable thanks to the sumptuous materials and fine detailing for which Bentleys are known.

There’s also plenty of space and a rear-seat experience to match that up front if two adjustable, individual chairs are ordered. You can’t fully recline the rears to experience a faux hot-stone massage as you can in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, it’s true, but the experience is pretty sybaritic nonetheless, especially if the leather specified is more colourful than the necessarily dull tones of these prototypes. 

The cars demonstrate their performance as we clear Cape Town, where their ability to merge with fast-moving traffic is dramatically effective.

Further confirmation of this is provided by the mean-looking matt black Audi Q7 mule that’s part of our convoy. It is actually propelled by the full might of the Bentayga’s powertrain and rides on its actively roll-controlled air suspension.

Guest is keen that we experience the lack of tilt during a lane change test, which certainly bestows the Q7 with a confident agility belying its height and bulk, but it’s hard not to be equally impressed by its cushion-crushing acceleration and the engine’s muscular trumpetings. 

The source of this considerable force is a completely new 6.0-litre W12 engine. According to head of powertrain Paul Williams, the engine “has been redesigned from scratch, with barely a washer retained”.

The rethink has yielded an engine 30kg lighter and now of variable displacement, half the cylinders shutting down at times for fuel-saving cruising. Internal friction has been reduced and, unusually, the fuel injection system is both direct and indirect, these switching combustion methods being good “for emissions, driveability and cold-start performance”.

Bentley has yet to issue definitive statistics beyond pledging “more than 542bhp, over 519lb ft of torque, 0-62mph acceleration below 5.0sec, a top speed of over 170mph and CO2 emissions under 330g/km”. The impressive figures are largely the result of a predominantly aluminium body strategically girded with high-strength steels that saves 100kg. Its core is similar to the new Q7’s, the pair sharing Volkswagen’s MSB platform.

Performance like that is more than capable of whirling up a South African dust cloud that’s useful for ensuring the absence of penetration into both the cabin and the casings of the many electronic control units. The Bentayga carries no fewer than 90 ECUs – double a Continental’s – which you might think is asking for trouble, but Paterson maintains that while “every year the complexity goes up, so does reliability”. 

Those ECUs contribute substantially to the Bentley’s abilities off road and on, too. A Land Rover-style rotary knob provides modes for sand, mud and gravel, as well as comfort and sport. There’s also a ‘Bentley’ setting, optimal for most circumstances and intended to ease the driver’s relationship with the Bentayga’s considerable on-board technology. 

Guest explains: “Some SUVs are on-road biased. Others emphasise off-roading. The Bentley offers both.” That said, he reckons “most customers won’t take them off road, but they do want to know that the car can do it.” 

The technology behind its plush ride is particularly impressive, a 48-volt electric anti-roll system “completely eliminating roll but not comfort”, says Guest. Banishing the impact of the short, sharp shock is an obsession, the long-travel suspension design aiming for exceptional absorbency during the first few millimetres of a wheel’s movement.

The aim is a luxuriantly cushioned ride that doesn’t turn queasily nautical at the first sight of a corner. It isn’t quite roll-free – a good thing, we reckon – and sharp bumps sometimes agitate the hefty unsprung mass, but mostly you’ll enjoy sumptuous comfort. 

“In the early days,” says Guest, “we explored a less luxurious interior, but the market research clinic said, ‘Don’t even think about it’.” Open a door and it’s impossible to miss the luxuriant impact of exquisitely tailored seats, the depth in the beautifully lacquered woods and, after you’ve drunk it in awhile, the precision of the cabin’s assembly. The car can be ordered with three types of seating: one with four individual chairs and a centre console, another with five seats and a folding backrest and a third providing five-seats-plus-two, the last pair occasional. 

The tailgate is one-piece rather than a two-piece split, says Guest, “because when the bottom bit is down you can’t get anything out. You have to climb onto the tailgate to get at it. So for picnicking, we have an event seat, which clips to the luggage rails. It folds out of the rear and you can use it as a luggage divider.” 

Despite offering these charms, the Bentley also has plenty of ultra-modern equipment, including night vision, automatic parking, a surround-view camera and exit and lane departure warnings.

There’s no chance to test all of this while cruising dirt trails and fording rivers. Apart from underlining the usefulness of lashings of torque and excellent suspension articulation, our off-roading confirms the creak-free integrity of the Bentley’s structure, as well as its ability to scale a rain-lubricated rock climb that ascends in a series of deep-pitched steps.

The Bentayga tackles these with no run-up, its demo driver picking a course to minimise the shaving of its overhangs (ramp and departure angles are the one area where the Range Rover is ahead, says Bentley). It makes the climb, of course, but the almost animal-like slitherings of its rear end confirm the effort and finely calibrated traction required, even if the W12 does its job with a minimum of unseemly revving. 

It’s this easy effortlessness, in virtually every circumstance, that impresses deeply, especially because it’s combined with such wieldy handling, deft steering, earth-shrinking performance and mind-balming civility.

This is a go-anywhere car of a different kind, and although the most restrictive terrain it’s likely to encounter will be the world’s most exclusive valet parking addresses, Bentayga owners will doubtless be content that it can also tackle the planet’s most challenging roads and tracks with potent nonchalance.