It’s not unreasonable to say that, were Bentley not part of the VW Group, this car wouldn’t exist.
Partly that’s because Bentley wouldn’t have had the money to do the job properly but also because, without VW, it wouldn’t have had access to the hardware.
The Bentley shares its architecture with Audi’s Q7. Both are on the group’s MLB platform, as will be the next Porsche Cayenne.
Out of that, Bentley has crafted a car that looks very much like a Bentley. To our eyes, it’s not the most graceful car on the planet, but that trait never stopped the first-generation Cayenne from being a rip-roaring success.
The Bentley’s 2995mm wheelbase is just 1mm longer than the Q7’s but, that aside, it’s bigger than the Audi in every dimension, and every inch luxury car sized. It’s 5130mm long, 1998mm wide (a worrisome 2224mm wide with mirrors) and 1742mm tall.
Talk to Bentley’s engineers and they’ll agree with the supposition that the Bentayga is being asked to fulfil a broader remit than any other car in the world.
