The Bentley Bentayga S blends V8 twin-turbo performance with extra athleticism, and doesn’t disappoint…
- How much does the Bentley Bentayga S cost?
- What equipment comes with the Bentley Bentayga S?
- How safe is the Bentley Bentayga S?
- What technology does the Bentley Bentayga S feature?
- What powers the Bentley Bentayga S?
- How fuel efficient is the Bentley Bentayga S?
- What is the Bentley Bentayga S like to drive?
- Can the Bentley Bentayga S go off-road?
- What is the Bentley Bentayga S like inside?
- Should I buy the Bentley Bentayga S?
When the $500,000-plus W12 high-performance flagship Bentley Bentayga Speed is out of your price range, but you still yearn for a dynamic, engaging SUV assembled by people, not robots, the Bentley Bentayga S will fit the bill. Okay, you’ll still pay around half a million for it once on-road costs are added to the $450K RRP, but for the money you get a sonorous V8 engine, sportier suspension and an aggressive new exterior design. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just an Audi RS Q8 with hand-stitched massaging seats. The Bentley Bentayga S is much, much more than that…
How much does the Bentley Bentayga S cost?
The 2023 Bentley Bentayga S is priced from $450,200 before on-road costs are added, but the Dragon Red specimen you see in these photos costs a cool $543,757… and 75 cents … plus on-roads.
That’s because Bentley and many other high-end car marques allow – nay, encourage – owners to go completely troppo with options, extras and customisations. If you want a hot pink or canary yellow Bentayga S with a satin finish, you can get one with a personal commission paint upgrade for a mere $70,006.
The most expensive extras on this particular red and black land yacht include the Touring Package ($16,981) which adds active lane keep assist, active cruise control with stop-and-go function and a head-up display, along with almost $15,000 worth of lavish seating upgrades via contrast stitching and seat piping ($7164) and comfort front seats ($7693) with a massaging function.
The options prices are hugely inflated – it costs about $2000 to get autonomous driving functions and a head-up display on many mainstream Japanese cars – and one wonders why an almost half-million-dollar prestige SUV doesn’t have these fitted as standard?
Given that it’s based on the same platform architecture as the Volkswagen Touareg (and Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus and Audi Q7) you’d expect more features as standard. But I digress.
What equipment comes with the Bentley Bentayga S?
The 2023 Bentley Bentayga S base package comes with a 12-speaker stereo with subwoofer, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display and a gorgeous high-definition 10.9-inch central touch-screen display with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto fitted as standard.
Annoyingly, we couldn’t get CarPlay to work at all during our test, despite the best efforts of the helpful staff at the Melbourne Bentley showroom.
Power-operated leather seats finished in two-tone Hotspur and Beluga (red and black) are joined by colour-matched accents across the dashboard, while quad-zone climate control and ‘S’ badges scattered around the cabin along with illuminated door tread plates are also standard.
Powered soft-closing front doors are a nice touch, as is a panoramic sunroof and, like most Bentayga SUVs, you can choose four-, five- or seven-seat interior configurations.
The four-seat set-up is the way to go as the five-seat layout with a flat rear bench simply lacks pomp and ceremony. There’s also a new long-wheelbase Bentley Bentayga EWB that adds more space and reclining ‘airline’ rear seats.
From the outside, the Bentley Bentayga S looks tougher than usual, a proper brute in a suit, with plenty of exterior bling to let the world know this is no ordinary SUV.
It starts with larger and lower front and rear bumpers with gloss black accents and pretty much all the chrome work is replaced by gloss black.
Our test car gets carbon-fibre on the side skirts, black wing mirrors, a larger rear roof spoiler, a new and rather rorty sports exhaust system with split oval tailpipes and unique 22-inch alloy wheels shod with acres of sticky Pirelli P Zero rubber.
Replacing tyres will be a costly exercise (as will fuelling the thirsty V8 engine), and with a lacklustre three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and expensive replacement parts, ownership costs will be sky high, though Bentley now offers five years’ complimentary servicing.
Still, if you can afford a brand-new Bentley, running costs are presumably not too much of an issue.
How safe is the Bentley Bentayga S?
The 2023 Bentley Bentayga S is equipped with a similar safety suite to its lesser cousins from Audi and Volkswagen, which includes a full complement of eight airbags covering both seat rows.
That said, the Bentley does miss out on a front central airbag that newer and more advanced SUVs offer.
Other safety systems like low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist detection, blind spot assist, a 360-degree parking camera system and rear cross traffic alert are part of the package.
That features like lane keep assist, active cruise control with stop-and-go function and a head-up display are optional is hard to fathom, and as mentioned above is part of the $16,981 Touring Package.
Bentley’s top-selling model hasn’t been crash tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP, but its Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg counterparts that share the same platform were awarded five-star safety ratings.
What technology does the Bentley Bentayga S feature?
The tech package in the 2023 Bentley Bentayga S is good but not great.
The twin digital screens look good and offer reasonable functionality but aren’t class-leading and tell a tale of the vehicle’s age, dating back to 2016.
The second-generation Bentayga can be expected to lob in the next few years, but things like Matrix LED headlights fitted as standard, which can sustain high beams at night without dazzling other drivers, are welcome inclusions.
What powers the Bentley Bentayga S?
The 2023 Bentley Bentayga is no slouch, powered by a Porsche-developed 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that’s also deployed in the Porsche Cayenne, Audi RS Q8 and Lamborghini Urus premium SUVs.
The 3996cc bent-eight first appeared in 2016, and in this application develops the same 404kW and 770Nm as that original engine.
It can propel the overweight 2415kg British brute from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds, then on to a top speed of 290km/h, with a little help from the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.
It would have been good to see a little more mumbo for the Bentayga S model given its athletic pretensions, such as the same 478kW/850Nm tune for the Lamborghini Urus.
Even the Audi RS Q8 gets more power and torque (441kW/800Nm) and costs less than half as much at around $220,000.
But from the moment you hit the ornamental starter button and the V8 burbles into life, it’s clear the Bentayga has plenty of soul, the basso profundo acoustic emanating from the upgraded exhaust system making every drive a little more involving.
Better yet, the engine sounds way better than the strapping 6.0-litre W12 of the flagship Bentayga Speed, which kinda sounds like a muffled V6 – albeit with 467kW and 900Nm of torque.
In motion, the Bentayga S is rapid and responsive, with maximum torque of 770Nm on song from just under 2000rpm.
You feel the English land yacht’s 2.4-tonne mass from standstill, but once up and moving it develops pace with alarming ease.
How fuel efficient is the Bentley Bentayga S?
The engine also drinks like a fish. The manufacturer claims the 2023 Bentley Bentayga S consumes fuel at an average rate of 13L/100km.
Our figure was just under 20L/100km after day one during the fast-paced photo shoot, however it dropped to 15.3L/100km over three days and 500km of driving.
What is the Bentley Bentayga S like to drive?
The specially tuned suspension and sporty handling dynamics of the 2023 Bentley Bentayga S are what set it apart from the regular V8 model, and after a spirited blast through the Dandenong Ranges it’s manifestly clear that it’s a step up.
On challenging roads with plenty of corner variety, the Bentayga S feels brash and confident, the fat Pirelli P Zero tyres (285/40ZR22) generating convincing grip and the intelligent active suspension system delivering the sort of body control you’d expect from a sports car.
Lock the drive selector into ‘Sport’ mode and the three-chamber air suspension and adaptive dampers increase chassis stiffness by 15 per cent, claims Bentley, and there’s no question dynamic performance is improved in this mode.
Sport mode also firms up the active anti-roll bars and adjusts the traction control setting to allow for better power-down acceleration out of corners.
Lastly, the brake-based torque vectoring system also becomes more assertive and is claimed to improve turn-in.
The Bentayga S sits incredibly flat through corners, which allows the Italian tyres to really bite into the road. It’s a very willing and able performance SUV.
While the forceful nature of the eight-cylinder engine, blatting and barking between gearshifts, adds a bit of drama, the big Brit has a heavy nose with that V8 hanging over the front axle and I never felt confident to push past 7/10ths because of its weight.
The hefty 400mm iron front brake rotors with six-piston callipers (380mm rear brake discs) are capable, but the big rig gets a bit squirrelly when you really mash the brake pedal.
And while 7/10ths is still blindingly quick, it’s hard to recommend the Bentley over an Audi RS Q8 when it comes to driver involvement and high-performance capability.
At more pedestrian speeds around town and set to comfort or ‘Bentley’ mode, there’s extra slack in the throttle which is a nice touch, ensuring ultra-smooth acceleration from standstill.
It’s a very quiet, relaxed and luxurious mode of transport, especially with the massage seats thrumming away.
That said, the air suspension and adaptive dampers cannot compensate for its massive 22-inch rims in every scenario, the wheels sometimes thumping over divots and changes in the road surface.
Can the Bentley Bentayga S go off-road?
The 2023 Bentley Bentayga S can indeed go off-road, with its air suspension offering four different ride height settings.
Along with the full-time four-wheel drive system and air suspension, an optional All Terrain Specification ($9560) adds four dedicated off-road modes (Snow/Wet Grass, Dirt/Gravel, Mud/Trail, Sand), a 500mm wading depth and extra underbody protection via a sump guard.
However, I had no intention of taking the Bentayga S on dirt roads, let alone on a technical, rutted off-road track through the heart of the Dandenong Ranges’ old-growth forests.
What is the Bentley Bentayga S like inside?
Unsurprisingly, the cabin of the 2023 Bentley Bentayga S is extravagant and the most-used element, the steering wheel, is absolutely gorgeous, feeling tremendously lavish in one’s hands.
The outside rim is suede, the inside supple leather, and other major touchpoints are likewise soft and supple.
Overall, the cabin is beautifully finished and impressively opulent, but there are signs of its Volkswagen Group roots with some of the carryover switchgear. And if you look closely you’ll find some cheap materials and iffy plastics.
This car is from the era of ‘we need an SUV now!’ and the result is that even illustrious brands like Bentley have had to make compromises, it seems.
Rear seat room is ample but the flat three-seat rear bench, as mentioned earlier, feels underdone. The business class two-seat rear option would be the way to go; sure, it’s a hefty $22,279 option, but transforms the cabin ambience.
Boot space of 484 litres is not class-leading but it’s more than enough for a weekend away, road trip or taking several large check-in suitcases to the airport for a cheeky getaway to the Maldives.
Should I buy the Bentley Bentayga S?
There will always be a larrikin at the golf club or a neighbour who exclaims: “It’s just a Volkswagen mate!”
While that’s unfair, if they compared the 2023 Bentley Bentayga S to an Audi RS Q8 and calmly suggested the latter represented better value, they’d be right.
Of course the RS Q8 is better value – and it’s a better performance vehicle and more engaging to drive. But that’s not the point with a car like this.
The Bentley tells the world you’re successful, you’ve achieved greatness and, let’s be honest, 25,000 owners thus far can’t be wrong, can they?
Clearly, there’s still a strong appetite for ultra-high-end SUVs like the Bentayga, and while it doesn’t innovate in any particular way, it makes you feel special.
For many buyers, that’s priceless.
2023 Bentley Bentayga S at a glance:
Price: $450,200 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 404kW/770Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 13.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 294g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested
Keyword: Bentley Bentayga S 2023 Review