Just how comfortable can you be in a vehicle? Bentley thinks you should be over-the-top, and has revealed a new rear seat for its Bentayga sport-utility that it’s dubbed the “Airline Seat Specification.”
Available on the Bentayga EWB (Extended Wheelbase), and with price not revealed, the seats have “world-first” features, the automaker said, including climate sensing and “advanced postural adjustment systems.”
They include 22 adjustment settings, which might be old news considering Lincoln first announced that many back on its 2016 models. But then Bentley goes above and beyond.
Bentley Bentayga Photo by Bentley
Bentley Bentayga Photo by Bentley
Bentley Bentayga Airline Seat Specification Photo by Bentley
Bentley Bentayga Photo by Bentley
Bentley Bentayga Photo by Bentley
Bentley Bentayga Photo by Bentley
Bentley Bentayga Photo by Bentley
The climate feature lets the passenger select from one of seven settings — and if you’re not feeling well, Bentley optimized the highest one so it’s “designed to cool a fever.” Once the seat is set, the climate system checks the ambient temperature and humidity every 25 milliseconds, with accuracy within 0.1 degrees Celsius, and determines whether to activate the heat, ventilation or both to maintain “optimum thermal well-being.”
By checking so frequently, the seat automatically adjusts the temperature before the occupant decides it’s too cool or too warm and wants to make a change.
Likewise, once you’ve set your seating position, the chair makes micro-adjustments – using an algorithm designed with help from a chiropractor – and can make 177 individual pressure changes across six zones over a three-hour period, so you’re comfortable right through your journey.
The seat is powered by 12 electric motors and three pneumatic valve units, all controlled by a master computer unit. Bentley said about half of Bentayga EWB buyers are opting for the seats.
We think it’s pretty impressive and we’d love to sit down and try them out — but with a name like “Airline Seat,” we’re also concerned the vehicle might lose our luggage, and we’re going to end up sitting in the parking lot for an hour before the driver gets the go-ahead to take us on our way, with only stale pretzels as a snack.
Keyword: Bentley says high-tech back seats are industry's most advanced