Bentley Bentayga V8 Review | The Ugliest Luxury SUV That Money Can Buy | Sponsored by MotorEnvy.com

In my book, Bentleys have a strange place in the luxury car realm. The Bentayga is an even stranger proposition. Not because it's a $200,000 SUV that faces fierce competition, but because it has one of the ugliest rear ends in the business. Yet we can't judge a book by its cover, now can we? So today, let's dive a little deeper. So the Bentley Bentayga, introduced in 2017, facelifted in 2021. This particular car is a 2019 V8 base model, but frankly there's nothing base about it. 4 liter twin turbo V8 that makes 542 brake horsepower, all wheel drive, super fast ZF8 speed gearbox, 22 inch alloy wheels, leather and wood filled interior polish, plus the Bentley nameplate. I mean really, what else could you want in a luxury suv? It all sounds fantastic on paper, but what about in practice? For the longest time, Bentley seemed to suffer a similar fate to Aston Martin. A lavishly expensive high end British marquee that almost always got hit with brutal depreciation the moment you drove the car off the lot. And like Aston's, Bentley's also had extremely long generational life cycles which made it sort of difficult for the normal person to distinguish models from each other. So sometimes when I see one driving down the road, I would always have a difficult time figuring out if that person paid $50,000 for a 10 year old depreciated model or it was a brand new quarter million dollar Continental GT that just came off the lot. Regardless, the effect was always the same. They were driving a Bentley. It was arguably a step up from your typical run of the mill BMW, Audi or even a Mercedes. And I say arguably because I'm going to explain in a bit, but before I do, I want to talk about today's sponsor, Motor Envy. Motor Envy is a premium subscription service for high end luxury performance cars. They specialize in a leasing program that lets you switch cars whenever you want. There's no penalty at all. That's great because I know in the wintertime with all this crazy weather, I'd rather have something more utilitarian like the Bentayga we have right now. Or maybe a Range Rover svr. And when springtime rolls around, I can switch over to something sportier like a C8 Corvette or a Porsche 911. The beauty of Motor MV is that you can do all of that with one simple pricing structure. Plus they have locations in the Tri state, California and South Florida. So go check them out@motorambi.com now back to the show. Let's start with the exterior of the car which to me is quite polarizing. The front end is the most recognizable aspect of any Bentley and the Bentayga is no different. It carries the classic design language of having four separate headlights and a massive chromed out front grille. Of course you can black out the accents and that's always my preference. But regardless it's a very attention grabbing situation. The rest of the car falls pretty flat though. The side profile only has two distinguishable traits. The classic large flared wheel arches in the back and the quasi cheap looking faux vents over the front fenders. But the five spoke 22 inch wheels do save it a little bit and add to the overall presence. From this angle, the rear has to be the most boring of any high end luxury suv. There's really nothing to look at here besides the fancy exhaust tips. Sure there are cool little details like the tail lights lighting up with the form of a letter B, but but it doesn't scream anything special. However it should because it costs almost a quarter million dollars brand new when you option it out. Which is why I think it's the ugliest luxury SUV that money can buy. But what I do think is special about the car is the powerplant. It's a 4 liter twin turbo V8 that makes 542 horsepower and a stunning 568 pounds of torque. According to Bentley, it can do 060 in 3.8 seconds, which is obscenely fast for an SUV or any car for that matter. And if Bentleys are known for anything, it's the fact that they're absolute straight line brawlers. I don't think the Bentayga is any different. The interior of Bentleys are also one of the most characteristic parts of the vehicle. After all, at this price point it's not really just a car anymore. It should be an experience. The cabin, while rather basic in design when compared to some of the offerings from BMW, Mercedes or Audi, retains a level of detail that I have yet to really see in any other production car. I mean there are push valves here that change the airflow from your air conditioning vents. All the switchgear is made from an exceptionally hardy feeling material. The texture on the knobs is coarse and precise, making them extremely satisfying to use. Even the paddles feel like they belong. Although they are reminiscent of Audi or Volkswagen, they are still clad with a high quality finish. Utilizing them gives you a modest feeling. But this isn't a car that really revolves around that type of engagement. All your typical luxury comforts are available Here. Heated power seats, remote child lock, three zone climate control, navigation, apple carplay panoramic roof, and a pretty decent 10 speaker sound system. The leather, the seats, the stitching are all top notch. The seats themselves aren't the most plush or comfortable, but I'm sure with Bentleys anything is possible if you have enough money. And even though the instrument cluster is still mostly analog, it feels sharper and brighter than some modern digital dashes. There's ample leg and headroom in the backseat. Definitely pretty easy to load the kids in here, if that's your thing. There's also a good amount of usable trunk space since this retains the shape of a normal SUV instead of a sloped coupe style. The steering wheel is nice and thick. The quality of the leather really shows here because it doesn't get slick or oily looking like some of the base pleathery materials from other luxury German brands. The gear selector looks a little dated though, but it's still very robust feeling. Anyway, it's time to go for a drive. When you think Bentayga, you think comfortable, you think Beverly Hills soccer parent, and maybe you think not very exciting. And you wouldn't be wrong except for that last part. Because when you put this car into sport mode, it becomes a completely different animal. Sure, you can say that about a lot of cars out there, especially stuff in the BMW M and Mercedes lineups. But this thing, it's really on a whole nother plane of existence because it's. I don't know how to say it, but in comfort mode, it's truly a delightful experience. I mean, it's quiet, it's super smooth, the steering is pretty close to perfect, and the power delivery and throttle response is super gentle. It's kind of like driving on a cloud. It's pretty close to that Mercedes S class, the all new one that I drove last year. Maybe even a notch higher in terms of cabin comfort. You could probably get chauffeured in the backseat of this thing if there was a little bit more passenger leg room. The level of opulence is kind of hard to explain though. It's kind of like old money luxury. You're gonna have to experience one of these for yourself. Man, I could do this all freaking day. Hell, I could probably drive across the country in this thing. But honestly, I probably get a little bit bored. So you know what, that's where the sport mode comes in. Wow. I don't know Bentley's gonna be this aggressive. I mean, there's a lot of torque coming from that V8 and that in theory should provide a lot of thrust, but when you depress the throttle on this thing, there's just this insane surge of power that accelerates and propels you into the next county. It's got about the same power to weight ratio as our old X6 M50, but this thing feels just a wee bit quicker. The acceleration is rather violent, but the soundtrack coming out the back isn't as dramatic as I want it to be. I mean, the upshifts are really nice though. They're snappy, they crackle, they pop. It's sexy and I like that. But this car overall in that sense is borderline dangerous because you don't really expect it coming out of something so bubbly and big. It's also a little dangerous because it doesn't handle or corner as well as some of the other performance SUVs in this segment. So it's not particularly a car that I want to explore the limits with, except for maybe on an autobahn or like that. However, I will say that the brakes do do a fantastic job. I mean, if anything, they're a little bit too touchy for something like this, at least in my opinion. But hey, I'd rather have sensitive brakes than something that's all mush and no feedback until you're in a wall. Overall, I really enjoy the fact that you basically get two SUVs in one. Here you get a very well mannered luxury grand touring SUV that can turn from Jekyll into a 540 horsepower highway monster with just a flick of a switch. It's just pleasantly unexpected and I like that. Before we do our acceleration test, let's just quickly go over the technical specs. 4 liter twin turbo V8, 542 horses, 568 pounds of torque. It weighs around 5,400 pounds, so that puts our power to weight ratio at 9.9 to 1. Bentley claims a top speed of 180 miles per hour, 12 second quarter mile time and a 0. 60 of 3.8 seconds. Now that we got that out the way, let's get this party started. For the time being we're only able to run our in house 40100 metric, but that's a pretty good indicator of everyday performance. The base level Bentayga did that in 6.99 seconds, which is slower than anticipated. But given the aforementioned powder weight, it makes sense. Using 60130 data that was gathered online, the Bentley has a little bit more top end than the X6 M50, but not as much as the Jaguar F Pace SVR. Still respectable because it's in that range of pretty fast SUVs. But my guess is that a true performance variant like the X5M or GLE63 would outgun the Bentley on a highway run to 100 and beyond. There's a fair bit of throttle delay even in sport mode, coupled with some noticeable turbo lag. It's not going to be a great drag racer, but it does make for great fun when you want to impress passengers with the acceleration. For more times and metrics, check out the fastest link in the description below. So then, what makes this Bentley Bentayga special? Well, for starters, I think it sounds freaking cool. Bentayga. Bentayga. The Bentayga. Now, even though it's an entry level base model, I still feel more special driving it around than your comparable BMW or Mercedes. I mean, half the cars I see around here on the road are either an Audi BM Mercedes or a Porsche. And it's getting a little bit boring. So a Bentley definitely spruces it up a little bit. However, it does look a bit too subtle and I don't think anybody will really notice you until they get close enough to see the badge. And even then it still looks pretty mundane. Despite that, I do feel more ritzy knowing that I'm driving a Bentley just a little bit. The build quality is also fantastic. Everything here on the interior is just so well put together. It's simple, but it's solid. I absolutely love the materials that they use too. And it's the attention to detail and all these little knobs and these little push levers that you interact with, that's what makes it the Bentley experience. Now, the steering wheel here, you know, it's pretty substantial. It's nice and thick, not too thick, but I find that the steering feedback in all the driving modes is pretty much perfect. Now, the infotainment system, it's relatively low tech, especially for a car at this price point, but it does display a lot of pertinent information that I sometimes don't normally see in other cars. Again, attention to detail. But I do wish that it had more cutting edge tech like autonomous cruise or maybe a heads up display. That kind of stuff would have been nice. Aesthetically, it's still a big question mark. It's growing on me though. It obviously needs to be blacked out, but the front end already looks pretty striking from a lot of different angles. And because of that, it's got a good amount of road presence. It's unmistakably Bentley. And in the right colors. The side profile isn't bad either, but nothing to write home about. The rear end is still pretty dang ugly though, so I think the 2021 facelift definitely did the car some favors in that department with the updated tail lights and the exhaust tip ships. It's also surprisingly fast for a two and a half ton luxury cruiser. And when you think Bentley performance isn't the first thing that generally comes to mind, but it should be because they've got a bit of a reputation for being straight line brutes. Sport mode is just silly fun, but driving in comfort mode, that's really made me kind of appreciate cruising in a whole different way. But let me just roll it back to comparing Bentley with the luxury German brands. Yes, you're going to get more bang for your buck when it comes to car and tech, but there's just something about Bentley that gives me a lure of wealth. It makes you feel like old money. It's just a level of class that makes you feel like you're a notch above the rest. I don't know, maybe it's just a British thing. You know what though? I never really considered Bentaygas as a card that I would own and even after spending so much time with one, still not my cup of tea. But it does make me want to explore the other options in Bentley's lineup. Maybe a Continental gt? Yeah, that would be cool. Like I said, I don't think my viewpoint of the Bentayga has really changed dramatically. At a used price point of sub 150 grand, give or take, it still is a pretty difficult time competing with some of the newer options out there. Range Rover, SVR, BMW X5M, Porsche Cayenne Turbo. All of those have way more tech and are arguably better looking. But I don't know, saying let's take the Beamer doesn't really have the same ring as saying, hey, let's take the Bentley. Anyway, special thanks to Motor Envy for letting me spend some quality time with this Bentley Bentayga. If you're in the market for this car or Bentley's in general, you can check it out through motorenvy.com they've got this and plenty of other awesome stuff that we as car enthusiasts would love to experience. I also think it's great because you can lease cars that you normally wouldn't be able to lease through the dealership, then get all the financial benefits of leasing, and then when you're bored switch it up. Plus they take care of all the scheduled maintenance. Overall, just a really smooth and friction free car buying process. Well, that's gonna do it for me on this episode, and as always, I'll catch you all in the next one. I hope you guys enjoyed this video as much as I did making it. If so, hit that like button and share the video with your friends. I can't cover everything I want to in the short amount of time that I have, so if I missed something, let me know in the comments below. If this is your first time here, don't forget to check out some more videos on the channel. 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