Bentley Bentayga Speed review

8

Bentley's go-faster Bentayga derivative swaps W12 shove for V8 gargle and more besides

Find Bentley Bentayga Speed deals
New car deals
Nearly-new car deals
Other Services
Sell your car
84% get more money with

A drift mode and titanium plumbing from a respected but rather extroverted Slovenian supplier are not what we commonly associate with SUVs, but the Bentley Bentayga Speed taps into its maker's more humorous side. 

This is the company that has successfully gone GT3 racing with the improbable, 2.3-tonne Continental GT and once enlisted Juha Kankkunen to fire a bio-ethanol-powered, rag-top Conti Supersports to more than 200mph on a frozen stretch of the Baltic Sea. Nobody can say the company doesn’t have a bit of an unpredictable streak.

Talking of unpredictable, the powertrain in the new Bentayga Speed is not what we expected. The long-running W12 engine that has long powered Speed versions of various Bentleys has been retired, and in the Continental GT Speed and Flying Spur Speed, it has been replaced with a plug-in hybrid V8 set-up. You would assume that the Bentayga Speed would go in the same direction, but it doesn't. Instead, it it has received an extra-high-power version of the familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8.

Advertisement

DESIGN & STYLING

7
Bentley Bentayga Speed review 2026 001

With 641bhp, the lighter 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 is more powerful than the old W12, and puts out only a fraction less torque. This is not quite the most power that has been extracted out of this engine: that honour still rests with the 657bhp Lamborghini Urus Performante. Performance is suitably monstrous – think 193mph and a BMW M5 Touring-beating 0-60mph time.

Bentley says it was clear that customers would prefer pure petrol for the performance version of the Bentayga and that the V8 PHEV powertrain from the Continental GT wouldn’t be just a straight drop-in, because it’s quite a different package to the V6 system in the existing Bentayga PHEV. I can believe all that, but surely it would also apply to the Continental GT and Flying Spur? Anyway, it’s certainly no bad thing, since a heavy battery and a complicated drivetrain rarely do performance cars many favours.

You can most easily tell the Speed apart from the other Bentaygas by its vast 23in wheels (optional, but most owners will have surely them), which are required for the 440mm carbon-ceramic front brake discs – the largest of any production car. Those and the big spoiler. 

For all the added power and aggression, the suspension calibration in Comfort mode is supposedly as per the regular Bentaya, so on paper this car should still have manners. Engage Sport mode and the damping rates go up 15% versus the regular car and the mapping for the eight-speed ZF transmission and the throttle response are been sharpened.

There’s the fruity new optional exhaust system from Akrapovic (that titanium construction saves 12.5kg) too and retuned stability-control electronics.

It means that if you have the Speed in its ESC Dynamic setting, the brake-based torque-vectoring is now more assertive in its attempts to have the chassis pivoting sideways, before letting the driver to carry yaw forward with the throttle. A gimmick? Sure, but entertaining on gravel, where to some extent mitigates the Bentayga's lack of mechanical rear limited-slip differential.

The apportioning of drive between the axles is, as ever, done via a Torsen centre differential, although the variable torque split favours the rear for longer in the Speed than in the regular Bentayga.

The 48V active anti-roll bars that form part of Bentley's Dynamic Ride system for the Bentayga (and that can apply up to 959lb ft in 0.3sec) have also been given a Speed-specific makeover, and they have to work a little less harder than before: this new V8-powered Speed is 25kg lighter than the old W12-fired one. The weight distribution is also better.

INTERIOR

9
Bentley Bentayga Speed review 2026 009

The brightware that catches the eye in every Bentayga can be had in a more ghostly, darker tint in the Speed, and there's a new Precision Diamond quilting pattern on the seat-shoulder and the door cards.

It's also likely that many Speeds will have a smattering of suede-like Dinamica trim dotted about in a constrasting colour (Bentley's Speed press cars tend very punchy indeed – acid green, 'Mandarin' and suchlike), but otherwise the cabin is business as usual for Bentley's SUV.

Which is to say very fine indeed, with not only lavish materials but fantastic build quality and a good amount of physical switchgear. It's these fantastically solid buttons and dials and toggles that now separate the Bentayga from, say, an extremely highly specced Range Rover, Audi Q7 or Mercedes-Benz GLS, because lower-rung SUVs that have gone all-in on touchscreens, to the detriment of both usability and straightforward luxury feel.

The ergonomics are, as ever, superb, with a driving position both commanding and cossetting, and an abundance of space wherever you sit. The big decision for owners will be whether to go for the 4+1, four-seat or five-seat configuration. The first two of those result in outer seats that aren't far off what you get in the front. A Champange cooler is optional. 

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

8
Bentley Bentayga Speed review 2026 017

In truth, this powertrain is about far more than the 3.4sec 0-62mph time with which it endows the Speed. It's a more charismatic performer than the old 6.0-litre W12, spinning more freely and with greater shape – and with only a very slight deficit in terms of low-rev torque. The W12 pumped out 664lb ft from only 1500rpm, whereas this new V8 manages 627lb ft from 2250rpm.

That's not such a big difference on paper, but in practice, the V8 can feel a little laggy, requiring a moment for the boost to build, even at higher revs. It's not helped in this respect by the gearbox, which is often reluctant to change down a gear.

Curiously, the automatic gearbox tends to stay a gear lower in Comfort mode than it does in the default 'Bentley' mode. It makes sense that for ultimate comfort, you don't want to lug the engine, but there's little sense in not using top gear when cruising down the motorway.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

Keep it on the boil, however, and the engine is the star of the show here. With the Continental GT now having adopted a PHEV powertrain, the pure-ICE powertrain in this Bentayga perhaps feels like an anachronism. If it does, it's only in the best way possible. Our test car was fitted with the optional titanium Akrapovic exhaust and sounded sensational. The characteristic V8 woofle accompanies you from the moment you start the car to when you shut it down. It’s not outrageously loud or antisocial, just always there, underscoring 
a sense of power in reserve, which we would argue is more satisfying than gliding along on electricity, never mind the slightly tuneless voice of the old W12.

The brakes too offer more consistency and feedback than they do in the PHEV Conti GT, which of course now has to blend in a regenerative effect before physical pad-on-disc braking takes over. 

RIDE & HANDLING

8
Bentley Bentayga Speed review 2026 021

With the central knurled rotary control you can sweep through the various driving modes, which you will want to do because they all serve a purpose. That's not the case in most cars with drive modes.

The body takes on a gratifyingly languid attitude in Comfort mode, which is ideal for most mooching about, but can feel a little loose when corners are involved or the surface gets testing. This is where the marginally firmer Bentley mode comes in. That extra edge of control makes for a neater gait and there's a noticeable but acceptable trade-off in ride quality. On its signature 23in wheels, the Speed can’t completely avoid a bit of the hollow thunking over expansion joints that is characteristic of air suspension, but it’s rarely intrusive. 

Sport mode primes everything for more enthusiastic driving, and is actually 15% than it is on a standard Bentayga. At a quick flow, you're treated to a touch of lean, resolutely cushioned, and balance that's good enough for you to enjoy pushing the car a bit. Add in steering that has surprising life to it, with a motion that invites you to guide the Speed gently and precisely, and the result is a 2466kg super-luxury SUV that is genuinely satisfying to drive. Rear-wheel steering, seen for the first time on the Speed, also gives the car a useful bit of added manoeuvrability.

The stability control system has gained a halfway-house Dynamic setting. It has been described in places as a ‘drift mode’, which is something of an overstatement. The Bentayga’s four-wheel drive system centres on a Torsen centre differential and the rear differential is still a conventional open one, so there’s still a limit to the amount of torque that can be directed to the rear axle, let alone the outside rear wheel. To get the Bentayga properly sideways, you would need a race track with a lot of space, or a loose surface.In practice, Dynamic mode just means the systems will allow a bit of slip from the rear wheels when coming out of tight corners, particularly in wet or damp conditions – an entirely good thing.

 

Bentley Bentayga Speed news

Mildred Petre: The hero behind Bentley's most extreme machine
Mildred Petre: The hero behind Bentley's most extreme machine
Going off-grid with the £190k 'Bentley of caravans'
Going off-grid with the £190k 'Bentley of caravans'
Advertisement

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

7
Bentley Bentayga Speed review 2026

The Speed starts at £219,000 but, after optional spend (carbonfibre interior fascias, contrasting leather and of course those 23in wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes won't come cheap), most of these cars will be close to £300,000.

That sounds like an awful lot, and the basic price is a considerable hike on the circa-£180,000 figure of the old Speed, which was launched in 2020, with four additional cylinders.

Equally, the upcoming Aston Martin DBX S (the Bentley's chief rival) costs roughly the same, and that's also true for the Lamborghini Urus SE.

The more rarified Rolls-Royce Cullinan and astonishingly expressive Ferrari Purosangue are an order of magnitude more expensive still, so the Speed's asking price is high but broadly in line with what you would expect.

Don't expect much in the way of economy, either. Unlike the new Continental GT, the Bentayga doesn't pair its V8 with an electric motor, so expect circa-20mpg in normal driving, dropping to the mid-teens if you're 'on it'. 

 

VERDICT

Bentley Bentayga Speed review 2026 019

In many ways, you can take the name literally: the Bentayga Speed is a Bentayga but speedier. The best thing about it may just be that the engineers didn’t lose sight of what this car is for. It may be the fastest, sportiest version, but it’s still a luxury SUV, and it rides like one – much better, it must be said, than an Aston Martin DBX S or Lamborghini Urus SE.

At the same time, it adds a bit of handling talent, and a whole heap more power. Losing the W12 engine makes it less distinct from a regular Bentayga V8, which is hardly lacking in either of those areas, but the woofling, gargling V8 arguably suits the Speed perfectly.

With its sumptuous cabin, the Speed is otherwise that rare thing: an overbearing, overpowered, over-the-top SUV that’s not just very capable but likeable too. 

Illya Verpraet

Illya Verpraet Road Tester Autocar
Title: Road Tester

As a road tester, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews and comparison tests, while also managing the magazine’s Drives section. Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s in-depth instrumented road tests.

He loves cars that are fun and usable on the road – whether piston-powered or electric – or just cars that are very fit for purpose. When not in test cars, he drives an R53-generation Mini Cooper S or a 1990 BMW 325i Touring.

Richard Lane

Richard Lane
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard is Autocar's deputy road test editor. He previously worked at Evo magazine. His role involves travelling far and wide to be among the first to drive new cars. That or heading up to Nuneaton, to fix telemetry gear to test cars at MIRA proving ground and see how faithfully they meet their makers' claims. 

He's also a feature-writer for the magazine, a columnist, and can be often found on Autocar's YouTube channel. 

Highlights at Autocar include a class win while driving a Bowler Defender in the British Cross Country Championship, riding shotgun with a flat-out Walter Röhrl, and setting the magazine's fastest road-test lap-time to date at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 GTB. Nursing a stricken Jeep up 2950ft to the top of a deserted Grossglockner Pass is also in the mix.