Earlier today my Macan was traded for a diesel Bentayga down in Hertfordshire.
I suppose my choice of cars must seem very diverse and probably unfathomable to most.
Since retirement I have been trying to cut down the fleet of cars to just a pair. We no longer have the need for a traditional his and hers, but a car used for local trips and one used for longer distances.
The BMW i3 is proving ideal as the local car and has only left Norfolk on three occasions in the year we have had it. We both use it and enjoy its compact size, agility, light weight, spritely performance and zero running costs. Having worked with composite racing cars for many years, it also fulfils an ambition to own one.
When we retired back to Norfolk a few years ago, we found the right house for us was, quite by chance, almost within line of sight of the ancestral home of famous Bentley boy Sir (Tim) Henry Birkin. We have places like ‘Bentley Road’ and ‘Birkin Close’ very close by.
Next month we will celebrate our golden wedding anniversary and I thought it was also time to celebrate some of my own achievements this century with a car we could both enjoy. My wife has enjoyed SUV’s for many years now.
Having been project manager for Bentley’s only Le Mans win in the last 90 years and engineered the current diesel landspeed record, the Bentley Bentayga diesel celebrates both those events. It’s quite a rare car, with only about 500 in the country.
The Porsche Macan has been a wonderful car, but I can’t claim quite the same personal connection I have with the Bentayga. When I was based at Bentley in Crewe, the motorsport office sat right alongside the Mulliner line from where I could see the cars being hand crafted. A lunchtime stroll would often take me through the main assembly hall, dubbed by Bentley as the biggest car showroom in the countr
I can see why now. I’ve actually gone and bought one of their cars!
I’ve been keeping an eye out for one in the right spec and right price to come up for little while now. This one is a deep blue very close to Mercedes tanzanite. It ticks most of the option boxes I wanted with city, touring and Mulliner specs, a light interior and is just nicely run in at 36k miles.
Diesel engines were quietly dropped by the premium brands within the VW group in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal. Given the worldwide adoption of regulations to promote the EV, the diesel engine in the Bentayga is likely to be the pinnacle of diesel development. The 4 litre V8 is as refined as any diesel has got and is all but inaudible in the car. However, the mighty shove of over 900Nm of torque from just 1000rpm is very apparent, especially as it is available instantly thanks to the 48v electrically driven supercharger prior to the twin turbos. That 48v supply also powers the active antiroll bar system which not only means the car has negligible roll in corners, but also de-couples the roll bars in single bump impacts to improve the ride of the air suspension still further. Probably the best controlled ride comfort of any car on the road.
One of my former colleagues at Bentley Motorsport used one of the former Bentayga engineering cars for years on general duties including towing a huge car trailer and claimed the diesel version was easily the pick of the Bentayga bunch even before considering the question of range. That’s on an incredulity level on par with the fact that the diesel landspeed record was set with a couple of digger engines.
I have driven a few more than one Bentayga now, I have to agree.
The car ‘wafts’ in the wonderful way only Bentleys can, conveys a huge sense of wellbeing and shows a very adequate turn of speed when required.
It simply radiates intrinsic Bentlidity…and is very true to W O Bentley’s original mantra of building a ‘good car, a fast car, the best in class’
Matt from High Peak Autos describes it as ‘Downton Abbey on wheels’ which is fair, but I don’t remember the house doing 170mph…and that is not even half the speed of the JCB diesel landspeed record.
I also feel comfortable with the fact that both the car and I were born in Cheshire.
I understand there is a body of opinion who, without ever having driven one, will hail the car as ugly, obnoxious and excessive. To them, I will just misquote one of our showbiz friends…’Flatley my dear, I don’t Riverdance’
Fifty years ago, we set off on our honeymoon and drove to Switzerland in our Mini.
This year we will only amble up to Ambleside in the Lakes, but in something a little larger and rather more comfortable.
We can do little to prevent the passage of time, but we can enjoy it while we have it.
And I intend to.
The original registration of the car hints at the energy it has, but this certainly is not an EV.
But it is somewhere very special to be!
Two numbers suprised me on the 88 miles back home: The sound level is 61dba at 70 mph and the fuel consumption 42mpg. Both far better than I had hoped with a car with the aerodynamics of a town hall.
Here are some of other views on the diesel Bentayga:
Bentley Bentayga Diesel 2016-2018 review | Autocar
Here is one subtitled : Frankel, oh dear! He’s done riverdance!
Bentley Bentayga Diesel road trip - sacrilege or common sense? | Autocar
I suppose my choice of cars must seem very diverse and probably unfathomable to most.
Since retirement I have been trying to cut down the fleet of cars to just a pair. We no longer have the need for a traditional his and hers, but a car used for local trips and one used for longer distances.
The BMW i3 is proving ideal as the local car and has only left Norfolk on three occasions in the year we have had it. We both use it and enjoy its compact size, agility, light weight, spritely performance and zero running costs. Having worked with composite racing cars for many years, it also fulfils an ambition to own one.
When we retired back to Norfolk a few years ago, we found the right house for us was, quite by chance, almost within line of sight of the ancestral home of famous Bentley boy Sir (Tim) Henry Birkin. We have places like ‘Bentley Road’ and ‘Birkin Close’ very close by.
Next month we will celebrate our golden wedding anniversary and I thought it was also time to celebrate some of my own achievements this century with a car we could both enjoy. My wife has enjoyed SUV’s for many years now.
Having been project manager for Bentley’s only Le Mans win in the last 90 years and engineered the current diesel landspeed record, the Bentley Bentayga diesel celebrates both those events. It’s quite a rare car, with only about 500 in the country.
The Porsche Macan has been a wonderful car, but I can’t claim quite the same personal connection I have with the Bentayga. When I was based at Bentley in Crewe, the motorsport office sat right alongside the Mulliner line from where I could see the cars being hand crafted. A lunchtime stroll would often take me through the main assembly hall, dubbed by Bentley as the biggest car showroom in the countr
I can see why now. I’ve actually gone and bought one of their cars!
I’ve been keeping an eye out for one in the right spec and right price to come up for little while now. This one is a deep blue very close to Mercedes tanzanite. It ticks most of the option boxes I wanted with city, touring and Mulliner specs, a light interior and is just nicely run in at 36k miles.
Diesel engines were quietly dropped by the premium brands within the VW group in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal. Given the worldwide adoption of regulations to promote the EV, the diesel engine in the Bentayga is likely to be the pinnacle of diesel development. The 4 litre V8 is as refined as any diesel has got and is all but inaudible in the car. However, the mighty shove of over 900Nm of torque from just 1000rpm is very apparent, especially as it is available instantly thanks to the 48v electrically driven supercharger prior to the twin turbos. That 48v supply also powers the active antiroll bar system which not only means the car has negligible roll in corners, but also de-couples the roll bars in single bump impacts to improve the ride of the air suspension still further. Probably the best controlled ride comfort of any car on the road.
One of my former colleagues at Bentley Motorsport used one of the former Bentayga engineering cars for years on general duties including towing a huge car trailer and claimed the diesel version was easily the pick of the Bentayga bunch even before considering the question of range. That’s on an incredulity level on par with the fact that the diesel landspeed record was set with a couple of digger engines.
I have driven a few more than one Bentayga now, I have to agree.
The car ‘wafts’ in the wonderful way only Bentleys can, conveys a huge sense of wellbeing and shows a very adequate turn of speed when required.
It simply radiates intrinsic Bentlidity…and is very true to W O Bentley’s original mantra of building a ‘good car, a fast car, the best in class’
Matt from High Peak Autos describes it as ‘Downton Abbey on wheels’ which is fair, but I don’t remember the house doing 170mph…and that is not even half the speed of the JCB diesel landspeed record.
I also feel comfortable with the fact that both the car and I were born in Cheshire.
I understand there is a body of opinion who, without ever having driven one, will hail the car as ugly, obnoxious and excessive. To them, I will just misquote one of our showbiz friends…’Flatley my dear, I don’t Riverdance’
Fifty years ago, we set off on our honeymoon and drove to Switzerland in our Mini.
This year we will only amble up to Ambleside in the Lakes, but in something a little larger and rather more comfortable.
We can do little to prevent the passage of time, but we can enjoy it while we have it.
And I intend to.
The original registration of the car hints at the energy it has, but this certainly is not an EV.
But it is somewhere very special to be!
Two numbers suprised me on the 88 miles back home: The sound level is 61dba at 70 mph and the fuel consumption 42mpg. Both far better than I had hoped with a car with the aerodynamics of a town hall.
Here are some of other views on the diesel Bentayga:
Bentley Bentayga Diesel 2016-2018 review | Autocar
Here is one subtitled : Frankel, oh dear! He’s done riverdance!
Bentley Bentayga Diesel road trip - sacrilege or common sense? | Autocar
