Bentley Bentayga Speed 2022 Review

Pricing for the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed starts from $514,200 plus on-road costs.

Given stamp duty alone is almost $50,000, don’t expect to escape with too much change from $600,000 – and that’s before you start investigating the virtually limitless options list.

The most bizarre thing about the options list for our Bentayga Speed test car was its absence. Most press cars regardless of their price point tend to be highly optioned, whether to make sure all technology is available to assess or to just make sure they look their best in photos and film.

But this Bentayga was utterly stock standard and no worse off because of it.

As you’d hope, the usual convenience features are here in the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed including keyless entry and start, heated and electric-adjust seats (front and rear), auto lights and wipers, a hands-free tailgate, climate control, Matrix LED headlights and power blinds for the rear side windows.

Externally, the Blackline specification paints various bits of trim black – side window surrounds, wing vent, rear bumper brightware, door handles, etc – and the styling specification adds a front splitter, side skirts and a rear roof spoiler.

A 12-speaker 900W stereo is standard, though an extra spend upgrades this to a crazy 20-speaker 1780W system from Naim.

In fact, if your pockets are deep enough, Bentley can accommodate virtually any request through its Mulliner personalisation program in terms of materials and colours.

Bentley’s warranty is three years and unlimited kilometres while servicing is required every 12 months or 16,000km.

Three- and five-year service plans are available, though exact pricing depends on the retailer. That said, from model year 2023 all new Bentleys will include five years’ complimentary scheduled servicing.

Unsurprisingly, the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed hasn’t been submitted to either ANCAP or Euro NCAP for crash testing but its safety credentials are sound.

There are frontal airbags for the driver and front passenger as well as side curtain and thorax airbags in the front and rear.

In terms of active safety equipment, Bentley has upped the standard specification to include both the City Specification, which includes park assist, a top-down camera, rear cross traffic alert and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, and Touring Specification, which adds adaptive cruise control, high-speed AEB, a head-up display and night vision. Yes, really.

This is in addition to lane keep assist and blind spot monitoring, so all the gear you’d expect is present and correct.

In the centre of the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed dash you’ll find a 10.9-inch touch-screen infotainment system introduced as part of the mid-life facelift.

It looks different but in operation it’s very similar to Audi’s MMI system and brings the Bentayga up to date in terms of technology.

It features smartphone mirroring (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), digital radio, 3D satellite navigation, voice and gesture control, text-to-speech, Bluetooth and a 4G Wi-Fi hotspot. It’s easy enough to navigate, but isn’t cutting edge compared to the latest Mercedes and BMW operating systems.

The instruments are also digital, with the centre and right-hand side configurable to show vehicle or audio information or satellite navigation or a tachometer.

While cheaper models from other manufacturers offer more features and greater configurability, the benefit of the Bentley is that the tech isn’t intimidating and should be easy for most customers to quickly pick up.

Rear seat passengers also score their own touch-screen set into the back of the centre console for adjusting the seats and the climate and the media and the lighting and more. Very flash.

The technical data states that the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed produces 467kW and 900Nm from its uprated 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12. This is incorrect. What it actually has is all the power and all the torque in the entire world – the whole lot.

Floor the throttle and the force (and ease) with which this remarkable engine throws this 2.5-tonne behemoth down the road is almost unsettling.

Bentley claims 0-100km/h in just 3.9sec, but it’s the 306km/h top speed that’s more telling.

There’s a relentlessness to the power that suggests the Bentayga Speed would be most at home on the German autobahn, freed from the constraints of Australia’s speed limits, where it can cruise in comfort at 200km/h or more.

The W12 is an unusual engine with a character all of its own. It most resembles a BMW straight-six in its sound and feel, a distant, bassy growl with a full and flat torque curve, but only with much greater reserves.

Flick the drive selector into Sport and there are some pops and burbles from the exhaust on the overrun, but it remains quite subdued. Certainly, the V8 is the more extroverted engine choice.

If you’re at all concerned with fuel efficiency then the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed is not the car for you.

The official combined-cycle fuel consumption claim is 14.3L/100km, but in traffic that will climb into the 20s and with enthusiastic use of the throttle, well, the sky’s the limit.

The 85-litre fuel tank means that service station visits won’t be too frequent, though.

What’s more, the W12 engine can shut down half its cylinders on light throttle in a bid to increase efficiency, while in gears 5-8 the automatic gearbox will open the torque converter if the accelerator is released to allow the car to ‘glide’ on the highway.

In daily use, all is serene behind the wheel of the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed.

The self-levelling air suspension insulates occupants from all manner of road nasties, the W12 hums smoothly in the background and the eight-speed automatic gearbox – rather than the dual-clutch found in the Bentley Continental GT Speed – is generally well-mannered.

The steering is relatively weighty – this isn’t a car you guide gently with your fingertips – and care must be taken in accounting for the Bentayga’s size as at 5144mm long and 1998mm wide (2222mm with mirrors) it takes up a fair amount of road space.

Escape the city limits and the Bentayga Speed wafts along, with only some coarse-chip road roar muscling in to spoil the peace and quiet.

Overtaking is the work of a moment, and one of the positive by-products of a kerb weight similar to that of a small house is excellent stability.

Where the Bentayga Speed really amazes is in the bends. It’s not a car that likes to be hustled – it’s too big, too tall and too heavy – but accept its ceiling and it can cover ground at a preposterous rate.

The monster engine makes the bits between the corners disappear in short order but it’s no slouch in the twisty bits.

The steering is quick and accurate, the active anti-roll bars banish body roll, the brakes do a heroic job and there’s plenty of grip and traction.

One moment in particular stands out, my test route containing a long bend on a 100km/h road with three large, evenly spaced bumps which have flummoxed all sorts of cars over the years.

In the Bentayga, you’d barely know there was a ripple in the road. Impressive.

The biggest downside is a brake pedal that feels quite wooden, which isn’t ideal when you’re attempting to stop this size.

Driving in a spirited manner is not a particularly involving process and you could rightly question the relevance of it, but it’s nice to know the Bentayga Speed is capable should the need ever arise.

Speaking of relevance, with height-adjustable air suspension and a rear diff lock the Bentayga is probably also quite capable off road, but to be honest it wasn’t something we tested.

Of more interest to buyers could be the 3500kg maximum towing capacity. The idea of a half-million-dollar SUV lugging loads might seem tenuous, but on a recent visit to Phillip Island there sat a Bentayga W12 with a trailer and Porsche 911 Cup Car attached.

The upside of the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed’s ample proportions is a huge amount of space inside.

The boot is humungous; it’s listed at 484 litres but it looks much bigger and there’s a sliding luggage partition to stop bags flying around.

Rear seat space is equally generous and, speaking of rear seats, the Bentayga is available as a five-seater, seven-seater or a four-seater, which replaces the rear middle seat with a large centre console for a more luxurious experience.

If you are tempted by this option, it might pay to wait for the soon-to-arrive Bentayga Extended Wheelbase.

The most impressive aspect of being up front in the Bentayga is the almost complete absence of plastic.

Aside from the various buttons – of which there are plenty, but all are intuitively laid out and acclimatisation occurs quickly – every surface is carbon or metal or Alcantara or leather. Even the kick panels are heavily carpeted and the lower door trims covered in leather.

Bentley has successfully eradicated almost every sign of Audi donor parts, too. Your typical Bentley owner is unlikely to know that only the steering column stalks and boot buttons are taken from an Audi Q7, but keeping the parts sharing to a minimum is appreciated at this price point.

The super-expensive SUV segment is a surprisingly crowded one. Even if you discount performance-focused models like the Lamborghini Urus, Aston Martin DBX and Maserati Levante Trofeo, the Bentley Bentayga is still vying for attention with the likes of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and the new Range Rover.

Each has its own appeal and character and the 2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed offers enormous power, family-swallowing practicality and beautifully refined road manners.

Are there far cheaper alternatives that would do an equally fine job of carrying the kids? Absolutely.

But if you have the means, the Bentley is a beautifully relaxing mode of transport.

2022 Bentley Bentayga Speed at a glance:
Price: $514,200 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 6.0-litre W12 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 467kW/900Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 14.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 325g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested