SINGAPORE: Bentley's first luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV) - the Bentayga - made its Southeast Asian debut today here and is priced at S$900,000 (RM2.58mil without COE).
It is due for launch next in Taiwan, with Malaysia getting it in the second half at an estimated price of RM1.9mil.
"We are very excited to introduce the world's first ultra-luxury SUV, the Bentley Bentayga, to Singapore. The Bentayga offers so much individuality that each and every customer can create something truly luxurious and extraordinary," said Bentley Motors regional manager Asia Pacific David Jackson.
The Bentayga comes with a six-cylinder de-activation system and is powered by a 6.0-litre (5,950cc) twin-turbo W12 engine producing 600bhp from 5,000 to 6,000rpm and 900Nm of torque from 1,350 to 4,500rpm. Bentley claims this is "the fastest, most powerful and most luxurious" SUV in the world - at least for now.
To handle all that power, a permanent all-wheel drive system is standard, and power is routed to both axles via a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. The Bentagya owner has a choice of wheel sizes ranging from 20, 21 or 22-inch, wearing nothing less than Pirelli tyres.
An electronic power assisted steering system takes care of directional stability, while the partially hidden six-piston (front) and sliding (rear) callipers bite down on 400mm and 380mm discs respectively.
While the bonnet is made of aluminium and the front fender of superformed aluminium, the monocoque is of an aluminium-steel combination, which uses a self-levelling air suspension with continuous damping control.
This provides the Bentayga with four ride heights for the front four-link double wishbones and rear trapezoidal multi-link and an optional 48V electric active anti-roll control system helps further improve comfort levels.
Other external goodies include LEDs for the front headlights, rear light clusters and daytime running lights.
Inside, there's 430-litres of boot space and the cabin makes use of an eight-inch central touchscreen with gesture control, navigation with 3D display and a 60GB solid-state hard drive (11GB dedicated for onboard music). The launch model here was configured as a 4-seater though customers can also order it as a 5-seater. A 7-seater is in the pipeline.
Furthermore, there's two SD card slots, two USB ports, Bluetooth connectivity, 4G telephone module with Wi-Fi hotspot and 30 language sets for text to speech and voice recognition.
The list of available optional extras include digital TV, two 10-inch Rear Sear Entertainment (Android) tablets with full connectivity to car and outside, integrated webcam and onboard memory as well as a touchscreen remote for rear cabin control.
In terms of entertainment, the Betayga has a six-channel, 10-speaker sound system as standard, but can be upgraded to a 12-speaker Signature Audio 700W system instead or to a 1,800W Naim for Bentley Premium Audio system with 19 channel and 18-speakers.
For safety, there's 10-airbags, anti-lock braking system, traction control, brake force distribution, electronic stability control, hill descent control and electronic differential lock.
The safety kit can be further expanded to include more Driver Assistance systems such as high beam assist, blind spot warning, exit warning, traffic sign recognition, pedestrian warning, rear crossing traffic warning, top view and park assist.
The list is rounded off with the availability of stop-go functionality, heads-up display, adaptive cruise control, predictive adaptive cruise control, traffic assist, active lane assist, night vision, Bentley Safeguard, trailer assist and trailer sway mitigation.
