It’s big, butch and brutally fast. It’s also a Bentley. The Bentayga is here. Get ready for the poshest SUV in history

SINGAPORE — Bentley Motors invited a bunch of hungry automotive journos to the official launch of the luxury car maker’s first Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), the Bentayga, for brunch this afternoon at The Fullerton Bay Hotel.

While shoving delicately put together temari sushi balls with umi, and wagyu tataki into our mouths, we were given a presentation on the new Bentayga.

According to David Jackson, regional manager for Bentley in Asia Pacific, the new Bentayga is “the world’s first ultra-luxury SUV” and also “the most powerful, the most luxurious, the most exclusive and the fastest SUV in the world”.

Orders are already being taken for the all-wheel-drive, Bentayga, with prices starting from $900,000 without COE. It comes standard with 21-inch wheels, but you can opt for 22-inch wheels if you want a chunkier more aggressive stance.

In Singapore where people strive to be the most of everything, Jackson is positive that customers will appreciate a car such as this. The fourth addition to the Bentley family, it counts the Flying Spur, the Continental, and the uber-luxurious Mulsanne super-limo as siblings.

The Bentayga shares the same underpinnings as Audi’s newest Q7 and the next-generation Porsche Cayenne. For now, the Bentayga is the most powerful luxury SUV, but who knows what Porsche will do with the next Cayenne?

In the meantime, the Bentayga is powered by a 6.0-litre twin turbocharger W12 engine that produces 600bhp at 5,250 to 6,000rpm, and 900Nm of torque at just 1,250rpm.

Mate it to an 8-speed auto transmission by ZF, and this Bentayga can sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds onto a top speed of 301km/h, that’s as fast as the new Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet, which also launched in Singapore earlier this week.

Described by Bentley’s manager of marketing for Asia Pacific Katya Zavialova, the bigger W12 engine is considered to be the more ‘prestigious’ and ‘top-of-the-line’. She added that Bentley customers in Singapore looking for a luxurious family hauler would expect only the best, so chances are slim that a Bentayga with the ‘more affordable’ V8 engine will be coming in.

Reps also say that it’s possible a hybrid and diesel version of the Bentayga might be available two to three years from now.

Inside, the luxurious five-seater is lined with handcrafted wood and leather prepared by Bentley’s Leather and Trim workshop, with attention to detail only Alfred Pennyworth, butler to Batman, would have.

The SUV comes with modern-day features like park assist, LED headlights and taillights, and a 360-degree camera to help you manage the 2,422kg Bentayga in urban traffic and Singapore’s tight car parks. It’s even got night vision and a head-up display to detect and identify after-hour road hazards.

It also comes with hands-free tailgate with programmable height function, and an easy-load boot function that lowers the back of the car to make it more convenient for the person you hired to pack your groceries in and whatnot.