insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 09 - November 2015 | Page 84

MOTORS
Bentley Bentayga
Price as tested: £160,200
Top Speed: 187 MPH
0-60MPH: 4 seconds

Economy: Combined 22.1 MPG
Performance: 600 bhp
Combined CO2: 292 G/KM

automatically limited for safety and the car will
warn you if you turn too much and get
dangerously close to the articulation angle of
whatever you are towing. Having got stuck on
a field with a caravan at least once, I love the
inclusion of this feature very much.
Another great fear when you are towing, is
what is known as ‘getting a wobble on’; this is
where you are driving down the motorway and
suddenly whatever you are towing takes on a
life of its own, swaying from side to side and in
the most dramatic instances, can actually tip
over and take the car with it.
have developed their own removable,
high-specced Android-based tablets (imagine
sitting in Starbucks sporting one of these!)
which fit into the backs of the front seats and
deliver a range of entertainment to the lucky
rear-seat passengers.
And Bentley haven't just pulled out all the
stops with the obvious in-car car stuff—they've
really gone to town to make the SUV status of
their mighty motor, very real and apparent too.
Take the towing ability of the Bentayga for
example: there is a trailer assist feature that,
using sensors in the towbar, calculates the
trailer's critical articulation angle (the bit where
if you turn too much, you get stuck!). You set a
desired angle, to park your caravan in a pitch
at the camping site, and the Bentley goes to
work, doing clever things to help you. Speed is

So it is very encouraging to hear that Bentley
have developed a Trailer Sway Mitigation
feature to combat this very thing. If a wobble is
detected, the Bentayga will apply an
appropriate amount of brake pressure to
combat the swaying, and if necessary will also
reduce engine torque, and hence slow the car
down. Brilliant. Just brilliant—thank you
Bentley!
The off-road spec for the Bentayga means that
as well as four road settings, you have four
different off-road settings: snow & grass, dirt &
gravel, mud & trail, and sand dunes. In one of
these modes the car is set up accordingly with
suspension and drive, and information is
pumped to the screen about what's going on
outside, such as altitude, compass direction,
ride height and steering angle.

84

The word ‘extraordinary’ gets misused a lot,
and in a world where so much emphasis is
placed on fitting in and being normal, it is often
regarded as a mere negative. It is something
postive too—inferring that something goes
beyond the norm, the ordinary, and sticks out
as exceptional and very special.
The originators of Bentley knew this, and
chased it with all their might, and it is clear
from such an amazing work of art, such as the
Bentayga, that they still aspire to be
extraordinary today; which I for one, think is
wonderful. The world would get terribly boring
otherwise.

Bentley Sussex
London Road
Pulborough
West Sussex
RH20 1AR
01798 300634
www.harwoods.uk.com/bentley
@HarwoodsGroup