Big Bentley
Doesn't everyone want to drive a luxury car to St. Moritz someday? Well, we luckily got a phonecall from Bentley to drive their new 2021 Bentley Bentayga V8 to St. Moritz to join the 2020 Bentley Summer tour at the Hotel des Bains in St. Moritz. Of course, we said yes. We set off at eight in the morning to get our car for the day. It was a long ride to our destination but there were enough tests on the way for the Bentayga, while we were being massaged by it. To get to Switzerland's Engadin region you have to overcome highways, passes and narrow village streets. Although it's more than two meters wide, it doesn't feel that huge. Its home territory is the highway, cruising at 120 km/h feels like 50 and it glides over bumps like they're not even there. If you feel like it, you can enable the cruise-control and it drives itself (you still have to hold your hands on the steering wheel) but the technology for fully autonomous driving is there. When the built-up areas end, you begin to tackle the swiss mountains of Engadin. Although it's a big car it goes like hell. The new Bentayga is a revised version of the car that first put Bentley in the SUV-segment, but we think that it looks stunning, it doesn't look bulky but just utterly beautiful. The car we had was the First-Edition, which means that it has a limited-run production and has a 4.0litre V8 with 550 horsepower, more than enough for this almost three-tonne car. But it would be nice to have a silky smooth V12 under the bonnet. It shoots up the mountain passes with ease and gives you 100% confidence, the passes in question were the Julierpass and the Bernina, of which the latter is probably one of the best and most beautiful passes in Switzerland. It's steep and has some amazing views of glaciers and mountains. If we're going to talk about the environment, the Bentayga can switch off four of its cylinders to save fuel, and if you want, Bentley will give you a V6 plug-in hybrid. But we're not about saving fuel, we're here to drive. If we would have a quarter million to spend on a luxury SUV, we'd take the Bentayga. It mixes luxury with performance, elegance with engagement and beauty with savageness.
