The 2026 Bentley Bentayga Speed Is Ridiculous, And That's Just Perfect

Going loudly sideways in the new Bentayga Speed, all I could think was that Bentley had made a hot-hatch with a six-figure price tag. Was that a model that the storied British automaker had regularly been asked for? Probably not, but the existence of this flatulent flagship SUV suggests someone in Crewe has an excellent sense of humor.

It's not just the sticker that means the Bentayga isn't really a hatchback, of course. Replacing the now-discontinued Bentayga S as the performance pinnacle of Bentley's entry-level cars, the luxury SUV further distances itself from its wafting-focused siblings with shouty styling, a vocal set of new tailpipes, and of course an uptick in power.

Chris Davies/SlashGear

Brash, more expensive, more potent: hardly fresh terrain for any high-end automaker, Bentley included. Yet out in intimidatingly wide Montana, where the company had invited SlashGear to try its silliest SUV, it was personality rather than profligacy that stood out.

Launched a decade ago, the first-generation Bentayga was Bentley's answer to both growing interest in high-end SUVs, and its specific need for a gateway model to the brand. Cravats flapped and monocles fell at the automaker's familiar styling transplanted from long and limber sedans and coupes to a chunky, upright luxe-truck. Under the hood, Volkswagen Group's beefy W12 bi-turbo engine propelled the original Bentayga on to 187 mph, while the nameplate itself has become Bentley's most popular.

Since then, the automaker has split the Bentayga line into two: unrelentingly lavish on one side, topped with 2022's EWD or Extended Wheelbase version, and fierce on the other. That's where this new 2026 Bentayga Speed sits, though the old version's W12 is now absent.

Bentley

Indeed, the W12 has given way to various iterations of V8 and plug-in hybrid across the company's line-up, though Bentley's first all-electric model — expected to be revealed next year and then launch in 2027 — will be an all-new model line. Before you shed too many tears for those missing cylinders, though, there's the fact that with 641 horsepower, this freshly tuned bi-turbo V8 is more potent than the older, bigger engine. 0-60 mph arrives in 3.4 seconds, then, versus the 3.8 seconds of the old Bentayga Speed.

No Bentayga is subtle — frankly, who'd want that? — but this Speed flavor cranks things up further with a standard body-colored styling kit. There's also a carbon fiber exterior trim option, and an optional pinstripe in one of six colors. Oh, and for the first time in Bentley history, 23-inch wheels in Speed-exclusive designs are available as factory options, replacing the standard 22-inchers.

The result, especially in this Alpine Green Satin with a contrasting orange pinstripe, is about as close to a hooligan as Bentley gets right now. That is, in case you need to ask, decidedly a good thing.

Bentley

The luxury SUV space is well populated these days, the Bentayga going up against AMG- and M-blessed models from Mercedes and BMW, respectively, not to mention Lamborghini's Urus and Porsche's Cayenne Turbo GT. That's before you get to Ferrari Purosangue and Rolls-Royce Cullinan territory. Standing out and being memorable are a key part of the allure.

For all the visuals grab you, though, the Bentayga Speed's real magic is in how it sounds. While a sports exhaust is standard, the Akrapovič option should be the first box any buyer checks on the order form. The sensible argument is that the quad-outlet titanium system is more than 27 pounds lighter than the dual-outlet standard rig, but really you're buying this for the snorting, snarling, positively ridiculous soundtrack.

Plant your foot, and the Akrapovič pipes snarl along with the big V8. Lift off, or downshift, and machine gun stutters and rabid barks hammer out from the rear. On the move, it's enough to make drivers alongside you swerve out of the way; parked up, it'll startle pedestrians and possibly leave small children sobbing. It is glorious, garish, grandstanding mayhem: a cacophony of silliness made all the more beguiling by its authenticity. In the Bentayga Speed, not only are the leather, carbon fiber, and metal trim real, but all the aural parts, too. Bentley's doing no artificial enhancement, nor squirting fake sounds into the cabin, and it's a genuinely beautiful thing.

The 4.0-liter V8 uses a pair of larger turbos, with a lower compression ratio and higher-flow fuel injectors. That, Bentley says, delivers not only the uptick in horsepower, but helps cut turbo lag; it also offsets the fact that torque, while burly at 627 lb-ft, dips slightly from the 664 lb-ft of the old Bentayga Speed's W12. Top speed is 193 mph — a three mile per hour improvement — and there's a Launch Mode to help you get there most effectively.

Four-wheel steer is standard, while the Speed Dynamic Specification throws on what Bentley says are the largest carbon ceramic (CSiC) brake disks in the world. At 440 mm — or more than 17 inches — at the front, they're more than up to the task of hauling the British bruiser to a halt. Then again, at 5,425 pounds, this is no small SUV.

Oddly, despite the huge wheels, skinny rubber, and 15% stiffer sports suspension, the Bentayga Speed is nowhere near as insufferable over poor-quality road surfaces as you'd assume. Both Comfort mode and "Bentley" mode — the latter the automaker's pick of best-of-all-worlds settings — are unchanged over the same options in the core Bentayga V8. It's Sport mode where the changes have been focused.

The barking Slovenian exhaust does not oversell the experience. Hit the gas and there's just enough of that familiar "wait, did you just taunt the rhino?" pause, as the V8 musters its resources and then hurtles you forward. It's a profligate sense of power, an unstinting wave of it: my co-driver and I quickly nicknamed the Bentayga Speed as "The Overtaking Machine," for how effectively the Bentley surges around snakes of slower traffic.

Factor in the active anti-roll bars, the stiffer suspension, and the continuous dampers, though, and you don't need to call on those platter-sized brakes as much as you'd expect for the corners. Roll is kept in check, and grip never seemed in question from the standard Pirelli P Zero rubber. At least, not driving in a manner that won't get you instantly arrested and your license shredded on public roads.

Bentley

To push those limits, Bentley set up an autocross track of sorts on a local ranch, to demonstrate that the Bentayga can finally drift (it's unclear what percentage of owners actually go off-road in their SUVs, much less have requested to go sideways, but that's probably not the point). Hurtling at speed over loose, rutted gravel, the Speed's trick suspension left me unruffled. Thumb the button for ESC Dynamic Mode, meanwhile — which comes if you have the CSiC brakes — and the SUV will stop trying so much to keep you going in a straight line.

Yank the wheel aggressively, and you can absolutely kick out the Bentayga Speed's back-end. Of course, you can say that about a lot of vehicles, but what helps here is how readily that slide can be managed. I'm not much of an autocross guy — honestly, I prefer to go sideways on ice — but Bentley's blend of permanent all-wheel drive, more lenient electronic nannies, and brake-based torque vectoring leaves the SUV feeling smaller, more nimble, and far more fun than something this hefty has any right to be.

All that occurs, naturally, in a cabin that puts cosseting first. Inside, it's very nearly business as usual for Bentayga, which means the sky is pretty much the limit as long as your bank account can stomach it. There's a new, Speed-exclusive color split option, along with special diamond quilting and unique driver graphics for the digital cluster, plus a dark-tint option for the interior chrome.

It's wrapped around technology that almost feels restrained, by the standards of rival luxe SUVs. The 10.9-inch central touchscreen — with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto — falls well short of excessive. Bentley still includes plenty of physical controls for the climate control, drive settings, and more; the tactile "organ stop" vent pulls are particularly pleasing, as are the eyeball-like vents themselves.

Stealing the machined stalks from the Flying Spur would be my first suggestion to Bentley's designers, and replacing the Audi-esque examples on the Bentayga's steering column. They don't quite live up to the heft of the chunk transmission selector, or the perfectly-weighted drive mode dial. You can't really criticize the audio, however: the standard system spreads its ample 590W over twelve speakers, while the Naim upgrade bumps that to 20 speakers and a hefty 1,780 watts.

Despite the dimensions, the Bentayga has always — or, at least, until the arrival of the extended wheelbase version — felt a little snug inside. The upright dashboard with its swooping cowls adds to that sensation. At least it means plenty of canvas to show off the leather, wood, and other materials that Bentley's craftspeople are so clever with.

Bentley

Some experimentation there is now not the exception, but the rule, too: while Bentley offers 56 exterior paint colors, ten hide colors, and eight different cabin veneers — not to mention carbon fiber trim and more — the bulk of its customers are apparently speaking to the Mulliner team about some degree of special customization. It's one of the reasons the automaker doesn't seem so concerned with industry-wide dipping sales numbers: "sell fewer cars but at more money apiece" is a solid strategy when exclusivity is a boon for your brand, especially when you're also about to open a new, dedicated paint shop on-site.

Exactly how much the price tag might be buoyed by those unique changes, though, is something of a mystery right now. While UK and European pricing has been announced — the Bentayga Speed will start at £219,000 and €225,882, respectively — U.S. numbers will have to wait until closer to the SUV's arrival toward the end of the year. That's because Bentley is waiting to see what impact tariffs will have on the cars it's importing.

With the outgoing Bentayga S V8 starting at around $244,000 before options (or $266k for the Black Edition), figure somewhere north of that for this even sillier iteration. Then budget the roughly $10k it looks like that all-important Akrapovič titanium exhaust will cost. Skipping that would be a sign that you've completely misunderstood what the new Bentyaga Sport is all about.

If there's been one thing missing from the Bentayga, it's perhaps the sheer personality that Bentley's big, lovely sedans and two-door models have offered so copiously. Turns out, all that was required was an embrace of silliness to go with the quilted leather and plentiful horsepower. The Bentayga Speed isn't really a hot-hatch, but the way it distills some of the eager playfulness that makes them so appealing is what makes it the most convincing iteration of Bentley's SUV so far.