Bentley Claims This Is the World’s Fastest SUV at 190 MPH
The world of the super SUV is a wacky one. Iconic supercar brands such as Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and Ferrari have all decided to build Super SUVs. Stranger still, Bentley, a luxury carmaker, now claims to have the world’s fastest SUV. The SUV in question is the 2021 Bentley Bentayga Speed and its 190 HP top speed. According to Automobile, the Bentayga Speed dethrones even the Lamborghini Urus.
The Bentley Bentayga is powered by a massive W12 engine
The Bentley Bentayga is quite a chunky thing, tipping the scales at around 5,500 pounds. To put that into perspective, Bentley’s super SUV is the weight equivalent of two 2020 Subaru BRZ‘s stacked on top of one another.
To move that massive weight around, the Bentayga Speed essentially has a small nuclear powerplant under the hood. According to Bentley, the 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged W12 develops a massive 626 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. The result is that the Bentayga Speed is more powerful than a Lamborghini Huracán.
The Bentayga Speed can reach 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds and continue onto a top 190 mph speed. However, the Tesla Model X is the quickest SUV with a 0-60 time of around 2.6 seconds, according to Tesla. Despite this, the Model X runs out of steam at 163 mph while the Bentley rockets along to 190 mph.
Doesn’t the Lamborghini Urus also reach 190 mph?
If you look up the 2021 Lamborghini Urus’ top speed, you’ll be met with a 190 mph figure just like that of the Bentley Bentayga Speed. However, in this case, the devil is in the details.
To understand why the Bentayga Speed dethrones the Urus, we have to switch over to kilometers. According to Lamborghini, the Urus has a top speed of 305 kph. On the other hand, Bentley claims that the Bentayga Speed can reach 1 kph more with a 306 kph top speed. The result is that the Urus’ top speed is technically 189.5 mph, while the Bentayga can reach 190.1 mph.
If this all seems a bit silly, it only sort of is. While the margin is just half a mile an hour, Bentley can now slap on the title of “World’s Fastest SUV” to the Bentayga Speeds’ marketing, which in return results in greater sales. So while it is small, that difference is most definitely intentional.
Should we care about fast SUVs?
In theory, fast SUVs shouldn’t work as well as they do. Of course, if you want to pay six-figures and go fast, there are tons of supercars. But seeing an incredibly quick SUV is like watching the world’s fastest cruise ship. It’ll never be the best performer, but it’s still amusing to watch.
Besides, there’s clearly a market for them. Take the aforementioned Lamborghini Urus. Despite being a six-figure super SUV, Lamborghini can’t seem to make them quickly enough. According to CNBC, the Italian carmaker’s overall sales jumped by 43 percent thanks to the Urus.
The bottom line is that these fast land-yachts make money, and products that make money hardly ever go out of production. So if you have a good sense of humor and want to watch an almost three-ton Bentley accelerate aggressively, you’re in luck. If, unfortunately, you are a bit of a purist, brace yourselves as more performance brands build bloated, expensive, and wildly amusing super SUVs.
