Bentley Revs Up Bentayga SUV

Volkswagen AG’s Bentley luxury car unit plans this spring to add a 650-hp variant of its three-year-old Bentayga crossover vehicle.

The Bentayga Speed model will feature a retuned version of the vehicle’s 6.0-liter W-12 engine, which currently generates 600 hp. The higher output will match that of the Lamborghini Urus crossover that debuted in 2017.

In addition to hardware and software changes to the W-12 engine, the Bentayga’s 8-speed automatic transmission also will be upgraded.

Bentley says the Bentayga Speed will top out at more than 190 mph, up slightly from the standard W-12’s 187 mph maximum. The new model also is expected to eclipse the base Bentayga’s zero-to-60 mph time of four seconds.

The Bentayga Speed also will get chassis revisions to improve handling characteristics, Autocar reports. The changes aren’t expected to add any weight to the 5,400-lb current W-12 model.

Bentley also offers a 4.0-liter V-8 gasoline engine in the Bentayga. The vehicle’s V-8 diesel was discontinued last year in Europe but is still available in several other countries, including Australia, Russia and South Africa.

The long-rumored plug-in hybrid variant of the Bentayga is still said to be in the works.