BEHOLD the Bentley Bentayga, the fastest SUV on the planet

 

Bentley has been making a big deal of its entry into the luxury SUV market for some time, and it's finally happening: meet the Bentayga, a 600-horsepower tank of a vehicle that'll hit 60 miles per hour in four seconds flat. The company makes it very, very, very clear that with a top speed of 301 km/h (187mph), the Bentayga is officially the fastest production SUV in the world — but its cousin, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, is just a few clicks behind. Either way, there's no arguing that the Bentley is the more luxurious of the two. (Tesla's forthcoming Model X will be quicker in a 0-60 run, but its speed is electronically limited.)
Inside, customers can specify an array of wild features, including a refrigerator in the trunk — perfect for carrying two bottles of Dom Perignon — and a custom in-dash diamond and solid gold clock manufactured by Breitling that is periodically rewound automatically by a system inside the car.
The Bentayga looks a bit like a Flying Spur sedan that's been propped up with beefier underpinnings, and by all appearances, this is a legitimate off-roader: besides the huge W-12 engine, there are cabin controls for selecting your surface, and a hill descent system that makes it easier to come down a steep grade. It might be hard to imagine why you'd want to take your six-figure machine out into the sticks, but you never know what kinds of remote, undeveloped properties the world's millionaires and billionaires are hanging onto.
At launch, the Bentayga will be available with four or five seats, but a seven-seat option is coming along with diesel and plug-in hybrid versions. Rolls-Royce's ultra-luxe SUV is still a ways off yet, so Bentley's got a bit of runway here to lock up some sales — you can only buy so many Range Rovers and Cayennes before you need something else in your life, after all, and Bentley's got the answer.