This is the new 2024 Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase, a limousine that’s an SUV rather than a saloon car. In this post, I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about it.Let me talk you through what the Extended Wheelbase version of the Bentayga is all about.
So, Bentley has had to retire the Mulsanne; it’s getting old, and one day they’ll replace it with some big electric limousine. But until then, they need a flagship. So, what they’ve done is made an even bigger, even more luxurious version of the 2024 Bentley Bentayga.
Table of Contents
Here are a bunch of them at Bentley’s factory in Crewe, waiting to go out. I mean, look at these different colors – we’ve got gold, grey, pink, and this big purple car here. Now, you might think from a distance it just looks like a normal Bentayga. However, the Extended Wheelbase version actually has 2500 new parts, and I’ll talk you through some of them.
To create this Extended Wheelbase 2024 Bentley Bentayga, Bentley has increased the distance between the front and the back wheels by 180 millimeters. So, it now has a wheelbase of 3175 millimeters, which is 40 millimeters more than a Maybach GLS but unfortunately 22 millimeters shorter than the new Long Wheelbase Range Rover. Oh well, you can’t win them all. Anyhow, all that extra length is in this door.
Look at it, it’s huge! Obviously to accommodate the door mentally, also to fit a longer roof and a longer floor pattern as well. The extra sheet metal on this car is part of the reason why this Extended Wheelbase version of the Bentayga is 98 kilos heavier than the standard car. Some of that weight is in the door there, but to help you open it, it’s motorized, so you get assistance.
Look, I’m going to open it with my little finger. You do have to pull it for safety reasons, but look, I’m putting no effort in at all. Ah, I’m just gonna get in because this is what it’s all about.
Okay, what’s also nice: when you get inside, you don’t actually have to pull the door; you just press and hold this button.
How does it do its thing? Before we go any further, I need to give you a point of reference with a normal Bentayga. So, I’m sat in the back behind the passenger seat because this is a right-hand drive car. I have a tape measure here, and I’m going to measure my knee room. It’s coming in at 17 centimeters.
Back in the Long Wheelbase, now once again with my tape measure, let’s see what we’ve got here. Come on… oh, there’s more, there’s more knee room! 35 centimeters! Way more space! And if that isn’t enough, look at this. I can use this new little tablet to make the front seat move out of the way and put my seat into its most relaxed position because this car has the top-of-the-range airline seats. I’m going to get relaxed now.
Oh, look at this! We’ve got a footrest. I just put my feet up. Actually, no, you know what I should do? Let’s measure my knee room again. I think we’ve made an improvement here. We’re uh, 50 centimeters! So, half a meter. It’s pretty good at that.
Sometimes when you’re traveling in luxury, you want others to know that you’re traveling in luxury. And that’s why this Extended Wheelbase version of 2024 Bentley Bentayga a has a few design cues which make it look a little bit more premium. For instance, it comes with vertical slats in the grille, in addition to the mesh.
You can have it in this chrome effect, or you can have it in black. Then there are these unique mirrored 22-inch alloy wheels. You can’t get these beautiful things on the standard Bentayga.
Now on the inside, there are even more upgrades, and I’ll talk you through them now. All four door inlays on this car have this unique metal bit of trim on it. What happens is the craftspeople at Bentley get a big piece of metal, and they just burn away the bits they don’t want to create this shape.
It’s so thin, it’s thinner than paper – it’s 0.07 millimeters thin. Then they lay it on and lacquer it by hand. And then there’s this stitching. So, the thread they use here is thinner than the thread they use on the normal Bentayga, and the stitches are actually half the size. It’s just exquisite.
Well, the sunroof is exactly the same size as on the Bentley Bentayga 2024. Bentley has had to move it backward slightly so that people in the back can still enjoy it. And for the first time, rear occupants can actually operate the sunroof blind because they can do it through this tablet. Just press this button.
Yeah, you’re not in a hurry if you’ve got 2024 Bentley Bentayga. The normal Bentayga is available with heated and ventilated rear seats. But this Extended Wheelbase version gets a special upgrade. The seats can actually measure your temperature and humidity so you can tell if you’re a bit hot or you’ve got a sweaty bottom, and it can vary the cooling or heating accordingly. There’s also two-zone ionization rather than single zone.
That means if you’re eating foie gras here in the back, it can clean up the smell of all that fatty duck liver. Then there’s extended ambient lighting in the doors, so you have two different panels so you can alter the colors as you wish, and the lights actually shine through little pores in the leather. There’s no point having all those interior upgrades if they make this car an absolute pig to drive. And that’s why Bentley.
Overview 2024 Bentley Bentayga
The New 2024 Bentley Bentayga Azure, the updated version of the super luxury SUV. In this review, we’ll delve into what sets it apart, its features, and whether it’s worth the hefty price tag of $475,000. From its striking design elements like the Onyx paint and Bentley’s signature details to its spacious and exquisitely crafted interior, we’ll explore every aspect.
Buckle up as we take you through its powerful 4.0L twin-turbo V8 engine, Bentley Dynamic Ride technology, and its practicality for families. Discover if the Benta Azure is a worthy contender in the world of ultra-luxury SUVs.
I’m going to tell you what I like about it and also what I don’t. I’m also going to tell you whether I think it makes a good family SUV to review. It’s the updated version of the brand’s super luxury SUV I drove back in 2019. This one is the Azure Grade A specification, which 2024 Bentley Bentayga says will enhance the well-being and comfort of passengers. Being a Bentley already, I could only assume this means there would be staff on board.
The 2024 Bentley Bentayga is so enormous it has its own gravitational field. It looks like a black hole in its Onyx paint, and this is just the standard wheelbase. It’s a better-looking Benta than the one I drove a few years ago. I like these elliptical tail lights and the Bentley badge across the tailgate.
I love these headlights and their intricate crystal flower design. The Bentley badge on the guards, the muscular haunches of the grill, I’m not sure about that. Nor am I convinced that the overall design of this SUV is as good as it could be. I mean, does this SUV look as awkward to you as it does to me?
See, Bentley is part of the Volkswagen group, and the Benta’s underpinnings are shared by VW for its Touareg, Audi for its Q7, Porsche for its Cayenne, and Lamborghini for its Urus. I think they all look better, more comfortable in their own skin.
Other brands of the same Volkswagen group have done a better job of creating SUVs with the same platform. The Lamborghini Urus, for example, the Porsche Cayenne, even the Volkswagen Touareg. No, I think this could look a lot better.
Let me take you inside. Now, this is more like it. Say what you want about the exterior, the Benta Azure has a beautiful cabin. There’s the Walnut veneer with its mirror black finish, the chrome plunges which release air from the vents, and then gaze at the upholstery.
It’s Beluga and Camel, no not the actual animals if only. No, the Camel is the brown leather and the Beluga is the black. The contrasting stitching in the diamond-quilted areas and the steering wheel is courtesy of Bentley’s in-house customization department, Mulliner. They will do anything you ask them to, and I mean anything.
But then there’s the screen, which seems small, and the multitude of buttons which seem outdated compared to the minimalist designs we see these days. They also look very familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen these dials, switches, and controls in other cars in the Volkswagen group too. Surely Bentley should have its very own.
Here we are in the cabin, obviously. Now, it is absolutely exquisite in here. I love this winged design to the dashboard; it mirrors the Bentley badge. I love the stitching in the steering wheel; it’s hand-stitched in this leather from cows that have never been bitten by mosquitoes before. Male cows as well, they only use bulls I think they call it. It’s all absolutely superb in here. But do you know what else is superb?
A Skoda. That’s right, the Skoda is superb because a lot of the switchgear, a lot of the dials, a lot of the buttons are out of a Škoda. We own a Škoda. This is a very familiar cabin in terms of all the buttons, dials, even these indicator stalks from an Audi.
And this steering wheel, even though it’s got a big 2024 Bentley Bentayga badge and lovely stitching, this part, the buttons and the dials, they’re all out of an Audi as well. And look, there’s nothing wrong with that, unless it’s on a Bentley because it dilutes that Bentley-ness. Bentley needs to be special, and for me, that’s just not special enough.
2024 Bentley Bentayga Price
So how much does all this cost? Well, if you’ve got to ask, you know what they say. But the 2024 Bentley Bentayga Azure lists for $475,000, and it has about a dozen options fitted to it, taking the price up to $516,000. That’s before on-road costs like rego and all that type of thing.
At half a million, you are way beyond BMW, way beyond Mercedes-Benz; even Range Rover can’t keep up with that type of pricing. But it’s not as expensive as the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which is $700,000 or thereabout, or Ferrari’s SUV, which is also around 700 grand. No, where this really is placed is opposite an Aston Martin DBX or a Lamborghini Urus. But those are weapons; this is more a cushion.
Let me show you what you get for the money. Coming standard on the 2024 Bentley Bentayga are the prettiest LED headlights in the world, LED taillights too, a proximity key, roof rails, and a panoramic glass roof. Plus, a hands-free tailgate. Inside, there’s a 10.9-inch media screen, satnav, wireless Apple CarPlay, and wireless Android Auto.
The diamond quilting to the door trims is also standard, and down there are Bentley sports pedals. Being very high in the Benta range, the Azure comes standard with several packages that are optional on lower grades. So while leather upholstery is, of course, standard, the color specification package gives you a choice of all interior color combinations and an extended choice of hide colors.
The city specification brings extra safety tech like rear cross-traffic alert and a top view camera. The front seat comfort specification adds 20-way power front seats; they’re ventilated and massaging, and there are also comfort headrests. The touring specification adds adaptive cruise control, a head-up display, lane-keeping assistance, and night vision. And then the sunshine package adds electric sunblinds, which is great for the kids in the back.
There are also cost options fitted to our car as well. Just some of them include this black veneer, it’s about $6,000, the rear privacy glass is $25,000, and the Mulliner customization, which includes the stitching and the adding of extra colors, comes to more than $118,000.