In the realm of luxury, so often more is better, and so the facelifted Bentley Bentayga is now offered in Malaysia in Extended Wheelbase (EWB) guise for more spacious accommodation in the second-row for what is likely to be a chauffeur-driven vehicle.
Measuring 5,322 mm long, the Bentayga EWB sports all of its additional 180 mm in the rear doors, and along with the wheelbase that grows from 2,995 mm in the standard-length Bentayga to 3,175 mm to yield a cabin space that is larger than that of any other luxury competitor, says Bentley; in terms of claimed figures, rear legroom in the Bentayga EWB is 1,058 mm while rear headroom is 972 mm.
This particular example of the Bentayga EWB comes specified with the Airline Seat Specification, which is the most advanced seating setup fitted to a car, says Bentley. This offers 22-way adjustment, along with world-firsts such as automatic climate sensing and postural adjustment technology.
For maximum sprawling space, the Relax mode offered in the Airline Seat Specification seating brings the ability to recline up to 40 degrees, and the front passenger seat ahead is adjusted to move forwards to yield more room and a leather-trimmed footrest deploys from the rear of the front passenger seat.
Conversely, a Business Mode brings the seat into its most upright position to offer the best possible in-car working position in the vehicle. The also-included automatic climate seat technology senses occupant temperature and humidity, and the system then determines if heat, ventilation or both are required to keep its occupant at “optimum thermal wellbeing”.
Fine adjustments are also made to the occupants seating position and pressure points via the postural adjustment system. This measures pressure across the seat surface, and can apply 177 individual pressure changes across six independent pressure zones over a three-hour period in order to improve comfort and minimise fatigue over a journey.
Further bolstering the wellness remit of the Bentayga in Azure trim is the Bentley Diamond Illumination that emits light through perforations in the soft-touch interior door trim, and being a Bentley, there are some 24 billion combinations possible for trim specification alone.
This particular example wears a Camel and Beluga colour split, while wood trim is open-pore Koa, a wood that is typically found on Hawaiian islands, paired with Onyx black exterior paint and 22-inch ten-spoke directional design wheels. These are shod in 285/40R22 tyres, with Pirelli P Zero being the rubber of choice on this example.
For suspension, self-levelling air suspension act upon double wishbones in front and a multi-link layout at the rear, with continuous damping control and an 48-volt active anti-roll bar system for the front and rear axles. Brakes are ventilated iron discs which measure 400 mm in front with six-piston callipers, and 380 mm at the rear with sliding callipers.
All-wheel steering enables a turning circle of 11.8 metres which is 7% smaller than that of the standard wheelbase Bentayga, bringing the dual benefits of confident handling at high speeds along with the convenience manoeuvrability at low speeds, says Bentley.
Infotainment features a 10.9-inch touchscreen display with gesture control, navigation with 3D building display, wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, along with optional digital TV reception; further functions supported include voice control and text-to-speech.
Connectivity also includes Bluetooth, a 4G telephone module, 4G Wi-Fi hotspot, along with a touch screen remote and optional rear seat tablet with wireless headphones; also on are six USB-C ports.
Audio for this example of this Bentayga EWB Azure is the top-end Naim for Bentley Premium Audio that outputs 1,720 watts through 20 channels, with 20 speakers including super-tweeters.
Safety kit in the Bentayga EWB includes crash detection and mitigation systems, with passive safety kit comprised of driver and passenger airbags, front and rear side curtains airbags as well as front and rear seat thorax airbags. Driver assistance systems include the head-up display, night vision, park assist, traffic sign recognition and more.
Propelling the Bentayga EWB, all 2,514 kg of it is the 4.0 litre biturbo petrol V8 engine, the sole powertrain available, producing 550 PS at 6,000 rpm and 770 Nm of torque from 2,000 rpm to 4,500 rpm. Outputs are sent to permanent all-wheel-drive via an eight-speed automatic transmission, with a Torsen centre differential and an open rear differential with electronic differential locking.
Thus equipped, the Bentayga EWB Azure achieves the 0-100 km/h acceleration benchmark in 4.6 seconds, and a top speed of 290 km/h.
In Malaysia, the Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase starts from RM1,091,000 before duties, taxes and registration, or from RM2,508,000 with duties paid.