What's the news?
Bentley has just introduced a third engine option to the Bentayga super-luxury SUV range. Alongside the 6.0-litre W12 and the 4.0-litre triple-turbo V8 diesel comes this, the 550hp 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol.
It's an engine already familiar from the Continental GT coupe, and uses dual twin-scroll turbos nestling within the V of the engine. The torque output is a whopping 770Nm, and Bentley claims a 4.5 second 0-100km/h sprint time. Top speed is 290km/h.
With Co2 emissions of 260g/km and average fuel economy of 11.4l/100km (that's 24.8mpg guv'nor) it's hardly the most parsimonious car around, but Bentley claims that it will fit in 746km between visits to the pumps, so as a long-range tourer it's doing pretty well. It does have cylinder deactivation and stop-start to try and squeeze the best efficiency out of the engine, in fairness.
As well as the V8, Bentayga buyers can now spec it with carbon-ceramic brakes. These 440mm monsters (the largest production car brakes around, and 370mm at the back) have 10-piston callipers and can exert a braking force of some 6,000Nm. We've no idea what that means in real terms, but we bet it's roughly akin to running into a hefty tree. If you stick with the old-style steel brake discs, you can at least have new shiny red brake callipers. Nice.
Wrapping around the new brakes is a new 22-inch wheel design, part of the 11-strong lineup of wheel options. There's also a new black-and-chrome grille, and 'twin quad' exhaust pipes at the back.
Inside, introduced alongside the V8 engine, are some new interior finishes. You can replace the acres of felled tree in the cabin with rather more modern carbon-fibre, and you can now have a steering wheel that's part wood, part leather (seven different wood finishes are available). Oh, and there's a new red leather trim option called 'Cricket Ball.'
All that sits alongside the existing Bentayga tech and options list - the 48-volt active ride control system, the Drive Dynamics Mode, off-road settings, air suspension, hill descent, active cruise, traffic assist, predictive cruise control (which uses sat-nav data to pick the appropriate speed for a given location), traffic sign recognition, park assist, night vision, a heads-up display, eight-inch touchscreen, a Bentley-branded 10.2-inch removable tablet for rear seat passengers, and a 1,950-watt Naim auto system.