The Bentayga spent a lot of time this year testing at the Nurburgring. But track duty isn't the only thing one of the most expensive SUVs ever made is good for. Like a Range Rover or G-Wagon, a fair chunk of the testing took place in the Middle East, and that included "dune surfing."
The only thing people in the Emirates have more of than money is sand, so much so that they even use it for some extreme motorsports events. Hagwalah might carry a prison penalty, but as far as we know, dune surfing is legal.
We don't know what the purpose of this kind of driving is, but you don't see a 600 horsepower SUV going about 100 km/h on sand, throwing clouds of the stuff everywhere. Bentley engineered many drive modes, including one that has a little cactus on it, but that won't stop the paint and wheels from getting scratched.
When the basic Bentayga paintjob costs around $5,000 you begin to understand why these kinds of videos aren't common, and why we shared it even though we don't understand a single word. We get to check out some of the cooler features too, like the night vision camera that's used to film part of the review.
Unfortunately, most of the video focuses on the interior. It's special, thanks to all that red leather. However, you can still make out some of the elements that were borrowed from the Audi Q7. It might not have all the off-road capabilities of a G63 AMG, but very few people buy a $300,000 SUV to go off-road, right?
The clip dates back to the end of August. Strangely, in that time, very few Hollywood celebrities or Dubai princes have bought the Bentayga. Maybe the Audi switches or the popularity of the Tesla Model X are keeping their bank accounts in check.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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