Bentley Bentayga practicality and boot space

• Boot size grows with number of seats
• Powered tailgate standard
• Can tow significant loads

Even though it can now be had with seven seats, with all that wood, leather and deep pile carpeting, the Bentayga’s hardly the last word in practicality.

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The boot measures 431 litres in the most luxurious four-seat mode, but because of the configuration of the rear bench this extends to 484 litres if you go for the five-seater. Removing the hinged, leather-bound parcel shelf unlocks 590 litres of load area, while folding the rear bench means 1,774 litres is on offer.

All cars get a remotely-operated powered tailgate as standard. The air suspension offers four ride heights too, meaning it’s possible to lower the car to allow your passengers easier ingress and egress.

Inside there’s enough room for four adults to travel in outright luxury no matter what the seating arrangement, and you’ll squeeze a fifth smaller person in too if you’ve opted for the requisite number of perches.

There are four cup-holders and cubbies dotted all around the cabin, including usefully large door bins and spaces for smartphones and sunglasses all neatly integrated and finely finished.

It isn’t unrealistic to expect the Bentayga to be employed as a tow car. There’s an electrically deployable ball on offer as an optional extra, the suspension will self-level and lower at the rear to make hitching easier and the braked towing weight is 3,500kg – up there will the best cars around.

Finally, certain customers will be pleased to note that Bentley has patented what it’s calling an Event Seat. This is a board that extends out of the boot floor for you to use as a picnic perch, and comes with downlighters for the bootlid as part of the Event Specification package.

Safety

• No Euro NCAP score forthcoming
• Platform shared with five-star model
• Array of optional kit on offer

While the Bentley Bentayga hasn’t been crash-tested by Euro NCAP (which isn’t unusual – none of the firm’s cars have), it shares its basic platform with the Audi Q7 and that scored a maximum five stars for safety.

Standard fare on the Bentayga includes driver and passenger front and rear side curtain, and front and rear seat thorax airbags. Crash detection and mitigation systems are installed too.

There are a number of extra-cost features you can specify to make your car safer still. The Touring Specification features radar-guided cruise control, a lane-keeping assist function, self-driving in traffic jams and a night vision system along with a head-up display to project vital details such as sat-nav instructions onto the windscreen.

You can also order the City Specification, which nets you an automatic self-parking system, traffic sign recognition and display, pedestrian detection with low-speed autonomous braking and a bird’s-eye view camera.

Finally, if going off-road is a possibility, you’ll want the All-Terrain Specification. This gets driving modes that adjust the Bentayga’s electronic stability- and traction-control systems along with engine, gearbox and suspension settings between Mud & Trail, Sand, Dirt & Gravel and Snow, Ice & Wet Grass modes. You also get extra underfloor protection to prevent damage from jagged rocks and such, and the around-view camera mentioned above.

There are a few things that aren’t on the Bentayga’s price list at all that you can get in other cars, such as night vision, and it’s a little disappointing to see so much of the safety kit is optional. That’s normal for a premium car like this, however.