Pop quiz: What’s the fastest speed limit in the U.S.? Currently, it’s 85 MPH, but only on certain sections of one highway in Texas. Lawmakers have proposed an American autobahn in California, but as it stands, most of us are (legally) only ever going to push our cars up around 80 MPH.
So why would anyone need a luxury SUV that can go 190 MPH? That’s the question we’re posing today to both Bentley and Lamborghini. But before we get to that — first, the news.
This month, Bentley announced the new Bentayga Speed, an enhanced version of its luxury SUV that now holds the title as world’s fastest production SUV. This is normally the part where we’d cue the confetti cannons, but we triple-checked our stat books and aren’t sure we can wholeheartedly endorse this coronation for three reasons:
- The Bentayga Speed is rated at a top speed of 190 MPH (or 306 KMH), which is only three MPH faster than the top speed of the normal Bentayga. Yes, it’s technically faster, and we recognize that any speed gain beyond 175 MPH is impressive, but come on.
- The Lamborghini Urus, which the Bentayga Speed is potentially dethroning, also lists its top speed at 190 MPH (go ahead, Google it for yourself). But if you look to the metric system — Bentley being British and Lambo being Italian — the Urus is actually rated 305 KMH and the Bentayga 306 KMH. In Imperial, that’s 189.5 MPH and 190 MPH. Yes, we’re really talking about a 0.5 MPH difference.
- The Bentayga Speed is debuting at the Geneva Motor Show in March and going on sale sometime “later this year,” so while we hope we can trust Bentley to back up their speed claims, this edition hasn’t been put through the third-party paces to confirm this infinitesimal victory.
So sure, go ahead and call the Bentayga Speed the world’s fastest SUV if you want, at least until Lamborghini releases a faster edition of the Urus. And of course, there’s a lot more to the new model than the top speed. But there’s another layer to this pissing contest that should be pointed out: both of these automakers are owned by the Volkswagen Group.
There’s a conspiracy theory to be had there, but we’ll leave that up to someone else. Meanwhile, we’ll pass on these top speed shenanigans and wait patiently for the electric Macan.
Photos courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited
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