Bentley Bentayga Claims “World’s Fastest SUV” Title, by 1 km/h

Bentley took its sweet time getting into the high-performance SUV market—the Bentayga won’t hit the market until next year—but the British luxury brand isn’t afraid to get ridiculous with it. How ridiculous? Bentley claims the upcoming machine is the new king for SUV top speed, outpacing the last record holder by one whole kilometer per hour. Good lord.

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Let’s just get this out of the way right here: This is utter foolishness, an ego-measuring contest between two companies. The groan-worthiness is doubled by the fact that the supposedly deposed former record holder, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, is part of the same VW Group super-family that owns Bentley.

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In fact, we saw this coming: Back in January, Porsche R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz predicted that Bentley would try to surpass the Cayenne’s 300 km/h (186 mph) top speed by the thinnest of margins. “I think if [Bentley boss Wolfgang Dürheimer] is doing 2 to 3 km/h more, then why not? He’s doing that with a 12-cylinder. Our car will be much quicker on the road.”

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So, yes. Bentley claims, via a cloyingly overproduced video that comes across more like a movie trailer than a car commercial, that the Bentayga hits 301 km/h, or 187.033 mph. Here, check it out:

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Porsche has already, preemptively stated that it plans to topple Bentley for fastest SUV bragging rights. Given how utterly pointless top speed is to the way regular vehicles are used in regular daily life, we just can’t help asking: Why?

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