A dash of additional nose weight and a smidgeon of extra tyre sidewall would appear to have effectively addressed our criticisms of the slightly busy and occasionally fidgety ride of the Bentayga W12.
The Diesel was supplied on 21in wheels (the W12 we tested was on 22s), and Crewe’s claimed kerb weight has it at 32kg more than the petrol model – a difference attributed to the iron block and relatively complicated induction system of that diesel V8.
There is also a bespoke software tuning for the car’s air suspension, adaptive dampers and active anti-roll bars here, of course, intended to give the Bentayga Diesel a dynamic character all of its own – and very likely a slightly softer and more supple one than the W12 has.
Whatever the cause, the result is a Bentayga that massages away an even wider variety of lumps, ridges and bumps that travel under its wheels than the last one we tested, and which, driven at just the right pace, could convey you hundreds of miles on a mix of surfaces while maintaining a near perfectly cradled and consistent sense of isolation.
The Diesel’s ride does permit some surface noise into the cabin: just a faint background road roar, amplified a bit, no doubt, by the air spheres suspending its hubs. But even allowing for that distant hum, the car is supremely supple and quiet.
