Bentley Bentayga vs Maserati Levante
Remember back when the Porsche Cayenne launched how strange and foreign the idea of a supercar SUV was? These days everyone seems to be getting in on the act – even Lamborghini, whose cars (aside from the LM002, as forgettable as its name suggests) are bulking up, with Lamborghini’s New SUV expected to hit in 2018. Today, I’m going to take a look at two of the most prominent examples of the Sports SUV – the Bentley Bentayga, and the Maserati Levante, putting these monsters side-by-side in a true battle for dominance.
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Maserati have always been an interesting company in that they’ve never truly stuck with one model of car, leaping between execs (Quattroporte) and super-limited supercars (MC12) with abandon – so launching an SUV seems a pretty natural move. The Levante is an aggressive-looking machine with stylings reminiscent of a beefed-up BMW X5, with a 3 liter V6 under the hood. By comparison, the Bentley Bentayga’s appearance owes a great deal to the Flying Spur – it’s a Bentley, you know what to expect by now, big grille, smooth lines, all the trimmings – but jacked up on to an SUV chassis, and powered by a huge 6 liter W12 engine.
Performance-wise, both of these are endowed with a speed that belies their size – the Levante pulls 345hp out of the twin-turbo V6, giving it a top speed of 156mph and getting this Italian villa-on-wheels to 60 in 5.8 seconds – not bad for something that weighs over 2 tonnes. The Bentayga’s beautifully ridiculous engine lets it reach 187 mph, and 0-60 in 4.1 seconds – despite Bentley’s pretensions towards dignified machines, it’s clear that they know what people like me look for, we want power, and they give it in spades.
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It seems likely that the majority of both the Levantes and the Bentaygas will never be taken in to anything more extreme than a gravel path or maybe a dirt-road if their drivers are feeling adventurous, both of them perform reasonably well off-road. The Bentayga’s drive modes and the Levante’s adjustable height makes them, while far from Land Cruisers, more capable than you’d expect.
The ride-quality suffers a little on the Bentayga compared to standard Bentley comfort, but it’s still a pretty comfortable machine, as is the Levante. Inside the Maserati, you’ll find comfortable leather seats, monogrammed with the Maserati logo – while it’s not as plush as an Aston, it’s also a hell of a lot cheaper, with prices starting at $74K. Meanwhile, the Bentley’s interior is the classic refined British set-up, all leather and highly polished wood, delivering a very high level of rider comfort. For this plus the huge engine and the badge on the hood, you’re going to be paying a damn sight more – $231K.
The Bentley then takes its place as a statement car, comfortable, fast, and costing a massive chunk of cash, it casts a very large shadow over the Levante. However, for $74K, Maserati’s effort is a damn good machine, delivering good levels of speed and comfort for a much more reasonable price tag, and very much deserving of a place in the spotlight.
