Bahnstormer!

Penang in a day? A snip – if you are motoring in the uber-rapid, uber-comfy Bentley Bentayga, that is.

- Low Ka Wei

Had it not been the foolishness of youth, I would not have attempted that day trip in the winter of 1999, in which I decided that it was a brilliant idea to drive the 600km or so from Montreal to the Niagara Falls. What could go wrong? Everything, of course, thanks to trinity of snow, misplaced optimism and the little rental car that couldn’t. (If you are curious, it was a Dodge Neon and, yes, it drove as terribly as its name sounded.)

How things have changed in the intervening decades. Zipping past slower traffic as if it were standing still, I am at the head of a convoy of gleaming Flying Spurs and Continental GTs driven by Bentley customers, piloting the carmaker’s latest toy for one-percenters, the million-dollar Bentayga SUV.

The power doled out from the W12 engine is, in a word, effortless. Humming along while it cruises, it puts up a mighty performance when push comes to shove. With 600bhp of power and 900Nm of torque at my disposal at a mere dip of my right foot, it is capable of propelling the 2,400kg car to a 301kmh top speed, with the first 100 of which arriving in a blink-and-you-will-miss-it 4.1 seconds. The Bentley Bentayga is the fastest SUV on the market; in other words, this car is built to eat highways for breakfast.