Rhys Millen Will Take This Bentley Bentayga Up Pikes Peak
Millen will attempt to break the Pikes Peak record for production SUVs this June.
Bentley announced plans back in January to take its Bentayga to the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Now, the ultra-luxury carmaker has released more details on the car and driver that it'll send to Colorado this summer.
Hoping for a new production SUV record for the hill climb, Bentley has summoned Pikes Peak veteran, rallycross star, and overall steering wheel-fiend Rhys Millen to pilot its $230,000 SUV. As The Drive's own Kyle Cheromcha learned earlier this month, when it comes to driving fast, Millen ain't messing around.
As for the car, Bentley says the Bentayga that it'll be taking is as close to a production car as the rules will allow. Powered by a 600-horsepower, 6.0-liter W-12, the Pikes Peak Bentayga will be fitted with a roll cage, fire extinguishers, Sparco racing seats, and harnesses. It'll run on production-spec, road-legal Pirelli tires and feature a custom exhaust system courtesy of Akrapovic, the same folks who supplied pipes on Bentley's positively raucous Continental GT3-R.
It's also finished in a funky yellow-green color Bentley calls "Radium Satin" and sports trimmings made of black chrome and carbon fiber.
To take the record of fastest production SUV to climb Pikes Peak, the Bentayga must complete the 12.42-mile course in less than 12:35.61 (set by the Range Rover Sport back in 2013) or maintain an average speed of more than 60 mph. With 156 corners, 5,350 pounds of SUV and, y'know, gravity to contend with, it's a tall order.
Rhys Millen and the Bentley Bentayga will attack Pikes Peak on June 24.
