Bentley Bentayga vs Ram 1500

What's the difference?

The Bentley Bentayga Azure may look a bit awkward and it surely isn't great value for money, but it is a true Bentley and a very good family SUV that not only provides terrific practicality but superb performance and comfort.

As with all current-generation Ram 1500s, the Rebel remains one of our favourite full-sized American utes on the Australian market.

Yes, it is not cheap, and a few items standard on the Laramie Sport have been deleted for better or worse, but the Rebel offers better off-road capability without losing any of the regular 1500’s driver enjoyment, comfort, refinement and overall class.

An upsized Ranger Wildtrak with more civility than its redneck reputation suggests.

You'd think of all automotive brands Bentley, with its beautiful swooping and powerful saloons, would be able to floor us with something just exquisite in SUV form. But right from the 2012 concept the Bentayga has struggled to stun the world with its design.

So, while there are Bentley family traits all over the Bentayga, from the intricate headlights and mesh grille, to the oval tail-lights and body which squats over the rear wheels, the overall design looks awkward to my eyes.

To me it appears the boxy design with the tall, flat roofline and elevated ride height favours practicality over the sleekness possessed by a lower, more coupe-like SUV.

I favour dark coloured clothes because it hides my shapes, creases and bulges, but these are the things you want to see in a car and our Bentley's 'Onyx Black' paint, despite being a beautiful colour with a blue hue added, make it a featureless blob in the sunlight.

A lighter shade or something outlandish like a turquoise or yellow would look amazing, and even better, upset your neighbours.

Let's look at the interior design which is lavish with all the quilted leather and Mulliner customisation, but lacks the modern look of many contemporary cabins with its smallish media screen and busy mosaic of buttons.

I like the little chrome plungers for the air vents, the winged styling to the dashboard and the stitched leather upholstery, but it's easy to spot parts that are shared by other members of the Volkswagen Group (which owns Bentley).

For example, there are the indicator and wiper stalks, as well as the steering wheel buttons, all from Audi. Surely Bentley should have its own crafted parts?

The interior colour scheme on our Bentayga is 'Beluga' (black) and 'Camel' (tan) and the Mulliner option split the colours with a cream tone.

From a family perspective the tan and black will hide dirt, although the cream will struggle. It's possibly the best leather on the planet, however, coming from cattle living high enough that their hides are unblemished by insect stings.

Essentially, the 1500 Rebel is a Laramie Sport with a few changes to make it look a little more athletic.

Changes include an extra power bulge in the bonnet, a restyled grille treatment, black powder-coated steel bumpers, daytime running spot lights, 18-inch rather than 20-inch off-road alloy wheels and the aforementioned one-inch (26mm-ish) suspension lift – partly as a result of the knobblier tyres, Bilstein off-road dampers and revised springs, all for better clearances.

Speaking of which, that’s why the retractable side steps have been deleted. The approach/departure/breakover angles are rated at 20.9, 22.2 and 19.2 degrees respectively.

That the Rebel loses the RamBox does mean a bit more tub width, but at the cost of 210 litres of hidden storage.

What’s left are mostly visual changes, including a two-tone colour scheme with black paint on the lower sections, extra blacked-out trim, Rebel badges and decals and three grade-specific hues: 'Bright White', 'Flame Red' and 'Hydro Blue'.

Dimensionally, the 1500 is definitely in the next-league up compared to a Ranger or HiLux, with length at 5916mm, width at 2057mm (excluding mirrors – that balloons out to 2747mm with them) and height at 2006mm. Wheelbase is set at 3672mm. Which does wonders for interior space.

Inside, a red and black look pervades, resulting in Rebel upholstery and material applications, but the seats and dash remain pure Laramie Sport – and that’s no bad thing, as the DT series remains the most car-like and refined interior of all the big US utes.

Let’s dive in.

Being shaped like a bus does nothing for the Bentayga's beauty but makes it spacious for cargo and roomy for people.

With its large doors and elevated ride height (the car can be lowered for easier access) it's great for families.

Our Bentayga is a five-seater, which is fine for my little family of four, but there are four- and seven-seat configurations available, too.

Second row legroom is exceptional, even for me at 189cm tall, and sitting behind my own driving position there's still plenty of room.

Headroom is also outstanding throughout. We could be a family that loves top hats, on our way to the top hat championships, and not have to remove our top hats. That's how good headroom and hat room is.

Sun blinds in the second row are vital in Australia, and the electric ones in the Bentayga raise and lower quickly, not just offering protection but also more privacy.

Storage is good throughout with big door pockets and five cupholders.

It seems the cabin space eats into the cargo area because the boot isn't overly large at 484 litres with all seats in place.

Buttons in the cargo area allow the rear of the car to be raised and lowered to make it easier to hoist items in the boot.

For devices there's a wireless phone charger up front along with USB ports in both rows.

This is as much an interior review as anything else, because the Walkinshaw Automotive Group’s engineers have created nearly 50 unique dashboard parts in the 1500’s transition from LHD to RHD.

These join the hundreds of other items that have been modified throughout the big ute.

Haul yourself up and inside, and what you’re met with is essentially a Laramie Sport, but with a more-athletic vibe due to the red-and-black Rebel trim upholstery. In this evaluation example, the presentation, fit and finishes were exemplary.

Everything seems to be in Cinemascope. The sheer girth of the cabin; the excellent vision afforded by lofty seating as well as the deep windscreen and side windows; the abundance of light showering in from the dual-pane sunroof; wide yet cosy front seats that ensconce you like a bear hug – are there comfier ones out there in the world of utes? We doubt it; and heaps of space for your head, shoulders, arms and legs.

Most people should be able to sleep crossways on the back seat floor.

Back up front, the vast multi-layered dash is conventionally designed, with a 12-inch instrument display ahead of the driver and a long, portrait-oriented 14.4-inch touchscreen (containing a superb premium audio system).

But, unusually, there’s also a 10.25-inch multimedia screen for the front passenger, which isn’t visible to the driver for road-safety reasons.

Drilling into the details, there’s a satisfying attention to design to the instrument dials that you’d expect from an Italian brand – Ram owner Stellantis is partly consisted of Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia, after all, as well as Citroen and Peugeot.

It’s also in the feel and quality of the presentation, as well as the general ergonomics, where most of the controls and switchgear are within reach, readily understood and easily operable – after a few moments taken to learn what’s what.

Confidence and swagger, without being too brash or ostentatious. An F-150, in contrast, seems cheap and hard inside.

Weirdly, given all the room around you, there’s also a sense of being a bit hemmed-in, thanks to the ultra-wide centre console. It houses an attic’s worth of storage capability, and is nicely integrated within the overall dash architecture.

It’s a pity, then, that Ram doesn’t offer a three-person bench seat up front – or, at least, a two-person love seat for the passengers right beside the driver’s bucket. There’s certainly enough space for that.

A half-day with the Rebel failed to showcase too many faults or irritations. There’s too much wind noise coming in at speed due to those elephantine exterior mirrors, there’s no digital radio and not everybody will like the red trim inserts. In this regard the vibe is more garish Germanic than restrained Italianate.

Remember, too, the Laramie Sport’s sliding centre console and reclining rear backrests aren’t fitted to the Rebel.

Not that you’d necessarily miss the latter, since the bench is nicely angled and seems comfortable enough. Obviously, there are acres of space to move and lounge about in, and pretty much all the usual amenities are present.

These include USB ports of both varieties, heated outboard seats, face-level ventilation, cupholders, map pockets overhead lighting, a coat hook, and the glorious sunroof that allows so much light to flood in.

There’s extra storage beneath the cushions as well as in the door panels, while a small portion of the back glass slides open. Apparently, that’s handy for hearing and giving instructions when working with the ute. Clever.

And, of course, so is the massive tub out back, complete with a full-sized spare wheel.

For now, Australia only receives the five-foot/seven-inch – or 1.7m long – tub, rather than the longer 6' 1" option offered in earlier 1500s. The Rebel’s payload jumps 30kg, and still maintains its 4.5-tonne towing capacity.

Note that, with the deletion of the RamBox cargo storage units, load-area width increases, but only by 15mm, and you lose 210 litres of hidden tub storage.

For the record, the tub dimensions are around 1700mm (length), 1295mm (width) and 543mm (height). The upshot is about 1500 litres of cargo capacity.

And, of course, there’s the maximum braked towing capacity of 4500kg (with a 70mm ball), 750kg unbraked, 7771kg for Gross Combined Mass (GCM), 3505kg for Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and an 893kg payload maximum.

Finally, a heavy-duty tow bar, 12-pin wiring harness and trailer brake controller are standard equipment.

This isn’t a replacement for the bombastic Ram 1500 TRX, which has sadly disappeared along with the classic Hemi V8 (though it may come back sometime in the future), but rather an adjunct to the base Laramie Sport. Just with more off-road sportiness.

Like all 1500s, as well as the conceptually-similar Silverado 1500, Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra big utes, the Rebel is fully-assembled in the United States in left-hand-drive form, then shipped to and remanufactured in Melbourne for right-hand-drive.

This is no small task, with the Ram boasting hundreds of new and/or modified parts, needing over 80 man-hours of labour in the process.

Hence the high prices – with the Rebel matching the Laramie Sport at $141,950 (all prices before on-road costs).

More than just a sticker pack, the Australian Rebel includes one-inch higher-riding suspension, Bilstein off-road shocks, 32-inch all-terrain Falken Wildpeak 275/65R18 tyres, an electronically locking rear differential, underbody skid plates, a higher payload, special off-road cruise control and a so-called 'Power Bulge' bonnet – though there’s no extra performance under there, sadly, over the Laramie Sport’s existing SST (for Straight Six Twin-turbo).

You’ll need the $159,950 Limited flagship with its High Output SST engine tune for that.

Like the Laramie Sport, the Rebel seems almost sumptuously equipped, and includes goodies like a separate 10.25-inch multimedia display for the front passenger as well as a 14.4-inch central touchscreen and a 12.0-inch electronic instrumentation, 19-speaker Harman Kardon audio, dual-pane sunroof, heated seats front and rear, dual wireless phone charging, a sliding back window, power adjustable pedals and a fully-powered tailgate.

These come on top of a spray-in bed liner, cargo tie-down slider rails, LED headlights, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors. Handy in a truck this long.

There’s also a decent wad of advanced driver assist systems too, like autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. More on those in the safety section later on.

But it also loses some interior items too, like a sliding centre console, a reclining rear bench and 'RamBox' cargo storage, while digital radio is not available at all… which – to paraphrase '80s punk-rocker Billy Idol – might have Rebel owners yell out for more, more, more!

Anyway, there are also a few things missing outside too that are otherwise standard in the Laramie Sport.

When Bentley stopped putting its W12 into the Bentayga this year I was unsurprised yet sad. The world is moving toward tighter fuel emissions but the twin-turbo petrol V8 in this Azure is still a beast.

The 4.0-litre turbo-petrol V8 is from the Audi family and I love it as much for its plentiful torque and superb acceleration as the deep rumble of its exhaust.

Making 404kW and 770Nm the V8 can lift and throw the 2.5-tonne Bentayga to 100km/h from a standstill in 4.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 290km/h. I reckon you could get it to 300km/h with the wind behind you.

Drive goes to all four wheels via an eight-speed transmission and a Torsen-type centre differential.

Default drive balance is 40/60 front to rear, with up to 70 per cent of power able to be sent to the front wheels and up to 85 per cent to the rear axle.

I don't think you'll be astounded to hear this powertrain uses a lot of fuel? Let's go there...

Underneath the power bulge bonnet is a 3.0-litre twin-turbo in-line six-cylinder petrol engine known as the 'Hurricane'.

Sharing just five per cent of its parts with Jeep’s version, the Rebel uses the Standard Output (SO) tune, meaning this Euro 5-rated direct-injection unit delivers a heady 313kW of power at 5200rpm and 635Nm of torque at 3500rpm.

The High Output (HO) in the Limited, on the other hand, ups the ante with 403kW and 707Nm.

Compared to the old 291kW/556Nm 5.7L Hemi V8, the Hurricane SO lacks its evocative exhaust burble and effortless low-down grunt, but the figures don’t fib: 7.6 per cent more power and 14.2 per cent more torque.

Tipping the scales at 2615kg, the Rebel returns an impressive 120kW/tonne (versus 109kW/tonne for the V8), resulting in a 0-100km/h sprint-time of just 6.0 seconds, according to Ram (HO: 5.3s). That the Hurricane weighs nearly 60kg less than the Hemi helps.

Torque is sent to either the rear wheels in 2WD mode or all four wheels in 4WD mode via an eight-speed torque-converter auto, that Ram evocatively calls ‘TorqueFlite’ – memories of old Aussie Chrysler Valiants here.

A full-time on-demand transfer case is fitted, offering '2WD High', '4WD Auto' and '4WD High/Low' along with a locking rear differential.

As with all 1500s, there are wishbones up front and the rear axle is a coil-sprung rather than leaf-spring set-up.

Bentley says the Bentayga Azure with the V8 petrol engine will use an average of 11.4L/100km over a combination of open and urban roads.

But what happens if you live in the suburbs not far from the city and drive the Azure every day to do the school drop offs and trips to the shops and then take in some fun country roads? You use an average of 22.8L/100km according to the car's trip computer.

This is still not as high as I was expecting. I've driven V6-powered SUVs which use more than this under the same conditions.

That said, even when using as much fuel as Bentley says you should, an 85-litre fuel tank is only going to deliver an approximate 745km driving range.

Ram says the Rebel returns a combined average of 10.7L/100km, which translates to about 283 grams/km of carbon dioxide emissions. That’s a small improvement over the Hemi V8’s 12.2L/100km and 325g/km figures, aided by stop/start tech. But stirring performance, rather than outright economy are the priorities here, according to Ram.

Brimming the big 98-litre fuel tank with 91 RON standard unleaded petrol should see a theoretical average range between refills of 916km.

Neither ANCAP nor Euro NCAP have tested any full-sized American utes at this stage.

However, the Ram DT 1500 has scored a five-star result in the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rankings.

Keep in mind, too, that the Rebel shares the Laramie Sport and Limited’s advanced driver assist systems, ushering safety like AEB (including cyclist and pedestrian detection), 'Forward Collision Warning', rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, a 360-degree camera view, trailer-sway control and tyre pressure monitors.

Additionally, there are six airbags (dual front, front side and curtain), traction and stability controls and adaptive cruise control.

No speed operation data for the AEB and lane support systems are currently available.

Like all Ram DT 1500s, the Rebel includes three child-seat restraining top-tether points fitted, along with two ISOFIX latches in the rear outboard seats.

The Bentayga is covered by Bentley's three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 12 months or 16,000km.

The good news is all new Bentley's have five years regular servicing included in the cost of the vehicle.

Ram drops the ball when it comes to warranty.

That’s because, like GMSV’s Silverado range, it only offers a three-year, 100,000km warranty with roadside assistance, which falls short of the rival Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra’s five-year/unlimited kilometre coverage.

In an era where Chinese rivals are rolling out utes with seven-year schemes, Ram's (and GMSV's) warranty is severely lacking.

Service intervals are at every 12 months or 12,000km, and there is currently no capped-price servicing on offer.