The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed always delivers, and this year was no different with a flood of reveals, first drives, and hillclimb runs. One of the standout performances up Lord March’s driveway during the timed shootout came from the Bentley Bentayga Speed, which broke the old Bentayga W12’s record to become the fastest internal combustion engine SUV ever on the course. But Bentley’s 641 hp (478 kW) SUV didn’t get to keep the crown for long. The 717 hp (535 kW) Aston Martin DBX S showed up, and before the weekend ended, it broke Bentley’s fresh record. You can catch that record run from the onboard camera at the bottom of this article.
The Bentayga Speed set a time of 55.8 seconds up the Goodwood Hillclimb, while the DBX S managed 53.12 seconds. A gap of over 1.5 seconds is massive for such a short course, and the onboard footage suggests the Aston still had more in it. The launch was strong, but the shift to second gear felt slightly delayed. At Madgwick, the first bend, you can hear tyre squeal, and as the DBX S heads onto the Fordwater straight, some quick corrections are needed. Clearing the right-hander before St. Mary’s, the DBX S gets a dose of oversteer as the tight left before Lavant demands precision, leading into the kinked Lavant straight before the finish. It wasn’t the cleanest run possible, but the fact that the Aston took the record anyway shows what this super SUV is capable of.
It’s worth noting the Bentayga Speed’s time was set in damp conditions, so it’s fair to assume it could have gone quicker in the dry weather the DBX S enjoyed. Still, a gap of more than 70 hp (52 kW) is a tough mountain to climb.
Bentley’s Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain, which also uses a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, delivers 771 hp (575 kW), but there’s been no word that this will find its way into the SUV. If it does, the Bentayga might have a shot at reclaiming the record, though the extra power would bring extra weight too. For now, Aston Martin gets at least 12 months to enjoy the bragging rights, and with more super SUVs heading down the hybrid path, the DBX S might hold the ICE SUV record at Goodwood permanently.