Lamborghini’s Super Luxurious SUV

This isn’t Lamborghini’s first off-roader, as it had the LM002 decades ago which was intended for military use, but that didn’t really pan out. The Lamborghini Urus, the luxury carmaker’s version of an SUV, is a different beast altogether.

“The Urus elevates the SUV to a level not previously possible, the Super SUV. It is a true Lamborghini in terms of design, performance, driving dynamics and emotion as well as drivable every day in a range of environments,” said Stefano Domenicali, Automobili Lamborghini Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.



The demand for SUVs is not diminishing any time soon, and Lamborghini has pounced, even though not very quickly as it has taken them about 15 years since Porsche launched the Cayenne to do so. Lamborghini’s names are inspired by fighting bulls and the name Urus comes from a large wild Eurasian ox that was the ancestor of domestic cattle, also known as aurochs.

The look of the Urus is, of course, breathtakingly spectacular even though it shares the steel and aluminium MLB platform with the Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga and Audi Q7. It has that solid muscular look that will entice you to give it a go even if you don’t care how much power it has under the hood.

It has a generous interior cabin space in which six-footers would not have to hunch over, and it has a 600-litre boot space. A trail up in the woods with your chums in the Urus sounds like a good idea, and it will get you to your cabin in no time.



Huge wheels are a must, thus 21-inch size tyres are standard. Even with all that styling, it wouldn’t be enough if you don’t have a stonking mill. With 650hp and 850Nm of torque, which is available from 2,250rpm, 0-100kph is accomplished in a mind blowing 3.6 seconds! That’s supercar insanity! And that’s with a weight of 2.2 tonnes! That makes it the fastest SUV on the planet! (Please forgive the overuse of exclamation marks but the figures are incredible!!!)

With a 4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, it flats out at 306kph. Since an off-roader needs low-end grunt, you’ll find it wholesomely packed with enough power to get you across the terrain should the need arise.

The brilliant engine is ably supported by all the weight-cloaking chassis aids Lamborghini could get. The standard torque split is 40/60 front/rear (up to 70 per cent can be sent to the front or 87 per cent to the rear, as and when the condition dictates), with active torque-vectoring from front to back axles, and between the rear tyres, via centre and rear differentials.

     
With its sheer power and speed, it needs special carbon-ceramic brakes. It has 440mm rotors at the front and 370mm at the rear, currently the largest on any production car.

The start button sits beneath a flip-up cover, itself in the shadow of a palm-sized gear-selector. To its left is the Anima lever, used to toggle through the four standard plus two optional modes: Strada, Sport, Corsa and Neve (snow), and the optional Terra (off-road) and Sabbia (sand). Each tweaks the diffs, sound, steering, suspension, throttle and gearbox response, and raises (Neve, Terra, Sabbia) or lowers (Sport, Corsa) the air suspension accordingly.

The fascia of the Urus is all Lamborghini with its hexagons and Alcantara prevalent throughout the cabin. It is an engineering marvel, just like all Lambos. 

   
“The Lamborghini Urus is a visionary approach based on the infusion of Lamborghini DNA into the most versatile vehicle, the SUV,” said Domenicali. “[It] fits perfectly within the Lamborghini family as a high performance car.”

Demand will definitely outstrip supply and first deliveries are due in the first quarter of 2018. The car is rumoured to be priced at $200,000 in the US, €171,429 in Europe and RMB 3,130,000 in China, making it the best value-for-money model in the company’s current lineup.