Red Dawn

Is the world ready for the first-ever Super Sports Utility Vehicle? Steve Vermeulen heads to Rome exclusively for 66 Magazine to sample the Lamborghini Urus.

Feb 1, 2018

Let’s not be naïve. Audiences will probably always be split on the idea of a 2.2-tonne, high-riding Lamborghini SUV. Blasphemy or brilliance?

On one hand, brand faithful may see Urus as a dilution of what Lamborghini is best known for. Remember, before the iconic Countach the term ‘supercar’ didn’t exist. It’s their ‘thing’.  

On the other, the world’s appetite for SUV’s is ferocious. Lamborghini looking to redefine handling and performance benchmarks for the segment, while retaining the aggressive styling language synonymous with the brand, is far from regressive. 

To help determine what camp I shall reside in, I’ve come to Rome’s Vallelunga circuit and the spaghetti of roads encompassing nearby Lake Bracciano. 

Before I flip the big red fighter-plane-style start switch, a quick recap of what we know thus far.  

Firstly, there’s genuine Lambo design lineage embedded into the knife-like haunches of the Urus; cues not immediately obvious on first glance, but when you see them they are satisfyingly nostalgic.  

The Countach established Lamborghini’s design DNA for all future models, it has always been the start point for every new design. So too with the Urus. There’s similar angular belt lines on the profile, but the Countach inspiration is most clear with the front and rear views, where the same diagonal lines forming the cabin are mirrored with remarkable similarity.  

Another key inspiration is the LM002 SUV. Oh, did I mention that Lamborghini made the world’s first luxury SUV back in the 1980s? Anyway, the triangular vent on the Urus’ front fenders bearing the Italian flag is an immediate design cue from that boxy LM. 

Lamborghini’s engineers looked at the predominant characteristics of their super sports cars: speed, agility, styling (or, in Italian, sex appeal), and the characteristics of the best SUVs on the market: luxury, comfort and technology. To be as true to the Lamborghini ethos, they aimed to merge all these in equal measure.  

In the process some all-new technology had to be developed for the brand and Lamborghini set about rewriting general SUV benchmarks. The Urus is the first Lamborghini with forced induction; power comes from a 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8, generating 478kW (650hp) and 850Nm of torque, making it the fastest SUV in the world, accelerating from 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds with a top speed of 305km/h.  

To reign all that in, the Urus also employs the world’s most powerful braking system ever fitted to a production vehicle. Enormous is truly an understatement when describing the standard 440mm Carbon Ceramic front brakes with foot long 10-pot callipers and 370mm, six-pot rears. 

The chassis is based on the Audi Q7, but with a 13mm increase in wheelbase. Customers can opt for a family-friendly five-seat configuration or luxo-lounger four-seat set-up. You can fit two full-size golf bags or a couple of Golden Retrievers in the boot and unlike with other Lamborghinis, you can also tow a boat. 

In all honesty I’m expecting a bit of a tamed tiger when I crank the engine for the first time. But no; forget that. This thing is a complete animal.  

The V8’s growl matures into something more guttural with every stab of the throttle; a beautiful cacophony of barks and cracks, like Jupiter himself coughing up a couple of anvils. 

Vallelunga’s GP circuit, 30km North of Rome’s centre, is famed for a medium-to-fast paced, deceptively twisty layout, with tightening bends with some tricky mid-corner undulations. In other words, the laws of physics here prove a test for any car, let alone something like the Urus.  

That said, even during my initial sighting lap, the Urus is clearly up for this. Lamborghini’s engineering team have thrown massive amounts of technology into the SUV to ensure it is responsive to drive. 

The Tamburo drive system allows drivers to switch between Comfort, Sport or Corsa modes. There is adaptive air suspension, along with an advanced torque vectoring system to transfer torque to individual wheels as required, as well as four-wheel steering to reduce the turning radius. All these elements work in unison to disguise the Urus’s mass. Lamborghini has, resoundingly, been successful at mitigating the Urus’s size without loss of sensation to the driver.  

Sure, you can feel the Q7 underpinnings, but it’s crisper  

and lither to pilot. Travelling at 175km/h through the turn one sweeper (which also incorporates a huge dip in the track) is the only moment I feel the sprung mass that’s being manipulated; it widens the eyes but is far from nervous.  

Hammer down and keep it flat. A few laps in and it’s evident the four-wheel steering has an enormous effect on the car’s turn-in accuracy. It shortens the turning radius and makes the vehicle feel much lighter and smaller than it should. The grip mid-corner is simply astronomical, I am feeding throttle at 200km/h and the 23-inch Pirelli tyres aren’t even squawking under protest. Lamborghini’s technical director later reveals to me the Urus is capable of higher cornering G-force than the first-generation Gallardo. Sheesh. 

Time to flip into comfort mode on the Tamburo system and head out on the skinny, blind, cyclist-infested roads. Out here in the “real world”, the Urus is well mannered and quiet; under light throttle it burbles along peacefully through the lakeside villages at 50km/h. 

With the contemporary, angular interior design, prominent Tamburo and Anima drive selector module, and other various comfort features (accessed through a large touch screen), there’s a bevy of information at the fingertips. It’s overwhelming at first, but settle in, focus on the drive and it all becomes secondary. The Urus is comfortable; serene when you want it, ballistic when you need it. 

Unlike most customers realistically will, I also sampled the Urus off-road on a rutted dirt track. Putting the Anima drive selector to Terra (gravel mode), the Urus shifts torque swiftly to the rear for a distinctly rear-bias. Oversteer is easily initiated and controlled, with simple steering and throttle inputs. The wide track and significant tyre surface area means the Urus feels naturally well-planted. 

In all, the Urus is equally like no other Lamborghini I’ve ever known and yet still comparable with the best Lamborghini’s I have driven. On the road it’s smooth, refined and comfortable like you should expect from a luxury SUV of this pedigree. On the track and being driven at extremes, the Urus is also thoroughly at home. Composed, sharp, incredibly easy to drive at high speed. It might not feel like an Aventador, but in all honestly it doesn’t feel like an SUV either.  

On face value, it may well split audiences, but the opinions of those fortunate enough to drive the Urus will be undeviating.  

It’s astonishing. 

Words by Steve Vermeulen 

Images by Lamborghini