In the past few years, the luxury SUV sector has grown rapidly. Once there was just the omnipresent Range Rover enjoying the class to itself but there is now fierce competition from Maserati’s Levante, Bentley’s Bentayga and the Porsche Cayenne. One thing is for sure, luxury SUVs are more sought after than ever and Lamborghini has decided to enter the fray with its brand new Urus.
The Urus will be Lamborghini’s third current model along with the Huracan and Aventador. Taking design cues from it’s super-car siblings, the Urus will certainly fit into the aggressive Lamborghini design mould with it’s high shoulder lines, wide wheel arches and large, pointy grilles to feed air into the monstrous engine.
So what engine have they gone for? An Aventador-sourced V12 was expected when the Urus concept was revealed in 2012, similar to the LM002 of the 1980’s which was powered by a Countach V12. However, Lamborghini have gone for a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, meaning the Urus is the first turbo-powered Lamborghini. The engine is already used in Porsche’s Panamera Turbo but has been tuned to deliver 650hp. This means the Urus will hit 62mph in 3.6 seconds, 0-124mph in 12.8 seconds and hit a top speed of 190mph. Super-car levels of speed are matched by big carbon ceramic brakes, making sure the Urus stops as well as it goes.
The MLB platform the Urus uses is shared with the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. Despite this, off-roading will be the last thing the Urus will be used for but Lamborghini say it will have off-road ability in a range of environments thanks to various driving modes such as Strada (road), Terra (off-road), Neve (snow), Sabbia (sand), Sport and Corsa (race). The fancy four-wheel drive system can enhance traction to the front or rear axle, depending on which has the least grip. Back on the road, where the Urus will spend 99% of it’s time, torque vectoring technology will provide safe day-to-day driving will minimal understeer through tight corners whereas in sportier modes, this will help the Urus become more agile with added oversteer.
On the inside, the Urus echoes the hexagonal design associated with modern Lambos and implements the finest switchgear available from the VAG family. Alcantara, carbon fibre and swathes of aluminium line the cockpit. In terms of tech, the centre console has two touch-screens; the top controls navigation, telephone, entertainment and car status whereas the lower can act as a keyboard or handwriting compatible screen. For the first time ever in a Lamborghini, boot space is more than the size of a pencil case. You get 616 litres of space with the rear seats up -a whopping 76 litres more than a Bentayga’s, an amazing stat considering this is still a Lamborghini.
The Urus will be available in spring 2018 and will start from £131,500.
Photos used are sourced under legal tab.
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