Is Lamborghini Urus the New Benchmark for High-Performance SUVs?
Lamborghini Urus is poised to usurp the throne from the Range Rover Sport and Porsche Cayenne, just ask Harry Metcalfe.
The Urus is Lamborghini’s first SUV since the LM002 and is underpinned by VW Group’s MLBEvo platform, which is also found underneath the Porsche Cayenne, the Bentley Bentayga and the Audi Q7.
According to Harry Metcalfe of Harry’s Garage, such platform-sharing has, however, not restricted the styling potential of the Urus. “Even though the [Urus] shares components with various cars in the VW Group…it looks like nothing else [on the road],” says Metcalfe. “I wouldn’t have thought that the Lamborghini face would work on an SUV, but it has worked [with the Urus].”
Moving on to the performance: the Urus gets a twin-turbocharged V8 that makes 641 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, allowing for a 0-62 miles per hour sprint of just 3.6 seconds. Additionally, the SUV gets carbon-ceramic brakes (the largest-ever on a road car), air suspension, all-wheel drive and four-wheel steering.
All these engineering trickeries make Urus a tremendous driver’s car, arguably better than the Porsche Cayenne and the Range Rover Sport. “It just feels more agile than all other sporty SUVs I’ve driven,” says Metcalfe. “It’s a new benchmark dynamically, no question about it.” The big trick, he adds, is the rear-wheel steering. “That’s what hides the bulk. That’s what makes it turns into corners and give you a bit of a shock [about] just how dynamic it [is].”
Interestingly, Metcalfe also took the Urus off-road, on farm lands, where it held up admirably well. However, he notes that Lamborghini warns the customers not to take the vehicle on extreme excursions, like crossing rivers and deserts. After all, the priority with the “Super-SUV” is high-performance driving, not hill climbing.
So, to sum it all up: Metcalfe’s is impressed by the design, performance dynamics and the practicality of the Urus. However, he feels the company could have offered a more exciting engine option and also the pricing could be a bit too steep for an SUV that one may wish to daily-drive. But the positives outweigh the negatives and that is why some customers are willing to wait up to 12 months to own the Lambo SUV.