If you were a teenager growing up in the mid ‘70s or ‘80s, chances are good that you had a poster of a Lamborghini Countach hanging right beside your Farrah Fawcett poster. Fast-forward to the present and you may be of an age—and have the means—to own perhaps Lamborghini’s latest sports car, but now need room for the twins (or a set of golf clubs) in the backseat.
Well, Lamborghini certainly has you covered with their latest entry into the ever-popular SUV market with the 2019 Lamborghini Urus. With a top speed of 190 mph, 641hp and a 0-60 mph time of 3.2 seconds, this SUV will help ensure you are never late to soccer practice or miss your tee time. Astounding, but Lamborghini achieves one other thing that, in my opinion, a reaction that to date no other luxury-segment SUV has been able to elicit: a WOW factor that absolutely goes unrivaled. Pulling up alongside a Urus on the road creates a curiosity along the lines of, “OMG what is that?”—a visceral response that arguably no other SUV has yet been able to achieve. In fact, the Lambo stands out so distinctly that I dare say (and Lamborghini proclaims) that it is in a class by itself. Granted, the “fast” SUV segment already has some pretty strong players: the Bentley Bentayga, Tesla Model X P100D and even the Jeep Cherokee Hellcat-powered Track Hawk, all of which boast similar 0-60 times. But the Urus is the only one that really achieves Lamborghini’s self-proclaimed designation as a “Super SUV”. To help validate that claim, the Lamborghini does hold the title of “Fastest SUV” with its unrivaled top speed, which is just shy of the 200 mph mark.
An interesting aspect is how much of a blend this Lamborghini is of all its sister brands. Starting life on an Audi Q7 chassis and borrowing the engine and transmission from the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, the Urus is a terrific blend of German engineering and Italian styling. Of course, Lamborghini pumps up the power to over 100hp more than the Porsche, and the styling will never have you guessing that it has anything to do with the rather bland in comparison styling of the Audi. The Urus grabs you with an edginess rivaling that of a Lamborghini Huracan, and the interior will leave no doubt with its occupants that this is nothing other than a true Lamborghini. One of the most unique styling features on the Urus is the “Y” design, inspired by other iconic Lamborghini models and incorporated into several components of the SUV. It starts with a Y design on the LED headlights, the taillights and various other hidden Y’s throughout the vehicle like the speaker grills and even the pedals.
The dashboard architecture also follows the Y theme. According to Lamborghini manufacturing, the interior can be customized, with an option of the five-seater architecture with bench seat or four seats with two individual back seats, and be made even more elegant (or sportier) through the selection of different kinds of colors and materials, such as natural leather, Alcantara, wood finish, aluminum or carbon. The Urus also borrows the dual-screen infotainment system from the latest version of the Audi A8 “luxo-sedan.”
Part of the Super SUV goal was to have the engineers develop a vehicle with off-road worthiness as lofty as its road performance numbers. With that in mind, the engineers started with having a Twin Turbo V8 to ensure there was plenty of torque for those true off-road experiences—627 lbs. feet worth, to be specific, which is more than enough to pull its 4,850 lb. curb weight out of most any ditch. To handle all this power, Lamborghini engineered a highly intense torque vectoring all-wheel drive system; which in normal driving uses a front-to-rear torque split of 40/60, but up to 70 percent can be sent to the front and 87 percent can go to the rear in certain scenarios. The Urus was extensively tested off-road and has encouraged most automotive driving tests to actually be taken off-road in extreme conditions. To keep things safe, The Urus uses a 48-volt active anti-roll system with an adaptive air suspension and also rear-axle steering. Carbon-ceramic brakes come standard, and they’re the largest fit to any production car. This is a welcome feature, especially when compared to other performance-minded SUVs, like the Jaguar iPace I recently tested, which featured similar 0-60 times but also, unfortunately, highly inadequate brakes. Lamborghini certainly made every effort to not just manufacture another SUV with their badge on it, but engineer a vehicle that truly exemplifies everything you would buy a Lamborghini for.
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus
Estimated base price: $205,000
Body style: Sport Utility Vehicle (5 Door)
Power: 641 hp / 627 lbs. feet torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic with manual mode
Drive wheels: All Wheel Drive
Fuel economy: 14 mpg combined, 12 mpg city, 17 mpg highway
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