When your car-loving buddy says "Lamborghini," what’s the third thing that comes to mind after over-the-top design and neck-snapping performance? An intoxicating sound note is the answer, something the Urus lacks by a mile.
First of all, think about the start-up sequence in the Huracan. The thundering V10 firing into life is something a petrolhead can’t get enough of. Now imagine how the Aventador S scares the the living daylights out of anyone who and anything that happens to be in the car’s vicinity.
This gets us to the Urus, which “underwhelming” seems to be the most appropriate word to describe how it sounds under acceleration. Even in Corsa driving mode, the quad-exhaust system doesn’t crackle or pop with excitement, but sounds as if it’s tamed by motor vehicle noise regulations.
Lamborghini chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani tries to sweeten the deal with carefully crafted wording, though “increasingly aggressive” is a poor choice of words considering that competing 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engines such as the M177/M178 from Mercedes-AMG are more audible. And satisfying.
The Porsche-developed V8 in the 2018 Lamborghini Urus redlines at under 7,000 rpm, develops 650 horsepower (659 PS), and bestows 627 pound-feet (850 Nm) of torque upon an eight-speed automatic transmission linked to all four wheels. The 48-volt electrical system and adaptive anti-roll bars ensure the “Super SUV" can hold its own when the road gets twisty, with handling bettered by the rear-wheel steering system.
Other than the bull on the badge and dynamic capabilities, the Urus also happens to be the world’s fastest SUV thanks to a top speed of 188 mph (303 km/h), besting the previous king of the hill. Incidentally, the 187-mph (301 km/h) Bentley Bentayga W12 rides on the same platform as the LM002-replacing Urus and uses the same eight-speeder developed by ZF.
Scheduled to be unveiled at the Sant’Agata Bolognese plant on December 4, the all-new Urus is expected to be priced at under $200,000.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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