Tedward Reviews Lamborghini Urus, Is It Just a More Expensive Audi RS Q8?

If you have a real need for speed and want a car that will handle day-to-day situations and road conditions, a fast SUV might be the right answer for you. That's because sports cars tend to be less comfortable, less spacious, and most of the time, you won't be able to extract their full potential unless you go to a racetrack. So if going to the track is of no interest to you, then there are plenty of options from you to choose from.

The Lamborghini Urus might not be the most powerful SUV on the market today or the fastest in certain conditions, but there's no denying that it's the most worthy of the label "Super SUV". Because at the end of the day, there's still some Lamborghini DNA in it, even though Audi has been fiddling around with the recipe ever since it acquired the Italian car manufacturer.

The Audi RS Q8 is slightly less of a beast when compared to the Urus, but with a starting price of $114,500 before taxes ($1,095 destination charge), you just can't help but wonder if it makes sense to spend almost double on the Lamborghini. Tedward managed to get his hands on a 2019 model, and right off the bat, he calls it "the ultimate Audi." Of course, the styling cues are more supercar-oriented, and that's bound to attract a lot of attention.

I can't help but wonder if Lamborghini would have sold more units of the Urus had it gone for a V10 or a V12 engine, but I guess that maintenance costs might have gone through the roof if that had been the case. After praising the booth space and rear seats, Tedward comes up with his first complaint, which refers to the complexity of the infotainment system, which could be bothersome until you get used to the car.

We then get to see a launch in Corsa mode, and once again, we are reminded of how fast the Urus can hit 60 mph (96 kph) from a standstill. Long gone are the days when having a car that could reach that speed in less than 3 seconds meant it was not reliable or consistent in its delivery of performance. You could probably do launches all day in a Urus and still not have much to worry about.

The reviewer then addresses the popular belief that the Urus is just an RS Q8 with Lamborghini badges on it, but he insists on the fact that there's more Italian DNA in it than you might think. And judging by how fast this thing can go through the gears, chances are pretty high that you'll get in trouble with the police for speeding quite often. He points out that this is not fast like a Subaru STI, but instead "a fast car for fast cars."

Going back into Strada mode, he reminds us that even though this is a luxury SUV, you can't expect it to deliver the most comfortable riding experience. All that power means that the chassis is pretty stiff because you need to be able to get a feel of how the car behaves when you're going that fast. Merging onto the highway we get to see a quick pull up to fourth gear and just under 100 mph (161 kph), and Tedward further praises the stopping power of the vehicle.

As he's driving along, you can notice that he's going through an emotional rollercoaster, as he's excited about the performances of the car, concluding that it's not just a rebadged Audi, and also that "it's going to use so much fuel!". Being discreet is not something you can expect in a Urus because you get all the theater and drama of a fully-fledged Lamborghini, but is that such a bad thing after all?