Twinned with the Porsche Cayenne, the Urus is Lamborghini's idea of a sport utility vehicle. A completely different animal from the LM002 from the 1980s, the most practical series-production vehicle to come out of Sant'Agata Bolognese comes with 4.0-liter turbocharged V8 muscle exclusively.
Not exactly a coincidence, the Cayenne is available with the very same powerplant. Jointly developed by Audi and Porsche, the 4.0 TFSI comes in a variety of tunes. Over at Lamborghini, 657 ponies and 627 pound-feet (850 Nm) is the most you can get in the Urus Performante and Urus S. The black-painted example in the video below is neither of those, but a regular Urus with a tune, downpipes, and some 24s.
Believed to develop in the ballpark of 725 horsepower, the Italian sport utility vehicle has to prove its mettle in a straight line against Porsche's latest and greatest internal combustion-only sport utility vehicle. A superbly spec'd 2024 model, the Cayenne Turbo GT in the clip below develops 650 horsepower and 626 pound-feet (849 Nm) of twist.
Not available in Europe and quite a few other markets – including Taiwan and Japan – due to current emission regulations, the Cayenne Turbo GT weighs 5,055 pounds (2,293 kilograms). Had it been stock, the Urus would have tipped the scales at 4,843 pounds (2,197 kilograms). Even so, both of these SUVs are much obliged to run 11s at the drag strip.
Over no fewer than four dig races, the Porker and Lambo recorded bests of 11.284 and 11.356 seconds, respectively. To put those numbers into perspective, a brand-new Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat requires 11.5 seconds in the quarter mile. Quicker sport utility vehicles do exist, but then again, the Tesla Model X Plaid lacks in the aural pleasure department.
Photo: DragTimes on YouTube
When it comes to quarter-mile speeds, the Volkswagen Group siblings recorded bests of 120.13 miles per hour for the Cayenne Turbo GT and 119.75 miles per hour for the mildly tuned Urus. In metric, that would be just over 193 and just under 193 kilometers per hour. Seriously impressive for vehicles that weigh so much, and even more so for vehicles that seat five rather than only two people.
These SUVs, however, aren't cheap. At the moment of writing, the coupe-only Cayenne Turbo GT carries a sticker price of $196,300 in the United States of America. Capable of 3.1 seconds to 60 mph (97 kph), the CTGT hits 189 mph (304 kph) at full chatter.
The black-painted Urus is a 2022 model, which means 3.4 seconds to 60 mph and a top speed of 190 mph (305 kph). The S and Performante are quicker still, although there is a small difference in top end between them. According to Lamborghini, the more focused Performante is the fastest Urus yet, topping 306 kilometers per hour (also 190 miles per hour).
Care to guess how much a Urus costs these days? Think $230,000 for the S and $264,671 for the Performante. Not long now, both versions will be discontinued in favor of a plug-in hybrid with a little over 700 horsepower on deck. The yet-to-be-revealed Urus PHEV will borrow heavily from the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, which belts out a simply ridiculous 729 horsepower and 700 pound-feet (950 Nm).
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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