Lamborghini Urus Review: There’s Absolutely Nothing Else Like It. For Now.
Until Ferrari hits the SUV scene, it’s the undisputed champ of performance utilities.
Barely three minutes after leaving my driveway for an excursion around Los Angeles in a borrowed Grigio Lynx grey Lamborghini Urus "Super SUV," another one—its chiseled skin painted in Blu Astraeus—popped into my rearview mirror. What this tells you: one, L.A. remains one of the world's leading showplaces for high-end wheels, and two, the Italian maker's second-ever sport-utility—following the wild "Rambo Lambo" LM002 from more than a quarter-century ago—is a smash hit. In 2018 alone, following the 2019 Urus's launch in June, Lamborghini sold a stunning 1,761 copies worldwide. And remember: This is a machine thatstartsat almost $204,000. Almost 12 months later, there's a Urus invasion in the City of Angels.
Is the Urus worthy of such celebrity and demand? I got an eye-opening sense of "yes" last December, when I had a chance to flog one around the Streets of Willow Springs racetrack as part of our 2019AutomobileAll-Stars competition. Frankly, the Urus proved almost physics-defying, blasting around corners like a sports car half its height, braking with phenomenal and unyielding resolve thanks to standard carbon-ceramic brakes, and screaming forward like a true Lambo, all 641 horses attacking the track via a superb all-wheel-drive system and an active torque-vectoring rear differential. If you're talking performance, there isn't another production SUV on earth that can match the Urus. It's a true Lamborghini.
As for what's it like to live with a Urus for a few days, that I discovered during my most recent drive. For starters, know this: Lamborghini's tall four-door is no nervy, high-strung prima donna. If you want it to be, it's a pussycat, completely content to burble around busy city streets, the air-sprung ride smooth, the eight-speed automatic changing gears all but imperceptibly, the throttle almost mild when the lever-like "Tamburo" driving-dynamics selector is set to Strada ("street").
Even just cruising around, though, the Urus feels electrifying, its cockpit full of modern-sculpture switches and copper-toned Nero Ade leather seats and, most conspicuously, a flip-up red gate over the center-console start/stop button. It's doubtful you'd be more awed by the control panel of a nuclear submarine—yet the Urus is no mere show pony. The advanced systems and Audi-derived infotainment interface work beautifully, and it's easy to navigate your way around. The end result is lovely grand-tourer, a refined, roomy, utterly sophisticated piece—with a double-size serving of pizzazz.
But, man, does it go, too. The Urus boasts impressive DNA—it shares its platform with the Audi Q7 and Q8, the Bentley Bentayga, and the Porsche Cayenne—but dynamically it's in a different league. Switch to Sport or the even-racier Corsa mode and the Urus's mild demeanor runs for the hills. Especially in Corsa, the exhaust comes through full-pipe, the engine snarling like a leopard as it guns to its redline, the steering fast and full of feedback, the grip level—as I mentioned earlier—thumbing its nose at Newtonian physics. At no time, as I gunned through the canyons of Malibu, did I think "I'm driving a sport-utility vehicle." I was thinking "Huracán with a better view."
Sure, the low-slung Huracán has the edge on responsiveness, ferocity, and ultimate speed, but the Urus still feels special, racy, and eager to run. It'll blast to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds—or likely quicker. The fact that it also boasts rears seats, a rear hatch, and a generous 22 cubic feet of cargo room seems almost impossible. Does this rigreallyweigh more than 5,000 pounds? You wouldn't know it from behind the wheel. At least until Ferrari shows up with its 2022 Purosangue, the Urus looks to be the unchallenged performance star of the SUV field. The new G63 AMG is up there in terms of numbers, for sure, but it's a sledgehammer compared with the scalpel-like Lambo.
