Lamborghini has raised the Super SUV bar again with the Urus SE Performante, a carbon-fibre hybrid beauty with a top speed of 312 km/h.
There was a time – in the way back when – when we would tut-tut luxury auto marque’s attempts to create SUVs with the same tactile experience, the same heart-thumping sound and the same neck-breaking performance as the most iconic coupes and roadsters. However, with muscle-bound motors from Porsche, Aston Martin and Audi, to name a few, perceptions have been changed, and perhaps deservedly so.
A New Generation of SUVs
Those mindsets were changed, in part, by the Lamborghini Urus, a ground-breaking high-performance SUV that greyed the lines between hypercar and people mover – and it keeps getting better. The Urus SE Performante, the raging bull’s newest iteration on the SUV theme, is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine paired with a permanent-magnet electric motor, delivering the highest combined system output ever achieved in the model’s history.
Bedazzled in carbon-fibre (the most of any Urus), the SE Performante also features an exceptional power-to-weight ratio, enhanced aerodynamic efficiency and the AURA dual-chamber air suspension system, which not only halves body roll during fast driving but also reduces vibrations by 25%.
A Precision Rocket
With the new model, Lamborghini – which claims it created the Super SUV category 40 years ago with the legendary LM002 – promises the highest level of performance, driving precision and emotional engagement while preserving the versatility and everyday usability of the original Urus model.
Other elements that might pique your interest (if you’re in the market for a car that can drop the kids off at school faster than a G5) include a new Rally driving mode, specifically calibrated to deliver maximum driving excitement on loose surfaces; large S-Duct air intakes on the hood for a sportier look and additional aerodynamics; a central power dome on the carbon-fibre hood; new 23-inch wheels featuring a sophisticated intersecting Y-spoke design; and the arrival of the revolutionary six-degrees-of-freedom 6D sensor, which has an attention to performance detail of a jealous wife at a wedding.
Feel like a Fighter Pilot
Slip behind the wheel, and you’ll be forgiven for rehearsing your favourite Top Gun lines as the SE Performante’s ‘cockpit‘, which is dressed in aluminium accents and sustainable CorsaTex by Dinamica microfiber with distinctive Y-shaped motifs and reflects the same dual soul of the vehicle, with a sportier, more driver-focused layout consistent with Lambo’s “Feel like a Pilot” concept. Expect a 12.3-inch dashboard screen front-and-centre, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, an even more intuitive HumanMachine Interface (HMI), and a steering wheel with a carbon-fibre bezel – very swish.
All these features make the Urus SE Performante the fastest Super SUV in the world: 0–100 km/h in 3.3 seconds, 0–200 km/h in 10.8 seconds, and a top speed of 312 km/h.
Because no one likes to be late for school.
