The Urus concept was first teased way back in 2012 at the Beijing Auto Show. Externally, the production car is strikingly similar, although it has bulked up in some areas. The front grill has been increased in size to help cool the massive 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 and feed it the thousands of gallons of air it needs per minute.
You may be surprised that this isn’t Lamborghinis first foray into the SUV market, way back in 1986, they built and sold the LM002. The LM002 was built around a tubular steel frame with aluminum panels riveted on top. The idea for the LM002, or ‘Rambo Lambo’ as it came to be known, was born out of a military project that never really took off. Lamborghini only produced 328 and it was the last front-engined production model Lamborghini sold, until the Urus, which the company is selling as the world's first Super Sport Utility vehicle.
Lamborghinis CEO, former Ferrari F1 team principal, Stefano Domenicali predicts the Urus to double Lamborghini sales to almost 7,000 units by 2019. Lamborghini is positioning it as their ‘volume model’, whilst it will cap all other models to just 3,000 a year to maintain exclusivity. Both the US and China will likely be big markets for the Urus.
If you’re the kind of person that loves a good online car configurator, you’ll be delighted by the Lamborghini Urus car configurator. It is well designed and elegant, allowing you to browse through about 10,000 variations on the spec and trim options list. Plus with exciting paint names like Giallo Auge (in English, Yellow Boom) and Verde Hebe (Green Goddess), you might even learn some totally useless Italian vocabulary.
The Urus name follows Lamborghini’s tradition of naming their cars after bulls. This one is taken from an extinct breed of wild cattle that inhabited Europe and is commonly thought to be the ancestor of domestic cattle. These were huge beasts, weighing up to 3,300lbs and a fitting namesake for this SUV.
The Urus is the first in a wave of incoming high-end SUVs. Expected within the year are the Aston Martin DBX, Rolls-Royce Cullinan - which will quickly become the most expensive SUV in the world for sale at $400,000, an all-new G Wagen from Mercedes and an as yet unnamed Ferrari All Wheel Drive Crossover.
Rear wheel steering, or active four-wheel steering, was pioneered by Honda in the 1980s. The benefits are numerous, including an improvement in turning circles and high-speed stability. Lamborghini took their rear wheel system from the Aventador S and adapted it to fit the Urus. At 11 seconds into this video, you can see the system in action.
Engineers have also incorporated active torque vectoring, which according to their press release, enables “propulsive power to be instantly distributed to each individual wheel for enhanced traction, depending on the driving mode, driving style, and the road grip. Torque vectoring also provides additional steering control: less steering effort is required, with enhanced agility allowing higher cornering speeds and a more sporty drive.”
Lamborghini is pitching the Urus as an off-road capable vehicle. The ground clearance can be adjusted via the air suspension up to 9.7 inches. For reference, a Jeep Wrangler has 9.1 inches and a Range Rover has 11.63”.
A big deal is being made about the 6 different driving modes, with exotic names such as Terra (off-road), Sabbia (sand) and Neve (snow). The all-wheel-drive system is installed with a locking center diff too!
Right now, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a trail eating 4 wheeler. But the most aggressive tires available are a set of Pirelli designed All-Season tires on 21” rims. The wheels will no doubt cost thousands a piece, so you’ll be avoiding curbs, never mind sidewall piercing off-road terrain.
The luxury SUV market is growing rapidly and exclusive carmakers are scrambling to put out their idea of the perfect SUV. Though expensive, the Lamborghini Urus is a wonderful engineering triumph and it’s a sure thing you’ll see one of these goliaths cruising around a street or mall parking lot near you soon.
