It’s not a real Lamborghini, right?
Does Lambo’s new SUV deserve its exotic badge? Richard Bosselman asks some owners of the marque’s more traditional supercars.
Those are mainly two to three hundred thou … those are Aventador SuperVeloces, so close to a mill each… and, well, who knows how much a Countach will fetch these days?’’
My guide’s off-the-cuff assessment enforces this annual gathering of Lamborghini owners in Manawatu¯ is a rich picking. Fifteen cars mightn’t seem a lot, yet really it constitutes a mass attack, representing roughly a quarter of the entire national population, conceivably to explode now the Urus has arrived.
This family-minded, highstepping SUV definitely stands out within a bevy of two-seater sports cars. But the international sales stampede for Urus since the August release reflects why super luxury performance SUVs are good business.
Though no longer the world’s fastest SUV, it’s still at the top end of the performance game, cracking 0-100kmh in 3.6 seconds and 300kmh.
This distributor example carries a $415,000 tag and an extra $75k gives you 22-inch rims, Terra (dirt) and Neve (snow) modes, a tow kit and an enriched interior. But bling alone won’t impress the ‘‘Lamborghini loyalists’’.
We meet at the group’s Saturday morning stop,
O¯ hakea’s Biggin Hill. Public interest is pretty big as we await entry – how often do you get to see one Lamborghini, let alone a pack? For sure, Countach patently lacks Aventador’s polish. Yet the razor-sharp edges, brutal-looking intakes, wild wings and spoilers and those wonderful upwards-hinging doors ensure this ultimate 1980s petrolhead pin-up still commands craven crowd subservience.
Time to discuss Urus with the keepers of these chariots of the gods. They’re good-humoured, laid-back (check the Aventador guy driving in jandals) and totally brand passionate.
Why Lamborghini? Because it’s an artisan-crafted artwork ‘‘with performance to match’’. Going SUV has historic context through the LM002 – ‘‘you could argue that’s the first-ever SUV’’ (but you’d be wrong) – and ‘‘don’t forget [founder] Ferruccio made tractors’’.
That Urus has so far mostly sold to newcomers doesn’t surprise this lot. None are swayed to buy yet. Because? They accept that this is the practical, functional ‘‘everyday’’ drive that saves the trad fare for special fun. Yet Tony’s just not
interested in SUVs and Phil, while contending ‘‘it’ll be a great 4WD’’ adds ‘‘it’s not my kind of Lamborghini’’.
There’s one dissenter, Paul. Urus dilutes the brand; it’ll also depreciate. ‘‘They’ve said, ‘let’s do what Porsche did with Cayenne and grab some money’. It’s a bad decision.’’
He’s right about Urus being a deep dive into VW’s parts bin. It’s not hard to define which bits are borrowed and which are bespoke. Yet I reckon sharing is fine, given the quality.
The platform is also employed, with variances, for the Touareg, Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga, Audi Q7 and Q8. Ditto the screen-heavy electronic architecture. Basically the Audi V8 developed with Bentley in 2012, the engine has run in most of the above, plus the Bentley Flying Spur and Continental, Audi RSs, the A8 and Porsche Panamera.
Not everything transfers unaltered. Perhaps the transmission should have. You wouldn’t think Urus runs the same eight-speed auto as every other platform-sharer. The Tamburo driving modes selector I could fathom, but a chunky space-age gear selector simply to engage reverse and a teensy (easily-overlooked) Park button gives no ergonomic advantage. The safety catch protecting the engine start button is a harmless yet chintzy frippery.
Driving at normal speed is odd. It just doesn’t feel any different from the Audi/VW fare on these underpinnings.
However, snick the driving mode selector from Strada (‘‘road’’, but so much sexier in Italian) to Sports or Corsa – which lowers the ride by 15mm, deactivates the traction control and increases the exhaust volume – and you’re definitely enraging the bull.
Different heads and altered exhaust tuning are the sum extent of Lamborghini’s dabbling with this engine, yet what a character change.
It’s brilliantly accelerative, catapulting at a rate that astonishes and even seems a touch scary when you consider its mass, and bellowing so loudly you imagine the whole world must hear it.
Dynamic dexterity is just as crucial as huge thrust. Being allpaw, having a drive-dividing Torsen diff that alters feed according to conditions and driving mode and using torque vectoring and rear-steer to enable a sportier cornering exit feel, means it hardly relies on driver skill alone.
It certainly impresses as being secure, beautifully flat and generally predictable, with great steering feel. Those carbon composite brakes are as awesome as you’d think. It would have been great to have explored its off-road abilities, but I was told not to go there.
Defiance of logic doesn’t inhibit practicality – it’s reasonably roomy, with a big boot – but shows in the styling.
I can understand cognoscenti cautiousness, yet Urus sales will surely pay for their toys, given there’s a very strong chance it’ll be Lamborghini’s best-selling car ever – beating the current record, 14,022 Gallardo, by a big margin. Chances are we’ll see enough here for owners to form their own club.