ITALIAN BULL

LAMBORGHINI URUS

Lamborghini had a go at making an SUV in the mid ’80s. The V12 Lamborghini LM002 was the eventual result. Built with the US military in mind, these were powerful and rugged vehicles, but the civilian versions had a full luxury package, with leather trim, power windows, and air con.

The LM002’S production was limited and lasted until 1993. More than a quarter of a century later, we meet its distant relative: the Lamborghini Urus. The Urus was a large and now extinct wild ox. Lamborghini is brave to name a car after something now extinct, but it is the majesty of the massive cattle that the carmaker is getting at.

The Urus is the ideal transport today for

those that used to get around in one of those otherworldly Lambo products, such as the Countach and Murciélago. The V12 power plant seen in the LM002 is long gone, swapped out for something much more suited to an SUV. This time, a four-litre V8 puts out an earth-moving 478kw, which gets sent to the wheels through a very complicated, very efficient system of couplings. The whole lot weighs 2.2 tonnes — this heft appears to be a recurring theme for top-end SUVS — and it is stopped by massive carbon-ceramic brakes at each corner.

The vehicle has mind-blowing performance for its type: zero to 100kph in well under four seconds, and it has a top speed of 305kph. With that, you can really put the ‘S’ into ‘SUV’.