Lamborghini Urus
Big, bad Italian bull driven
LM002 WAS THE BRAND’S FIRST SUV AND POSSIBLY THE WORLD’S FIRST
SUPER-SUV
It’s only right to mention Porsche first. For many reasons relevant to the story but more so, to have fathered a new breed of performance SUVs. Think of it, rewind your memory, stress those brain cells and you should realise that Porsche was one of the first in the line of mainstream supercar manufacturers to have ventured into unchartered territory. A place which acknowledges the need to have supercar performance without worrying about the steep ramp angle exiting the deluxe condo complex. To clock 0-100kmph in a time warp and not slow down to a crawl over the odd speed hump. To fit the Callaway golf clubs and not just the compact Louis Vuitton duffle because of the appalling lack of space. To create a space for super SUVs.
That place was actually conceptualised first, in Italy. Sant’Agata Bolognese to be precise, where Lamborghini created the LM002. The iconic brand’s first
1. A selection of materials can be chosen to customise the interior. 2. An eight speaker sound system comes standard, high-end Bang & Olufsen Sound System putting out
1,700 watts through 21 active speakers can be specified as an option. 3. Full TFT display changes graphics and information shown as per the selected driving modes SUV and possibly the world’s first superSUV, it packed the 5.2-litre V12 from the Countach caged in a sturdy steel frame, skinned by riveted aluminium body panels. The “Rambo-Lambo” only saw a limited run of around 300 vehicles back in the 80s. It was ahead of its time then. The time for such creations however, is now.
The Urus comes in at a time when there’s enough and more competition for it. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, brands that were never counted with the likes of the Q7s, X5s and GLSs of the world; now all of them have an SUV in their line-up and all of them supersede the concept of a luxury SUV.
Of course, the Urus still had to live up to being the spiritual successor of the LM002. More than that, the Urus had to be a Lamborghini. And that very thought set the Sant’Agata boffins on a flight to meet the cousins, in Stuttgart. The Urus is an amalgamation of finds from the VW Group’s parts bin but since this is a Lamborghini, these parts just had to be the very best. So despite borrowing the underpinnings of a Porsche Cayenne that uses the VW (Group’s) MLB-evo platform, the highest-tune of the 4-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine was ordered for. That’s because a 2.2 tonne SUV had to be propelled to 100kmph from a standstill in just 3.6 seconds and achieve a top speed, three times that figure. The biggest carbon ceramic brakes were fitted because the Urus had to stop from a 100kmph to a standstill in a mere 33.7 metres. Rear-wheel steering was required because a Lamborghini SUV had to hug a corner and pull massive G-forces while doing so. And, trick suspension had to feature adaptive air technology and active roll bars because the Urus cannot drop a rev should it’s owner decide to take a shortcut through the Sahara.