It’s been over 30 years since Lamborghini last graced us with an SUV. While the LM002 from yesteryears set benchmarks for that time, making a mark in today’s SUV-crowded market is a Herculean task. Enter the Lamborghini Urus, a beast with chiselled contours that the bullish car-maker flaunts, with insides that’d make the Bentley Bentayga crawl into the back seat. TheUrus has been carved off the same block as the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne in Slovakia. Acceptably settling into the crossover category,it can pull off the venomous gaze of the Aventador S with several design inspirations drawn from it. The front bumper accommodates the large air vents. The imposing 118.2-inch wheelbase adds to the dominating attributes of this SUV. The roof has a swoopy silhouette and the rear-end is slightly more pronounced as compared to other SUVs. It’s probably the bestthe company has produced, and, so far,the only boot space you can ever expect from a Lamborghini car. Not everyone would imagine Lamborghini rolling out a five-seater in the hay days of the Murcielago, but here we are. Amid a rush of Alcantara and suede, the front two seats are comfortably cushioned — some would say it’s far too comfortable coming from the car-maker — while the rear seat accommodates three. You could also opt for a two-bucket rear-seat option if you’re a purist. Thanks to the sloping roof, the folks at the rear-end of the car wouldn’t be comfortably perched over long distances. The Urus is, however, intended to fit into the category of being an ‘everyday car’. Short distances wouldn’t be a rarity in this case. On the inside, nearly everything is hexagonal with geometric precision, on the dash. There’s a choice of aluminium, carbon fibre and wood for the dashboard trims. The driver’s perch is noticeably higher than that of the other occupants in the car. Two large touchscreens welcome you to the cockpit. While one screen takes care of all your infotainment needs, the other is purely for climate control. The best part about having these screens is fewer buttons. If you’re familiar with Lamborghini’s dashboards, then you’ll not be surprised to find the (fully customisable) instrument cluster screen behind the wheel. Depending on the driving mode selected by the driver, the instrument cluster screen will adapt its look. A special ‘Ego’ switch enables drivers to customise their driving display. There are options for wireless charging, Bluetooth, a TV tuner, Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The eight-speaker system is available in stock but the upgradable Bang and Olufsen 3D sound setup seems too irresistible not to go for. The Urus comes with a 4.0 litre V8 engine that churns out 641 bhp and 850nM of torque. Lamborghini has made some tweaks to this Twin turbo engine (a first from the company) so it delivers an identical thrill that one would come to expect from a true Lamborghini (read naturally aspirated). While the new engine does not disappoint, something that stays true to the Lamborghini DNA is the exhaust note. The Urus sounds like a trapped beast when itis idling, and breaks into a banshee scream the moment you hit the accelerator pedal. And, boy, is the sound satisfying! Every down and upshiftis accompanied with loud pops and crackles that add more fire to the adrenalin-fuelled ride. The engine is paired to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission that delivers torque to all the four wheels. Despite it size and the 2.2-tonne weight the Urus is blistering fast — it can scale from 0 to a 100 km/hr in a mere 3.6 seconds with a top speed of 305 kmph. My first taste of the Urus was on a winding road that led from a golf course to the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. I began my trip by putting the car in Strada (Comfort Mode). The steering was balanced, the gear shifts were smooth, the engine relatively quiet and the suspension soft. It just did not feel like a Lamborghini, it was too well behaved, and, better still, it brilliantly absorbed the bumps and speed breakers. Then came the Expressway. Using a lever on the dash I put the car in Sport mode and the exhaust immediately baffled. There was a loud pop and the car immediately downshifted three gears. My humble SUV had turned into an angry beast. Be it straights or corners, the Urus offers incredible grip, at high triple digit speeds I was getting in and out of bends with utmost ease. When doing so it just did not feel that I was in an SUV, the active anti-roll bars and the active suspension absorbed almost all of the body roll. There is also a four-wheel steering which shortens the wheelbase, active torque vectoring for better cornering and active wheel decoupling which allows the wheels to move independently. All of this technology and engineering make you feel like a highly capable driver. Helping the Urus shed speed crisply are its massive carbon ceramic brakes and according to Lamborghini, they are the most powerful you can find in any production car. The Urus is most certainly impressive, it is sold out for the year in India and more than 60 per cent of the bookings have come from customers new to the brand. While this is not as exciting and dramatic as a Huracan let alone the Aventador, itis the one that is best suited for our country. A Lamborghini which can sit the entire family,take on our roads without breaking a sweat and also has a boot, sign me up.

Tech Specs

Engine: 3996cc, 4.0-litre twin-turbo

V8 Petrol engine

Power: 641bhp@6000 rpm

Torque: 850nm@2250-4500rpm

Transmission: Automatic 0-100kmph: 3.6 secs

Top speed: 305 kmph

City fuel efficiency: 5.5 kmpl

Highway fuel efficiency: 7.5 kmpl

Airbags: 10

Safety: ABS with EBD

Traction control, Vehicle Stability Control System

Price, ex-showroom: ₹3.34crore (Ex-Mumbai)

Dhiram Shah is a Mumbai-based founder of LuxuryLaunches.com

comment COMMENT NOW