Plug-in hybrid SUV packs 800bhp and Lambo’s latest 6D chassis tech
Lamborghini is vying for the performance SUV crown with the new Urus SE Performante, the hottest derivative yet of its exuberant family hauler.
Its plug-in-hybrid powertrain pairs the venerable 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with a single electric motor, boosted to combined outputs of 800bhp and 737lb ft. This represents an increase of 11bhp, thanks to a free-flowing exhaust set-up and reworked engine management software.
A new Akrapovic exhaust swaps the SE’s cross-pipe set-up-with which header pipes from each cylinder bank meet at a cross section, before running through the length of the car to split silencers – for two separate exhausts, with one per bank. This improves the flow of exhaust gases out of the engine while creating what Lamborghini claims to be a “more powerful” tone. The new pipes are made from aluminium, so the revised system also results in a 10kg weight saving.
Shedding yet more mass is the extensive use of carbonfibre, which is used for the bonnet, roof, wings, side skirts and rear diffuser. A new one-box brake and stability controller saves 4kg, lightened sound deadening cuts 3kg; and swapping leather for the new ‘Corsa Tex’ Dinamica upholstery saves a further 2.7kg. All combined, it makes the Performante 32kg lighter than the regular SE, at 2473kg.
The Performante also features the ‘6D’ drive computer that was introduced with the Temerario supercar. This measures acceleration over the X, Y and Z axes, along with pitch, roll and yaw, to allow for finer control over the dynamic state.
Completing the package is an outlandish new look intended to maximise the tall, wide SUV’s aerodynamic performance. Thanks to an array of chunky splitters, skirts and spoilers, the Performante produces 23% more downforce than an Urus SE. Key to this is the integration of an S-duct through the front bumper and bonnet, to push the nose down as speed builds. Despite this, the Performante also produces 5% less drag than a regular SE, helped by reworked underbody cladding that includes the largest rear diffuser yet fitted to a Urus.
Lamborghini design director Mitja Borkert told Autocar the new look was intended to inspire awe. “We are not form follows function,” he said. “We are form follows adrenaline. “As a brand, we want to Inspire future generations. When you look at the design you can park the car anywhere, and it looks like a spaceship, it looks like something outlandish, really different from what else is on the street. For me, this is my personal motivation.”
Borkert accepted that even more aggressive styling may be polarising but added: “It’s a Lamborghini. We have a clear design DNA that we don’t want to compromise.”
Borkert said his goal was to make the driver “feel Ilke a pilot” once inside the Performante. Much of the cabin is trimmed in black, with the suede-like Dinamica textile used on the dashboard to reduce reflections on sunny days. Alongside a new 12.3in infotainment touchscreen is an array of buttons intended to dial up the sense of tactility, “This [buttons], for me, is the key,” said Borkert. “You always need to have a mechanical experience, you need to feel the machine.”
