Lamborghini Urus: 11 Days To Go

In the wildest-cars-ever-made list, you are sure to find a Lamborghini. And if that list wasn’t made by a purist, you would find the Lamborghini LM002 sticking out like a wonderfully sore thumb. The LM002 luxury SUV came into being thanks to a lot of stars aligning, but its spiritual successor is the result of meticulous planning since as early as 2007!

The Lamborghini Urus is set to be revealed to the world on December 4, 2017 and we know quite a bit about it.

Here’s what it looks like

Filming a car before it is launched is exciting and in their enthusiasm to show more of the car, Lamborghini inadvertently showed off a bit too much. In a series of videos showing us the different driving modes, one particular shot of the infotainment system on the centre console shows off the front design of the car - without any of the camouflage. Ooops! 

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Admittedly, it’s not radically different from the Urus concept which was first shown, back in 2012. The production version seems to be sitting lower than the concept and has a larger air-dam too. The lower lip has diffuser like elements on it, and the whole face has a Darth Vader-mask-like feel to it.

Shots of the camouflaged cars also show that the Urus now sports production-spec mirrors, unlike the tiny cameras we were shown on the concept. The door-opening buttons which sat flush on the body of the Urus concept have been replaced by conventional pull-type handles placed lower down the doors on the production car.

There are a lot of styling cues picked up from Lamborghini’s sportscars. The heavily sculpted body, for instance, has enough cuts and creases to be considered from the same family as cars like the Aventador - made very evident by the silhouette drawing of the S(S?)UV. 

A big lip-spoiler shown in one of the videos will help keep the Lamborghini Urus stable at higher speeds.

Two twin-pipes poking out prominently from the rear also point to the turbocharged V8 beast that will power this sporty SUV. 

A shot of the new factory where the Urus is being assembled also shows us the skeleton of the SUV, which suggests that under the heavily stylised body will be a very spacious SUV. The section after the rear doors actually looks very accommodating. Lamborghini wants the Urus to be as ‘practical’ as possible, with some company officials suggesting that this could be a family car too! While there may be a lot of luggage space, the very high loading lip and the small hatch door may not make it easy to load and unload stuff.

Inside

There are very few details of the Urus’ interior that we can see from the teasers sent out by Lamborghini. The fantastical interiors of the Urus concept may be used for inspiration but expect the production version to be more sedate.

One of the highlights of the centre console is the large touchscreen infotainment system, which seems to have been lifted from the Volkswagen Group parts bin, with custom Lamborghini skin added to it. The second touchscreen doubles up as the climate control; the two-screen setup is very similar to that of the Audi A8/A7.

The big highlight on the centre console is the new drive-mode selector. Designed to mimic the throttles on a plane/boat, the Urus gets a three-lever setup. The middle selector is for the transmission, the left one controls the ANIMA (Adaptive Network Intelligence Management) while the left paddle controls the ‘Ego’ mode.

ANIMA

All modern Lamborghini’s have a drive mode selector which can usually toggle between Strada (road), Sport and Corsa (track) modes - these change the way the engine, transmission, suspension, aerodynamics and even rear-steering system (on cars equipped with it) react to driver inputs. The Lamborghini Urus gets three new modes - Sabbia (sand), Terra (dirt) and Neve (ice/snow), ’cause SUV.

Changing the modes also changes the displays on the all-digital instrument cluster. In Terra mode, the screen shows vehicle lean angles even though the Urus is not meant to do hardcore off-roading. Meanwhile, one of the screens in Corsa mode shows the power and torque usage. 

Underneath it all

The Lamborghini Urus will roll off a brand new assembly plant set up alongside the company’s historic plant in Bologna, Italy. Lamborghini expects increased demand for the Urus in its largest markets - USA, Canada, Japan, the UK, Germany and Australia - but also expects markets like China, Russia and the Middle-East to be even more receptive of the new ‘Super Sport UV’. The integrated plant, which heavily combines the use of highly trained human technicians and state of the art robots should help Lamborghini produce more cars in a shorter time without affecting quality.

The shots from the factory give us some glimpse of the Urus. Here’s the whole running gear before it’s mated with the monocoque shell. Those brake discs are the biggest ones to be fitted on a production car - 440mm at the front and 370mm at the rear, made of carbon-ceramics. The front discs are squeezed by a 10-piston calliper; this braking system is necessary for this more than 2-tonne heavy SUV designed to achieve insane speeds. The 48V anti-roll system and adaptive air suspension components can also be seen.

The 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine will be placed at the front, the Urus will be the only front-engined car in Lamborghini’s lineup when it is launched. Mid-mounted/rear-mounted engines are not good for cars as bulky as the Urus, Lamborghini learnt that when they tried to make their first SUV (the LM001 prototype) exactly like their sportscars. 

The Urus’ engine develops 650PS of maximum power and 849Nm, propelling this carbon-fibre reinforced polymer bodied SUV to reach speeds of over 300kmph! Power is sent through an 8-speed automatic transmission to an AWD system which distributes power in a 40:60 front to rear split. 0-100kmph is achieved in 3.7-seconds!

The Urus uses the same ‘MLB Evo’ platform as range topping SUVs from the Volkswagen Group such as the Audi Q7, Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne and the Volkswagen Touareg. It is 5.1-metres long, 2-metres wide and has a 3-metre long wheelbase.

An Urus Performante?

According to Motor Trend, Lamborghini officials let slip the fact that the Urus could get the Performante treatment - with the ALA trick-aero system found on the Huracan. This performance version, if it is ever launched could seriously alter the way people perceive the Urus. 

More to come

Lamborghini will let the drums roll till it finally reveals the Urus on December 4, 2017. Expect more teasers and more leaks till then. Stay tuned to ZigWheels for more updates on the ‘Super Sport UV’ from Lamborghini.