Another day, another $400,000 SUV.
Well, this one's about $470,000, as tested.
But you get the idea.
Has the world gone mad?
Do we really need another 600hp soft-roader with a price tag that's about the same as
a house?
Well, I guess after Porsche's success, all the other sports car brands had to get into
the act.
Maserati's done it, Ferrari's on the way to doing it, we've seen an Aston Martin prototype
for their DBX soft-roader, but Lamborghini?
The raging bull?
[Inaudible] if I know.
I don’t get it.
This is Urus, Lambo's soft-roader, and it's built as the world's first super sport utility
vehicle.
Underneath, Urus shares much with the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne, and ultimately
the Audi Q8 and SQ7.
And if you know where to look, the shared bits are not hard to find.
The instrument panel is very clearly derived from Audi's virtual cockpit.
The switchgear is very close to Audi's switchgear.
The infotainment, well, that's Audio infotainment too.
And when you push the jet fighter-style start button, the soundtrack, well, that comes almost
straight from the Audi stable to boot.
So does this make this big yellow SUV simply an expensive parts bin special, or is it a
real Lamborghini?
One of the most interesting things about Urus is how light the car feels.
It doesn’t feel like the big, 5.2m 22,000 kilo car that it is.
And that's in Strada mode.
Stick it in Sport and the whole thing livens up again.
Lamborghini's ANIMA system, for once, seems to be a drive select system that actually
makes a difference.
And this car, even on quite narrow, windy roads like this, is extremely agile.
Steering is another high point of the Urus package.
It's pretty good in some of the other Audi SUVs, but in this car it's sharpened considerably.
While on the road, you're never really going to challenge the braking systems of these
high-performance SUVs, this car has got a significant amount of potential in it.
They're big carbon ceramic brakes but, unlike some carbon ceramics, what's especially good
is their low-speed feel.
These are not carbon brakes that are grabby, or require any special familiarisation.
There's a driver focus to the cabin you'd expect from a Lamborghini.
But that doesn’t mean this five-seater lacks comfort.
This must be the first Lambo that's ever been offered with massage seats, and a kick-operated
power tailgate.
And then there's the look of this thing.
Even in colours other than bright yellow, it's not a car you can sneak around in.
So that's a definite tick in the real Lambo box.
Ultimately, Urus is a product of its parentage.
Audi's gifted Lamborghini a whole level of amenity, refinement and luxury, and technology
that the brand could never have achieved on its own.
Lamborghini, for its part, has taken what is potentially a fairly soulless SUV and given
it a real depth, a real character, a real soul.
And I wanted to hate this car.
I really thought, what could you possibly see in a Lamborghini SUV?
But maybe I'm a convert.