What's all this about?
This is the newly refreshed Lamborghini Urus S, which is now the entry-level model for Lamborghini’s best-selling SUV. The Urus has been a storming success for Lamborghini and the refresh is aimed at keeping it up to the mark compared with growing threats from the Aston Martin DBX, Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and the new Ferrari Purosangue.
It doesn't look very different...
It’s a subtle refresh, admittedly. The front and rear bumpers are new as is the stainless-steel skid-plate finished in black. The carbon-fibre bonnet is new too, and the vents can be optioned in either the body colour, gloss black or a shiny carbon-fibre finish. Up top, there’s the option of a carbon-fibre finish on the roof, while at the back, the matte black lower part of the new bumper sees a new twin-pipe exhaust design in brushed steel as standard, but with the option of matte or gloss black finishes or one in bright chrome. As standard are 21-inch wheels, though there’s also the option of new 22- or 23-inch rims.
Anything inside?
Really not a lot. Just a couple of new leather and material options for interiors with duo-tone colour schemes.
This really is a very light refresh, isn't it?
Visually, yes, but actually the big news in all of this is that the Urus S now has more power — 16hp more power, in fact — which brings the total output from the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 as before to 666hp, the same figure as that of the hard-charging Performante, currently the top-rung Urus, which was unveiled in August following its unofficial record attempt on the Pikes Peak hillclimb course in the United States. The 0-62mph time of the Urus S is 3.5 seconds, two-tenths of a second slower than the Performante, but, given the Urus S is heavier than the Performante, the loss of the barest fraction of a second is not bad.
Any sign of a hybrid?
Not just yet. All the big performance and luxury SUVs are getting plug-in hybrid options these days, so the announcement of a hybrid Urus wouldn’t particularly take anyone by surprise. Lamborghini has said that its entire range would be electrified by 2024, so expect to hear something about a hybrid Urus in the not-too-distant future — perhaps in 2023.
David Mullen - 30 Sep 2022