Despite starting out as a tractor company, Lamborghini are one of the best known names in the world and are now more closely associated with the some of the absolute fastest cars available. In 2012 Lamborghini announced that it had a 4×4 called the Urus in the works and car fans all over the world got a little bit excited. Ever since then we have been waiting in anticipation for what promises to be one of the most exciting 4x4s ever created. As leading 4×4 breakers we usually aren’t all that interested in Lamborghini, but now that they are building a 4×4, they have our attention.
Look back into their history and they have a 50 year lineage of some of the most bombastic and interesting performance cars ever made. All of this history may not have happened though if it weren’t for one car… the Miura, the first mid engine super car and a car that changed exotica forever. Innovators then, but how will they cope in the ever expanding world of performance 4x4s?
Well whilst it might seem a little odd that Lamborghini are promising a 4×4, this isn’t the first off roader that they are responsible for, let us not forget the LM002.
LM002
‘Please can we have a 4×4 with a supercar V12, preposterous dimensions and a top speed of 140mph?’ said no one ever!
Despite the fact that there was no demand for this car Lamborghini in their Lamborghini way went and made it anyway. The LM002 was originally designed for the Italian military but they didn’t want it, so Lamborghini decided that they would be road cars instead. That is the short and crazy story of one of the most bonkers road cars that has ever existed, check it out below.
The Urus Specifics
Thankfully nowadays the 4×4 market is huge and with huge demand for luxury 4x4s, the Urus has far more chance of success than the LM002. Unfortunately Lamborghini are being pretty cagey about the details of the Urus and we don’t even know what engine will be fitted to this striking concept car.
One thing that is pretty sure though, is that it almost certainly won’t borrow an engine from the Huracan or the Aventador. With a 4×4 vehicle you need torque in order for it to work so expect a smaller capacity V8 with a pair of turbochargers, a hybrid or maybe even Lamborghini’s first ever diesel option.
What we do know is that thanks to Lamborghini being owned by Audi, the Urus will sit on the underpinnings shared by the new Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and the soon to be released Bentley Bentayga. This is no bad thing as it will bring production costs down over the initially proposed forged composite design and should make replacing parts easier.
The Competition
There is no word on performance yet but Lamborghini tend to do fast on a level that can literally bend your face, so you can expect it to be mighty quick. To get an idea of performance, we have listed a few of the main competitors below so you can see the sorts of numbers Lamborghini will be aiming for.
BMW X5M
Engine: 4.4 litre twin turbocharged V8
Power: 575 Bhp
Torque: 750 Nm
0-62 MPH: 4.2 seconds
Top speed: 155 Mph (limited)
Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
Engine: 4.8 litre twin turbocharged V8
Power: 570 Bhp
Torque: 800 Nm
0-62 Mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 176 Mph
Range Rover Sport SVR
Engine: 5.0 litre supercharged V8
Power: 542Bhp
Torque: 680 Nm
0-62 Mph: 4.7 seconds
Top speed: 162 Mph
Can the Urus Compete?
As you can see from the above data, the competition facing the Urus is very stiff, and in spite of its Lamborghini heritage it may well struggle. Even with rumours flying around that it will have more than 600 horsepower, the fact that it won’t arrive until 2018 could mean that the current crop of fast 4x4s may well have more firepower by then.
Here at CWS 4×4 though, we think that you simply can’t count Lamborghini out and that the Urus will be a performance and sales success in spite of global finances. Even if it turns up poorly made and slower than the competition, Lamborghini have that odd charm that is sure to make sure that the car does well.
Whilst we will almost certainly never see one of these in our yard, we like to think that any 4×4 fan will be happier knowing that a car as incredible as the Urus exists.
If this little look at performance 4x4s has inspired you to fix up your own careworn off-roader then don’t worry as we can help. Simply contact us with your requirements and our friendly and experienced team will be more than happy to help.