The Lamborghini Urus has, in many ways, had a transformative effect, not just on the fortunes of Lamborghini but on the supercar market at large. In its launch year alone (2017), the Urus caused Lamborghini’s sales to surge 43 percent over the previous year. By 2021, Lamborghini had experienced its best sales year ever, largely because of the Urus. And when it came to the Indian market, the Urus was, to no one’s surprise, the best-selling Lamborghini in the country by a considerable margin. All those statistics would point to the fact that Lamborghini had perfected the recipe when it came to the super-SUV.
The Urus Performante proves that wasn't the case. Because Lamborghini still had a few key tweaks to make to its hyper-SUV — a quieter, hybrid model is due to arrive in India by the end of the next quarter. The car is equipped with the same 4.0-litre V8, which now makes a perfectly devilish 666 hp of power, up by 16hp compared to the standard Urus. The torque figures remain the same, too, at 850 Nm because the gearbox is pretty much maxed out in terms of how much torque it can handle. So, the question is, what sort of changes to the car’s exterior and its performance warrant the Rs 1.07 crore premium that you will be paying over a standard Urus?
The answer, to be honest, is that it doesn’t really matter. Not to Lamborghini owners. This ever-growing tribe in India has already laid claim to every Urus Perfomante allotted to the country until the end of the last quarter of 2024. Which makes this a purely academic exercise, to ascertain if a lower kerb weight, tweaked suspension and a new “Rally” mode are what’s been missing from the Urus.
What's new
The Performante’s key changes arrive in the form of a coil spring suspension replacing the cushier air springs on the standard, some weight-reducing bits of carbon-fibre, and a new anti-roll bar that makes this car blissfully forget the laws of physics everytime it sees a corner. You’re still seated pretty high and this bodes particularly well when you’re operating a Lamborghini on Indian roads, even though you are sitting 20mm lower now. But it’s not the driving position, it’s the sharper steering and throttle response times that become immediately apparent the second you find yourself an open stretch on said roads.
The snappy throttle response is clearly calibrated for performance and can come to the detriment of the rearseat passengers, who need to fortify their stomachs for a hassle-free backseat experience. It gets a carbon-fibre roof as standard, which, along with a titanium exhaust, titanium bolts on the wheels, and a few other weight-saving measures, help shave 47kg off. But you can go for a carbon-fibre composite roof as an optional extra, should you wish to stay within the two tonne mark.
Throw this behemoth around with total abandon
The Performante also gets a wider track, and this allows it to blend the lines between supercar and SUV even further. Those big 325/35 section tyres specially developed by Pirelli allow you to throw this behemoth around with total abandon, eliminating the slightest hint of bodyroll and punching forward at warp speed.
Even the new rear spoiler generates 38 percent more downforce, so this is pretty much the most planted the Urus has ever been. It’ll need to be because the same turbochargers are now working more eagerly to develop boost and throw this front-engined car into the horizon like a javelin.
But it’s not until you arrive at an off-road patch that the Performante truly comes into its element. The most noticeable change inside is that the chunky “Tamburo” drive controller has one more driving mode you can shift to. Work your way below the Strada, Sport and Corsa mode and you will come to the “Rally” mode. This essentially loosens the grip of the ESC, and channels more power rearward through the Urus Perfomante’s rear differential. The result? A tail-happy, two-tonne SUV.
A large reservoir of torque
As implausible as it sounds, the Perfomante manages to powerslide out of corners, dare I say, with the alacrity of a hot rallying hatchback. The torque levels do remain the same but there’s more torque that feels accessible through a much wider power band now. Come out of a corner, and you can instantly regain momentum without necessitating a downshift. There’s a large reservoir of torque and that, in rally mode, allows the Performante to waft over gravel. Sweep across a long curve in fifth, or exit a tight one in second, the Performante’s endless reserve of torque can always be counted on to snap the Urus back in place.
In Rally mode, the car allows you to be more playful (given a wide enough berth on a closed racetrack), but not uncontrollably so. The ESC threshold is pushed back, but turn it off and the Urus immediately shows you who has constantly been in charge this whole time.
Lamborghini, as we know it, is about to change. Its next offering will be a V12 hybrid replacement for the Aventador, followed by a hybridised version of the Urus. The Performante then, isn’t just about faster lap times, and crisper acceleration; it’s about maximising the potential of the Urus as we know it, before the sun permanently sets on pure petrol performance cars. And as far as swansongs go, one infused with the notes of an Akropovic exhaust sounds just about right.
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