New Lamborghini Urus Performante will be absolutely fearsome
The new extreme version of Lamborghini’s super-SUV will feature plug-in hybrid V8 power, and lots of it
A mysterious and rather angry-looking new version of the Lamborghini Urus will be revealed on 1 July – and it could see the Performante name return to the flamboyant super-SUV’s line-up.
Lamborghini has released a teaser image of the new model, which shows it will have two sizable spoilers: one on the roof with extra fins, and another even larger one on the bootlid. Of course, this being a Lamborghini, it’s been finished in a ‘tasteful’ neon green paint colour.
The Italian supercar maker hasn’t confirmed this is the new Urus Performante, but based on other images we’ve seen, the newcomer shares similar tweaks to the old Urus Performante and looks set to occupy the same spot at the top of the SUV’s line-up.
The model will duke it out with other super-SUVs including the V12-powered Ferrari Purosangue, 193mph Aston Martin DBX 707 and the storming Bentley Bentayga Speed. Another potential rival is the outlandish Mercedes-AMG G 63, examples of which are available on the Auto Express Buy A Car service from less than £60,000.
Prototypes of the new Urus we spotted testing featured aero upgrades that hint at an upgraded powertrain. The front has a fresh bumper with redesigned air intakes and an extra lip below. As well as the extra spoilers, the rear will probably get a new diffuser design.
These changes will certainly help stand this version apart from the regular Urus SE, but there should be some performance improvements, too. The old Performante’s aero kit provided a 38 per cent increase in downforce over the rear axle, while there was also a 20mm lower ride height, wider track widths and a 47kg weight reduction. We expect similar results on the new car.
The new Performante should feature the same plug-in hybrid powertrain as the Urus SE, which uses a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, one electric motor and a 25.9kWh battery. However, it’ll almost certainly be more potent, and the standard model already delivers 788bhp.
Whatever the final figure, it’ll be a significant bump over the previous Performante, which didn’t have any hybrid assistance, just a 657bhp twin-turbo V8. That said, the addition of the PHEV system will make the new model considerably heavier than its predecessor, so it’ll be interesting to see how Lamborghini’s engineers counteract that.
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