The Lamborghini Urus has, since its inception in 2018, been the poster boy for the Super SUV segment of the car market. There have been pretenders to the throne, but the king remains unmoved. You know this to be the case when you’re driving around in one. A Porsche Cayenne here, an Audi RSQ8 there, an SVR badged Range Rover Sport and even Bentley’s Bentayga: you can’t help but notice the glances from the drivers of all when rolling in an Urus. So how is Lamborghini retaining its crown in a world of ever tightening emissions regulations? The move to hybridisation with the Lamborghini Urus SE is unlikely to diminish its appeal.
Now, you might be wondering what appeal a silent, understated Urus carries. Isn’t the whole point for it to be a snarling menace, an overt statement, a railing against woke nonsense like hybrid powertrains? I was certainly pondering these points as I silently slunk away from Lamborghini’s Hatfield HQ for a long weekend with the Urus SE. It wasn’t until I reached the M25 that there was any need for the mighty V8.
And the mighty V8 immediately dispels any doubts. It positively fires into life, accentuated by the quad pipes of the Akrapovic exhaust. There it is, the vaguely anti-social roar, the sort of thing that attracts people to this car like moths to a flame. And anyway, if you want to disturb the peace sooner, you can select Sport or Corsa mode from the fighter jet style mode selector. These always keep the V8 at the forefront of the action, relegating the battery to not insignificant support duties.
So, does hybridisation offer the best of both worlds to the Lamborghini Urus SE? Silent wafting to lairy aggression, it seems to do it all…
What’s the Lamborghini Urus SE like to live with?
The thing that I came to find most pleasing on the day-to-day with the Lamborghini Urus SE was the way in which everything works. You press the boot release and it immediately springs skywards. Soft close doors add a luxury touch and overall tactility of the controls is top drawer.
A couple of points to note, if you’re considering ownership. Firstly, get the reversing camera fitted. The model tested didn’t have one which posed a couple of problems. This car is large and this car is expensive. Equip yourself with all the assistance you can.
Secondly, upgrade the stereo. The standard one is okay, but nothing more. You can get the Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system. It was fitted to our last review, the Audi A6 e-tron, and it’s really good. Go ahead and treat yourself.
While you’re treating yourself, you may wish to consider the massage seats. The standard units are comfortable, but on a 200-mile trip to Leeds a massage wouldn’t have gone amiss to relieve a stiff lower back. First world problems indeed.
This is a wonderful cabin which would only be elevated further with the fitment of such available luxuries. Everything is in easy reach and laced with aesthetic drama (the Rosso Efesto doorhandles are delightful). There are plenty of physical buttons to supplement the touchscreens and everything works intuitively. The only thing I couldn’t find was how to disengage the speed warning beeps. Mercifully, Lamborghini has made them as quiet as it possibly can, so they don’t trouble you unduly.
Massive boot, five seats: you’re only remaining choice is whether to ferry the family and the dog around in EV silence or sideways in a howl of V8 glory…
What’s the Lamborghini Urus SE like to drive?
The initial foray into Urus SE life in electric mode was a surprise. If only because I completely forgot what I was driving. This is, however, a good thing, since it serves as a reminder that this thing works perfectly well when simply being a car, rather than being viewed as a monster.
That isn’t its raison d’etre though. You could go and buy a Range Rover or a Bentayga instead, if that’s all you’re interested in. Anything with the raging bull adorning its bonnet needs to inspire a bit of shock and awe.
On a B-road, it comprehensively delivers. Even on tighter country lanes you’ll run out of nerve before it runs out of composure. The way it gets around corners is staggering. Line the corner up, turn in hard and it almost comes back on itself so eagerly does the nose bite. You know you’re driving a massive SUV so there’ll be some understeer to factor in, yet it never arrives. It’s astonishing.
Then, dial up the modes and you can get it to slide at will. I imagine. You’d need an airfield to be confident the first time, but it rotates with the balance of a sports car. There’s no denying the impressive engineering feat which the Lamborghini Urus SE represents. It’s a tired trope with Super SUVs, but this thing really has no business being this composed. You have to remind yourself that it weighs 2500Kg.
This is where the Urus SE really stands out. The UK’s roads are largely unacceptable in their quality, but the Urus bypasses this issue completely. The air suspension, even with 22” wheels, irons out all but the worst imperfections. So, no matter the tarmac in front, you can attack any road with confidence. You can’t say that about a Revuelto.
Conclusion
The Lamborghini Urus SE, then, is perhaps the ultimate do-anything car. You can get the family around in comfort, you can take it on a track day, you can drive to Leeds and back in a day. Whatever you ask of it, it will deliver with consummate ease.
The duality of personality offered by hybridisation is, in my opinion, a big tick in the box. It doesn’t dull the experience and there’s a quiet satisfaction to slinking around towns silently. It also underpins hugely impressive performance.
Mated to the twin-turbo charged V8, the powertrain is the same as found in the Bentley Continental GTC, a car I was rather enamoured with. Here, you get a combined 789bhp and 950Nm of torque. Those staggering figures deliver staggering real-world performance: the Lamborghini Urus SE races to 62mph in just 3.4secs. Just as staggeringly, this also leaves scope for more hardcore versions of the hybrid Urus to come.
You can really unleash hell when you want to, in any conditions or circumstances. There’s also limited sense that hybridisation is merely a token gesture to keep the Urus rolling. Whilst it will do 30-odd miles on the battery alone, it’s really here to add shove. Which it needs to, since it adds c.350Kg to the Urus SE over the outgoing Urus Performante. If such things do concern you, however, whilst I achieved 18.1mpg over 316 miles in the Performante, I achieved 25.3mpg over 593 miles in the SE. An improvement indeed and a useful one at that.
Is the Urus still King of the Super SUVs? For aesthetic and aural drama, it remains unmatched. Perhaps most importantly, however, the Lamborghini Urus SE delivers exceptional hybrid driving, very much the best of both worlds. It’s a new string to an already impressive Urus-shaped bow.
