2024 Lamborghini Urus Performante Review: Sending Off The Raging Bull’s Last Full ICE-Powered SUV

It’s been nearly seven years since Lamborghini launched its second-ever SUV, the Urus, a move the company made as it sought to improve and secure its financial stability for the future. It may have arrived to mixed reception from both car enthusiasts and Lamborghini fans, but it’s no mystery that SUVs are total cash cows. And Italy’s raging bull and parent company Volkswagen both recognized that Lamborghini couldn’t survive financially making high-dollar, low-production supercars and thus, they created the Urus to cash in on the demand.

Since then, it’s become the best-selling Lamborghini ever and despite it being as old as it is, it is still as relevant to today’s constantly changing demand, thanks in particular to the special variants that the brand launched over the years. One of them is the Urus Performante, a follow-up to the original Urus as a harder-edged, faster, and an even more performance variant to the already potent Urus. It’s similar to the Performante versions of the Huracán and the Aventador Superveloce, both of which were lighter, faster, and more powerful versions of the standard car.

But being able to experience it came at an even bigger moment as 2024 is the last model-year before the Urus undergoes its biggest change yet. After 2024, the Urus says goodbye to its completely internal-combustion-powered lineup and transitions to a plug-in-electric hybrid model, marking a first-ever for the brand and the Urus. To experience the Urus in its purist ICE form before it goes the way of the dodo, we asked Lamborghini for the keys to one to give it one last ride.

2024 Lamborghini Urus Performante First Impressions

Being a Lamborghini, a car bred from the same bloodlines that’s given the world some of the greatest, fastest, and most exotic hypercars to ever historically roam the land, the Urus essentially needs no explanation. It certainly looks like no other SUV on the road, despite sharing its underpinnings with the likes of the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q8, with its low-slung roofline, slick overall profile, wide stance, and pronounced wheel arches.

It’s by far the most menacing-looking SUV currently on the planet, especially with its panels being festooned with jagged edges and angles, as well as its gaping air ducts in the front end that help keep the engine and all the other important bits nice and cool. While it’s easy to throw a blanket statement over most crossover SUVs as looking the same, that certainly cannot be said for the Urus as there’s no way in hell that anyone’s mistaking this for anything lesser.

Exterior Dimensions

Driving Impressions And Performance

Separating the Urus Performante from the regular plain Jane Urus is the fact that it weighs a good amount less, to the tune of 104 pounds, thanks to a whole bunch of carbon fiber panels replacing the conventional metal ones, like on the roof and the engine hood. Engineers tweaked the suspension, chassis, and steering with more performance-biased tuning, and they even squeezed out an additional 16 horses out of its twin-fed V-8.

The changes might not seem like a lot, but having driven the standard Urus once before, those changes do all add up to make a sprightlier driving experience. The Urus is no featherweight, tipping the scales at just under two and half tons. More agile may be overstating it for a two-plus-ton SUV, but the Performante feels a lot more eager to change direction, particularly on the tighter radii turns and switchbacks. Either way, the Urus Performante is one serious performance SUV and overall, it’s considerably lighter than any of its competitors.

Braking And Acceleration

Just to get straight to the point, when it was launched, the Lamborghini Urus Performante set the record for the fastest production SUV to tackle the world-famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, completing the course in just 10:32.064, beating the previous 2018 record of 10:49.902. It even supposedly lapped the Nürburgring in 7:47, making it one of the fastest of its kind to do so, though that record was never officialized.

But to this day, it remains to be one of the quickest in the world, until the Aston Martin DBX707 and the Ferrari Purosangue came about. So without beating around the bush, the Urus Performante, which is the even faster and more powerful version of the already fast standard Urus, is simply bat-poop insane, thanks to its Audi-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8, which punches out a whopping 657 horsepower and the same 627 pound-feet of torque as the regular Urus.

• Acceleration 0-60 MPH: 3.3 Seconds
• Braking Distance 60-0 MPH: 107.9 Feet

Performance Specifications

2024 Lamborghini Urus Performante Fuel Economy

As one of the fastest and most expensive super/hyper SUVs in all the land, fuel economy probably the least concern. But if you really had to ask, the Environmental Protection Agency rates the Urus Performante as capable of up to 14 miles per gallon in the city cycle, 19 on the highway, and a combined average of 16, which in all fairness, aren’t terrible numbers for such a ridiculously fast, powerful, and heavy brute.

During my brief three-day stint with the Urus Performante, I honestly paid no attention to how much fuel I was consuming because I was just having way too much damn fun with the thing. But if my memory serves me right, the onboard computer noted an average between 12-15 mpg.

Interior Design And Comfort

Despite being largely based on Volkswagen’s MLB Evo platform shared with the Porsche Cayenne and Audi A8, Lamborghini designers did well to gussy up the insides of the Urus to make it look and feel considerably different than its platform cousins. A lot of the switchgear may be from Audi, but at least the overall shapes and designs of the Urus are more bespoke and fitting to the car’s more menacing and performance-oriented persona.

It definitely feels more like an occasion inside the Urus as opposed its platform cousins, with tons of carbon fiber trim, Italian leather-wrapped everything with exquisite contrast color stitching, lots of Alcantara, and of course, Lamborghini logos embroidered in the very supportive, yet, comfortable performance bucket seats.

Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use

Since the Urus depends largely on Volkswagen’s MLB Evo platform and Audi’s parts bin, a lot of the Urus’ technology and interface comes straight from the Q8 and its very visible and apparent if you’ve been inside a high-end Audi before. It does add a little bit of a drawback to the Urus’ overall experience as you’d hope, for a Lamborghini and an SUV with the sticker price it commands, that the interior would be a little bit more bespoke.

But the benefit to depending on Audi’s parts bin is that everything actually works, as opposed to Lamborghinis in the far and distant past. The infotainment system is still based on Audi’s latest MMI, as is the sat-nav, digital driver instrumentation display, and a lot of the physical switch gear may be similar to the ones found in the Q8. But the upside is that it’s all very easy to use and familiar. It’s simply all dressed up in Lamborghini logos and themes versus Audi.

Cargo And Storage Space

As with interior dimensions, Lamborghini isn’t too specific about its cargo space figures, other than stating that it can haul up to “616 liters,” which in Yankee numbers, is roughly 21.8 cubic feet. But either way, being a crossover SUV, there’s plenty of room for things in the back, especially if you’re loading up the Urus with people and their things for a weekend getaway. It may not be the largest cargo space, as the Urus’ low hanging roofline and short rear end do compromise the trunk space.

If you fold down the seats however, which go down in a 40/20/40 split manner, the cargo capacity figure supposedly doubles to around 53 cubes.

2024 Lamborghini Urus Performante Vs. Its Competitors

As a performance luxury super SUV that runs among the cream of the crop in the automotive world with a sticker price higher than the average cost of a house in the United States, there isn’t much in the way in terms of competition. But the Urus does have a few rivals, including the Aston Martin DBX707, and the Ferrari Purosangue.

And although they’re not nearly on the same level in terms of badge recognition or price, some other luxury performance SUVs like the BMW X6 M, Mercedes-AMG G 63, Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, Audi RS Q8, and the Maserati Levante Trofeo can potentially keep up with the Urus Performante, for considerably less coin. The only downside to those is that none of them are on the same level in terms of brand cachet as the Lamborghini, Aston, or Ferrari.

How The Lamborghini Urus Performante Compares To The Aston Martin DBX707

Although Lamborghini and Ferrari are direct rivals, the Purosangue is almost in a completely different league as it’s considerably way more expensive than the Urus Performante and most of all, it sports Ferrari’s legendary 6.5-liter V-12 under the hood, which is a lot more potent the Urus Performante S’s twin-turbo V-8.

That said, the Aston Martin DBX707, although cheaper with its starting price of around $250,000, is closer competitor to the Urus Performante as it also sports a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, compliments of Mercedes-AMG, and similar brand recognition.

Performance

Both the Urus Performante and the DBX707 sport 4.0-liter twin-fed gasoline V-8s, though interestingly, despite the Urus Performante having more horses in the stable with 657 versus the Aston’s 542, the DBX707 is actually slightly quicker in a straight line with its 0-60 MPH time of just 3.1 seconds, versus the Lambo’s 3.3. Both will get close to the 200 MPH flat out, but the Aston supposedly tops out at 181 MPH, according to its own top speed claims, while the Lambo will supposedly do 190 MPH.

Both have all the top-spec running gear to haul ass on both the Nürburgring and the Autobahn, so it would be a case of splitting hairs to see which handles better.

Comfort

Both the Urus Performante and the DBX707 are ultra-luxury super sports SUVs with a bias towards performance when compared to their plain Jane counterparts. Though despite being edgier, both are supremely comfortable and practical. The DBX707 seats are bit narrower and firmer than the Urus Performante’s and after having driven a few hours in the DBX707, I did find myself moving around in the seat a bit after finding them a bit taxing on the comfort front on long hauls. I didn’t experience that as much with the Urus Performante.

Technology

Both SUVs are loaded up the wazoo with today’s technology, driver assist and safety aids, and powertrain technology to make a statement as ultimatums in the automotive world. Neither have an edge or disadvantage to one another as the Lamborghini depends on Audi’s MMI and parts bins for its tech, whereas the Aston utilizes Mercedes-Benz’s parts bins for its infotainment and tech. It’s down to preference and styling.

Get An All-ICE Urus While You Can

Given that the Urus Performante and its other variants are the last of its kind for the 2024 model-year, being powered strictly by refined dead organic matter juice before going to gas-electric plug-in-hybrid propulsion, pretty much any version of the Urus is worth springing for if you have the coin to grab one.

The new Urus SE promises to be more powerful and slightly quicker overall than the standard Urus S (there’s only so much one can do to get two-plus-tons of SUV to go as fast as the Urus does). Though it still comes at a considerable weight penalty from its transition to hybrid power as all of that electric running gear, such as the heavy battery pack, additional electric motors, and all the other in-between to make the systems work, all add heft.

Lamborghini didn’t say how much exactly just yet, but some figures floating around the web suggest that the Urus SE weighs as much as 5,523 lbs, which is nearly 680 pounds heavier than the Urus S’s 4,843-pound curb weight. The Urus SE will still be bat-poop insane fast, but with such a hike in heft, the differences will certainly be felt when the roads top being straight or when it comes to overall ride quality.

So if you’re looking for the purest Urus money can buy, look no further than the Urus Performante.