With a top speed of 194 mph, the plug-in-hybrid Lamborghini Urus SE has already been the fastest SUV on this planet for the past two years, and even putting the highest speed aside it’s pretty rattling good. But Lamborghini being Lamborghini, it wasn’t done tinkering with the Urus and has made its super SUV much more super for 2027. A Performante version of the Urus was introduced back in 2022 and kept on sale for a a yr or two, and Lambo has brought that trim back, just now with plug-in power. As with previous Performante Lambos, the Urus SE Performante is more powerful, lighter, and has sportier styling, however the changes for this SUV go even further.
The Urus SE Performante is less about outright speed and more about precision, handling, and dynamics. Few, if any, Urus SE Performante owners will ever take their five-seat SUVs to the track, but these latest upgrades should make a twisty road more fun. Once the children have been dropped off in school and the grocery runs are done, after all. You will have fun driving not on roads, too, because the Performante also gets a model-specific Rally mode.
Regardless that it’s not all about power, the Performante still has more
The headline figure is the ability. Like the conventional Urus SE, the Performante version still uses a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 paired to a permanent-magnet electric motor mounted just ahead of the gearbox and a 25.9-kWh battery pack under the ground. The Performante makes 801 horsepower and 737 lb-ft of torque, which is not an enormous bump over the conventional Urus SE’s 789 horses and 700 lb-ft, but nobody’s ever gonna complain about more power. The 8-speed automatic stays, as does the all-wheel-drive system with an electronically controlled central clutch and an electronically controlled locking rear differential.
Lamborghini claims the Performante shaves a tenth of a second off of the conventional Urus SE’s 0-to-62-mph time, doing it in 3.3 seconds. Top speed stays the identical at 194 mph, though. At the least no other SUVs have bested the Urus SE, so anyone buying the Performante can still say they drive the world’s fastest production SUV. For now, at the least.
For Performante duty, Lamborghini added tons of carbon fiber to the Urus SE’s body, with parts just like the hood, roof, wheel arches, side skirts, and rear diffuser being produced from the stuff. A completely titanium exhaust system helps shave 22 kilos off the curb weight alone. In total, the Performante is 70 kilos lighter than the conventional Urus SE, though it’s still a hefty 5,452 kilos.
It’d never see the track however it’d still put down impressive lap times
Recent dual-chamber air springs give the Urus SE Performante a much wider balance between handling capability and luxury. An upper chamber is at all times lively and is devoted to handling precision, dynamics, and track driving; there’s also a lower chamber that prompts whenever you pick comfier driving modes. When the 2 chambers are lively, and the valve connecting them is open, Lamborghini says their combined volume makes the Performante quite a bit comfier than the conventional Urus SE, which only has single-chamber air springs. Its air springs aren’t the one dual-action suspension components, because the Performante has dual-valve dampers, versus the previous automotive’s single-valve units. That enables the suspension to differ damping and rebound calibration based on road conditions and drive mode.
A quick SUV as heavy as this one is simply pretty much as good as its brakes, so the Performante gets the most recent version of Lamborghini’s 6D body sensor and Integrated Power Brake system. Lambo first showed off the 6D setup on the ultra-limited hybrid V12-powered Fenomeno that debuted at Pebble Beach last yr. It uses a myriad of sensors to detect all types of vehicle data like speed, body angle and tire grip, to boost braking performance. Lambo says the Performante has a ten% increase in braking power and a 12% improvement in braking response.
As with all Uruses (Urii?), the Performante has a “Tamburo” drive selector with several different modes like Hybrid, Strada, Sport, and Corsa. Unique to the Performante is a Rally mode, first seen on the Huracan Sterrato, which is imagined to maximize driving pleasure on dirt and gravel roads, and other off-road scenarios. In EV mode, the Performante can hit 81 mph and go greater than 37 miles.
It would not be a Performante without looking more extreme
You will spot the Performante version from the conventional one straight away. The carbon-fiber hood has an influence dome and a pair of nostrils, the redesigned bumper’s intakes make it look wider and more aggressive, there is a latest rear diffuser, and the brand new roof-mounted wing combines with the tailgate-mounted spoiler to present it the last word wealthy tech-bro fantasy vibe. I never liked the Urus’ looks, and the Performante takes it to the acute, but I am unable to help but love that Lamborghini still throws so many angles, wedges, and indignant lines at its cars. In an age of boring EV minimalism, Lamborghini is unashamedly maximalist and I like it.
Inside, the Performante looks just about the identical. Lamborghini says it has a brand new steering wheel, and the 12.3-inch touchscreen is latest and gets similar graphics to the Revuelto. The Dinamica microfiber throughout the cabin and on the steering wheel are pretty typical of extra-aggro Lambos.
Thankfully, its exhaust note should match its looks. The brand new titanium exhaust comes from Akrapovic and ditches the old X-pipe that connected the cylinder banks. Now, each cylinder bank gets its own exhaust line, which reduces exhaust gas turbulence and creates higher airflow, and may make for a more exciting noise. It should sound higher inside, too, as Lamborghini apparently improved “cabin acoustic transparency.”
Every version of the Urus is impressive, and the Urus SE Performante’s combination of sharpened handling and plug-in performance should make for probably the most exciting SUVs around. It’d seem like a 12-year-old’s ideal each day driver, but I’m pretty pumped to see what it’s actually prefer to chuck around because, on paper at the least, it seems mighty.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
