Lamborghini says that “being the fastest is very important” for the new Urus, again suggesting that the newcomer is poised to grab the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record for SUVs from the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio.
Speaking to CarAdvice, Riccardo Bettini, head of R&D project management, said that being the “fastest” was a key target for the Italian brand.
“Being the fastest is very important for us, whether we are building super sportscars or super sport SUVs, but it’s not the only thing that matters to us, it’s also about the handling,” he said.
“If you see this car go on track compared with our competitors, we have less horsepower, but we still managed an amazing performance at the Nürburgring last year [in testing], where we were able to achieve the record for this type of vehicle with the Urus’s unique mix of chassis, engine and aerodynamics,” Bettini told the Australian publication.
The Urus employs the Volkswagen Group’s twin-turbo 4,0-litre V8, a powerplant also used in the likes of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and new Bentley Bentayga V8. But in the Urus it makes 485 kW and 850 N.m, which Lamborghini says is enough to propel the all-wheel-drive super-SUV from zero to 100 km/h in just 3,6 seconds.
Bettini said that his company had made plenty of alterations to the eight-cylinder unit.
“We changed several components, such as a different turbo, belt train, the clutch is different, the gearbox mapping is unique to us, and the exhaust line is completely different. We also changed the responsiveness of the engine for faster revving and the shape and dimension of the clutch itself provides more acceleration performance,” Bettini explained.
