The much-anticipated Lamborghini Urus is finally official. It looks like a Lambo, it's fast as a sports car, and it's more aggressive than any SUV out there. Whoopee! But there's a tiny problem: the Urus is not a Lambo. Yeah, I know it has a bull badge, but this doesn't make it a Lamborghini. A Prius with a Lambo badge is still a Toyota, right? "But this SUV was designed and built by Lamborghini," you might say. Well, I can't argue with that, but the Urus simply doesn't feel like a Lambo. It's brutal and delivers outstanding performance, but it needs more than that to be a Lambo.

For starters, it needs to sound like one. And the Urus doesn't!

Of course, the responsibility for the SUV's underwhelming exhaust note falls on the shoulders of the 4.0-liter V-8. It may generate an exciting 650 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque and help the SUV hit 62 mph in just 3.6 seconds, to go with a top speed of 190 mph, but it's nowhere near as aggressive sounding as the Huracan or Aventador. It doesn't come as a surprise. We're talking about a twin-turbo V-8 versus naturally aspirated V-10 and V-12 units. Turbos may be good for fuel economy and all that jazz but they won't make a V-8 sound as terrifying as a V-12. And, let's face it, a Lamborghini needs to sound terrifying. It's what makes a Lambo a Lambo.

Continue reading for the full story.

I'm Not Ready for Lambo's V-8 Future

The fact that it fits into the lineup by design kinda saves it a little bit. Unlike the LM002, Lambo's first utility vehicle and a miserable failure, the Urus was designed to do just that. Fit it with the Huracan and Aventador but provide more passenger and luggage room, two features that the supercars have in very limited supply. As an SUV, the Urus is just what the doctored ordered, and it will probably sell like hotcakes (the Porsche Cayenne story all over again). But, it lacks one vital element: the exhaust note.

Just check out this video:

Kinda sounds like a Mercedes-AMG C63. Not kidding, just hit the 7:00-minute mark below:

I'm pretty sure a BMW M5 sounds just as aggressive, but I'm too lazy to look for videos.

So yeah, the Urus is just a cool SUV. It's as cool as the Porsche Cayenne Turbo. And, there's a big change: it's a bit slower. Ratings for the new Turbo S aren't yet available, but given that the previous model needed 3.8 seconds to hit 60 mph, the updated model should be at least two tenths quicker. See, you don't even need a Lambo badge to make a cool SUV.

References

Lamborghini Urus

Read our full review on the 2019 Lamborghini Urus.

Read our full review on the Lamborghini Urus Concept.

Read our full review on the 1986-1993 Lamborghini LM002.