Saturday 23 November 2024 10:29 am | Updated: Friday 22 November 2024 4:38 pm

Lamborghini Urus SE 2025 review: The super SUV goes hybrid

The ground quakes and the air seems to crack as 30 unsilenced V10 engines explode into life. There’s a moment of tension, then the lights change, the track becomes a blur of clashing colours and the sound builds to a furious crescendo as the cars race towards the first corner. The Lamborghini World Finals are underway.

Taking place at the Jerez circuit in Spain, this is the culmination of three regional Huracan Super Trofeo championships held in Europe, Asia and North America. It’s Lamborghini at its loudest and most exuberant. Yet as I drive away from the paddock, ears still ringing, I’m doing so in calm electric silence. After the adrenalin rush of the World Finals, surely this hybrid SUV will be a sobering dose of reality?

Well, not quite, because the Urus SE isn’t your typical school-run SUV. Its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 is supplemented by a rear axle e-motor and 25.9kWh battery, which offers 37 miles of electric range and CO2 emissions of only 51g/km. Yet it also serves up an outrageous 800hp and 701lb ft of torque: good for 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds and a 194mph maximum. Besides, we might be leaving Jerez in EV mode, but this Lamborghini won’t stay quiet for long…

The new Rambo Lambo

First launched in 2018, the Urus exemplifies the contrarian and controversial breed known as super SUVs. Whatever you think about it, though, there’s no doubt this modern-day ‘Rambo Lambo’ has been a huge success, helping its maker to sell a record 10,112 cars in 2023. And with much of the profit invested into new supercars, even traditional Lambo fans should be thankful it exists.

The former Urus S and Performante models have been discontinued, making the hybrid SE the first of a new era. Alongside the Revuelto and new Temerario, it also means the entire Lamborghini range is now electrified – a bold step for a brand synonymous with conspicuous combustion.

As part of its midlife makeover, the Urus has received a facelift, including more rounded headlights and a longer bonnet. The changes are particularly noticeable at the rear, with a new ‘centre-peak’ crease, repositioned number plate and full-width strip of textured black trim inspired by the post-2008 Gallardo. Overall, the effect is to soften some of the aggressive angles, although in Arancio Egon – the retina-scorching orange seen here – this SUV certainly ain’t subtle.

A high-rise hybrid

Clamber inside and there’s vastly more space than any two-seat wedge of exotica. The Urus can carry four tall adults in comfort and quality is a world away from the hand-built, slightly ramshackle Lamborghinis of old.

The hybrid hardware means there is no longer a space beneath the boot floor, but the main luggage compartment still swallows a very useful 616 litres. A vast array of personalisation options is available, too.

From behind the wheel, no one will mistake this high-rise hybrid for anything other than a Lamborghini. Its seats are body-hugging buckets, hexagon motifs are everywhere and the digital graphics are like something from a racing game. The ‘tamburo’ controller on the centre console offers six drive modes, from Corsa (track) to Neve (snow). A separate lever activates four new powertrain settings, including Recharge (to replenish the battery) and Performance (to activate launch control).

Chasing supercars in Spain

The Urus SE defaults to EV mode on start-up, which is handy if you want to make a quiet getaway. When the V8 joins the party, it does so without much fanfare, but switching into Sport mode opens the baffles inside the quad-pipe exhaust for some authentic Lambo fireworks. Unleash its full fury and the soundtrack swells from a menacing rumble to a primal roar.

With the electric motor all but eliminating turbo lag, plus all-wheel drive and a quick-witted eight-speed auto transmission, the Urus gathers speed like a runaway train. The small matter of 800hp – more than twice the power of the Countach LP500 S on my childhood bedroom wall – obviously helps here, too. When driven with brio, giving chase to a hard-charging Revuelto, it feels absolutely ballistic.

A Revuelto? Yes, having left Jerez, we are now in convoy, following one of Lamborghini’s tame racing drivers through the rolling hills to the west of the city. The roads here are wide, well-sighted and almost empty: perfect for a musclebound SUV. And despite part of me wishing I was in the V12 supercar up ahead, I’m having a ball.

‘On demand oversteering’

Whereas the Urus previously used a Torsen differential to divide torque between its axles, the SE adopts a electro-hydraulic multi-plate clutch. Combined with an electronic rear diff, the result is a zeal for changing direction that belies its 2.5-tonne kerb weight (approximately two Ford Fiestas). Barrel into a corner too fast and the Lamborghini simply steels itself, grips and goes. And unlike the now-departed Urus Performante, it does so without sacrificing ride comfort at lower speeds.

Lamborghini says another benefit of the new diff is ‘on-demand oversteering’, which I get to test back at the circuit with help from an empty car park and a lot of traffic cones. In Corsa mode, the stability system keeps a tight leash in the interest of neater, quicker lap times, but in Sport the Urus feels playfully eager to go sideways. Note: don’t try this outside Sainsbury’s.

Dislikes? Well, the tamburo is clunky to use and the Urus isn’t as brilliantly bombastic to drive as an Aston Martin DBX707. Unless most of your journeys are short hops with a full battery, you also won’t see anything like the official 135.8mpg in real driving. Then again, if you can afford the £208,000 asking price, fuel economy probably isn’t a major concern.

Verdict: Lamborghini Urus SE

Its aesthetics and image will continue to split opinion, but Lamborghini hasn’t diluted a winning formula. The SE offers more power and greater dynamism, then layers on some tax-friendly electric civility, all wrapped up with the in-your-face attitude the Urus is famed for.

Existing owners will love it, while other customers (70 percent of whom are new to the brand) will discover a super SUV with a broad spread of talents. As Urus SE production ramps up, don’t be surprised if 2024 is another record year for Automobili Lamborghini.