What’s the purpose of making a car into a hybrid? If you said “to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions,” I don’t think you should work for Lamborghini. If, on the other hand, you responded “to dramatically increase performance while reducing tailpipe emissions,” well, then, if you know a little coding and your way around an electric motor, maybe you would fit in with all the other speed-worshipping lunatics from Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Okay, for the record, the new SE version of the Lamborghini Urusdoes indeed offer improved fuel economy. And, it does reduce emissions, not the least of reasons being that it’s a plug-in hybrid and, for the first 76 kilometres or so — and up to about 130 kilometres an hour (81 mph) — it can and will operate on its 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery alone. And, even when it does run out of lithium-ions, the Urus’ permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor is still lending a hand to the twice-turbo’d 4.0-litre V8.
So, yes, technically, emissions are indeed reduced, and less fuel is consumed. In fact, emissions-wise, it spits out as much as 80% fewer particulates — 51.25 grams of CO2 per kilometre, per the admittedly optimistic European WLTP standard — than a gas-only Urus, says Lamborghini.
But, while emissions and consumption are why Lamborghini had to make the new Urus a PHEV — as in, all the regulatory requirements now governing the automotive world — it is not its raison d’etre. Or, at least, it certainly wasn’t what Rouven Mohr, Sant’Agata Bolognese’s chief technical officer, seemed focused on in engineering the thing. Instead, he spent about 20 minutes — two-thirds of his 30-minute presentation — explaining to us why, when, and, most especially, how adding a hybrid powertrain turns the Urus’ SE version, into a—
Plug-in hybrid drift machine!
What a smoke-show! A giant, halfway-heavy-but-gravity-defying smoke-show, no less! A Kenny Block where’s-the-head-hoon-when-we-need-him smoke-a-thon! I’m talking a damn-I’m-going-to-need-more-steering-lock-if-I’m-going-to-hang-these-wheels-out-any-further kind of smoke-fest! It was more fun than should be strictly legal, more fun than I’ve had on four wheels without breaking a speed limit, and the most fun I’ve ever had behind the wheel of an SUV on pavement.
And according to Mohr, I had the SE’s new electric motor to thank for making the new Urus an SUV drifting machine like no other.
Here’s how it works. According to the CTO, while it’s the electric motor’s 189 horsepower that will get all the headlines, it’s the 356 pound-feet of torque that does all the real work. Especially since those 356 lb-ft are all absolutely-instant, as-soon-as-you-even-feather-the-throttle torques. A big, turbocharged V8 may put out oodles of torque all by its own self — the Urus’ 4.0-litre twice-turbo’d version boasts 590 lb-ft, in fact — but between the delay in throttle response and the time it takes the turbos to spool up, they don’t respond nearly so quickly as electrons in an electric motor.
In other words, when you’re trying to hang some big, fat gummy 315/40ZR21 Pirelli PZeros way out there, it’s not just the quantity of the power available but the quality. Credit then, the big gas engine for its moxie, but Mohr says we also have to pay tribute to the electric motor’s controllability, if ham-handed fools like Yours Truly are going to be successful in pulling off those sideways ‘Hoonigan’ impressions.
Between the two, there was a total of 789 horses making sure the rear tires had to be swapped every few hours or so. Oh, and, by the way, all this sideways action was possible without over-inflating the rear tires; there was no need, said Mohr, with a total of 700 pound-feet of torque spinning them up!
Mohr says the hybrid powertrain gets a helping hand from a couple of ancillary technologies. First up is a new electric torque-vectoring centre differential — which the chief technical officer calls the Urus’ “Hang On” machine — that helps control your drift by being as speedy about shifting the torque away from the rear wheels as the electric motor is in delivering it.
Yes, every teenager who’s ever done a donut knows you need to really punch the throttle to get everything spinning. Less appreciated is that, if you’re are going to keep said donut a perfectly symmetrical circle, you’re going to have to feather the gas to maintain the perfect arc. Further helping maintain those molten strips of rubber in constant radii, says Mohr, is a new electronic rear differential that keeps both of those fat Pirellis spinning at the same speed.
So, how well does this all work? Well, see that huge, smoky fully-crossed-up nonsense in the top photo? That took about three minutes’ practice on the Nardo test track’s skid-pad. Two tricky Scandinavian flicks through an ess-curve before a long, smokey 180-degree switchback? Oh, hell, I had to do it all of three times before I got it right! And a seemingly endless, who-threw-the-smoke-grenade 360-degree circle before ending my best-ever smoke-show, culminating in a perfect Elwood-Blues-sliding-the-copsicle-into-a-too-tight-parking-space between-the-cones finish? Easy-peasy, after, like, four attempts. Most fun I’ve had on a sport-utility launch ever.
More importantly, it was all done without one of those new fancy-dan electronic drift control systems managing the engine. Many performance cars these days — everything from a Rimac Nevera to a Volkswagen Golf R — have a mode specifically designed to manage oversteer. You basically mat the throttle, set the cornering attitude, and the computer manages how much power lights up the rear tires.
Not the big Lambo, such hijinks so easy in the Urus that you don’t need any stinking safety net. If there’s a compliment to be paid to Lamborghini’s engineers in all these hijinks, it’s that ham-handed Never-Wases like Yours Truly can manage all this silliness without a computer to save our bacon.
Same thing off-road
The concept of a Lamborghini off-road might seem ridiculous — it’s not; see “Rambo Lambo” — especially one with 315-millimetre-wide Pirellis on ginormous 21-inch rims. But, with a switch to Terra (Terrain) mode, messing around in the dirt was a doddle. Actually, it turned out to be pretty much like the drifting track, only bumpier and with way less traction.
Way, way less. I’m not sure if the Nardo folks had to import their “terra,” or if the sand we played in is native to southern Italy, but it had the consistency of talcum powder that had been bleached blond. And when it was deep enough, it was the slipperiest stuff this side of mud.
The Urus didn’t seem to mind at all (though I suspect the brake pads, thanks to all that fine grinding power, were pretty much toast at the end of my test). The suspension — now in full soft mode, and the 48V active anti-roll bars disabled for maximum wheel travel — did an admirable job on what is probably best described as the worst cottage road this side of northern Quebec. The same delicate throttle control — still with precious little traction nanny-ing — still allowed you to manage those 789 horses, and that same flickability still let you play silly buggers with the oversteer.
Oh, the technique was all different. This time it was a delicate tap of the brakes — rather than a giant foot-full of throttle — that set up the slide, and once sliding around talcum-powdered berm, you had to use even finer feather-the-throttle-ever-so-delicately control. But the result was pretty much the same, save for the ride being a lot bumpier, and there being dust, like, everywhere. Great big crossed turns, looking out the side windows just as often as the front windshield, and the same child-like giddiness of playing with a car whose predecessor — the aforementioned Lambo Rambo, a.k.a. the Lamborghini LM002 — occupied pride of place on your bedroom wall. Too cool for school!
All the other stuff about the Lamborghini Urus SE
As for all the other stuff that usually dominates a Lamborghini review — you know, feats of derring-do on twisty roads, flashing to 100 kilometres an hour (that takes the SE but 3.4 seconds), and, of course, taking the darned thing to whatever fantastical top speed the new Urus boasts (Lambo says it’s 312 km/h [194 mph]), I can’t tell you.
The roads around Lecce — where the famed Nardo Technical Centre is located — are gnarlier than anything you’ll find in Quebec, Ontario, or, hell, even the Yukon. Worse yet, because they know there are so many supercars being tested at the world’s largest high-speed oval, the local carabinieri enthusiastically police the local roads in case anyone forgets they’re now on public highways.
What I do know is this: in Strada mode, the suspension is compliant enough to take in some of the worst roads I have ever seen. In Corsa mode, the damned thing forgets it’s a hybrid, and that glorious 4.0-litre V8 howls like the very hounds of Hell are chasing it. And, the four-wheel steering system — not of so much consequence when you’re fully crossed-up, drifting on pavement or sand — really does make it easy to maneuver an SUV that, despite all that sportiness I’ve been prattling on about, still weighs a seriously hefty 2,505 kilograms (5,553 pounds) and stretches 5,123 millimetres (201 inches) from stem to stern.
I can tell you there’s also a larger screen — 12.3 inches — for the infotainment system, but when you’re concentrating every bit of your being in your right foot, it really doesn’t seem to matter much.
Oh, Sant’Agata’s Design Director, Mitja Borkert, will probably kill me if I don’t mention that there are now 120 colours of paint available, almost all of them, if you know Lamborghini at all, not for the shy and retiring. And Canadian pricing for the 2025 Lamborghini Urus SE starts at $305,015 here in the Great White Frozen North.
But that’s just car-test-y criteria, the stuff Google’s latest algorithm requires so you get a few clicks. Far more important is this: if you’re one of the lucky few that will soon take possession of the new Urus SE — and, if you’re still shopping, it’s too late, ‘cause it’s sold out until the end of 2025 — find yourself an appropriate venue. And no, the parking lot at your local Longo’s is absolutely not an appropriate testing facility. Slap the big Urus’ tamburo selector switch into Sport mode (not Corsa, because Sport sends more power to the rear wheels) then double-tap the traction nanny button, and slam the throttle. You’re in for the smoke-show of your life.
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