ROAD CAR TESTS
Lamborghini’s V8 novelty act
In an age when supercar makers seem to believe bigger is always better, the Urus Performante fits in, says Andrew Frankel
It’s a supercar that hasn’t been on a diet. This monster Lamborghini SUV boasts some mind-boggling numbers.
The time will come when we look back at cars like this Lamborghini Urus Performante and simply goggle that it even ever existed. “What were they thinking of?” our descendants will say. “How could they possibly think that such a car ever constituted a good idea for anyone?”
‘Such a car’ is an enormous SUV with even more power than the car upon which it is based, with even more performance provided for even more money. And the fact that it also weighs a little less is really neither here nor there in the context of a car that already weighs so much.
And yet not only does it exist, it exists in a class with a competitor set, including cars from Porsche, from Aston Martin, and Bentley. Even Ferrari is getting in on the game with its new Purosangue, albeit at a rather different price point. Moreover, such cars are genuinely popular, not merely with the customers who buy them but particularly with the manufacturers who make them, because they sell in large numbers, and with a healthy profit margin.