New Lamborghini Urus Performante puts the ‘super’ in ‘super-SUV’

After weeks of teasing, including a record-setting run up the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in a camouflaged prototype, Lamborghini finally unwrapped its uprated Urus Performante performance SUV offering during last weekend’s Monterrey Car Week event.

Effectively, this is a lighter, peppier and more hard-core version of the existing Urus SUV, and it’s ready to take the fight up against rivals like the Aston Martin DBX 707 and upcoming Ferrari Purosangue ‘FUV’.

Unlike the regular Urus, this Performante version is 47kg lighter, and it sits both lower and wider by 20mm and 16mm, the latter thanks to the adoption of beefier carbon fibre wheel arches. Said extensions bode well when hosting either optional 23-inch or forged 22-inch wheels that feature titanium bolts and specially made Pirelli Trofeo R rubber.

Additionally, the Urus Performante’s newfound lower ride height stems from its adoption of new and stiffer steel springs plus adaptive dampers setup as opposed to the base Urus’s air-suspension system.

Furthermore, the Urus Performante is also slightly longer by 25mm thanks to reprofiled front and rear bumpers. It also sports a roof-mounted carbon fibre rear spoiler plus carbon fibre fins derived from the Aventador SVJ supercar. These, according to Lamborghini, have bolstered the Urus Performante’s rear downforce levels by 38% - and 8% overall – over the base Urus.

Under the hood, the familiar 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 has been fettled to output a devilish 666 hp, whilst torque remains unchanged at 850 Nm. Coupled with its weight-saving diet, the Urus Performante shaves three-tenths off the base Urus’s 0-100 kmh time to just 3.3 seconds. Top speed, on the other hand, also stands unchanged at 306 kmh.

By the way, said devilish powertrain comes standard-equipped with an Akrapovic exhaust system that promises a soundtrack to match. There’s also a new differential that distributes torque more efficiently, as well as quicker front and rear wheel steering.

On top of all this comes a new ‘Rally’ drive mode too which – aptly – has been tuned for high-speed driving off the pavement. This gets matched with the new suspension mentioned earlier, plus reconfigured anti-roll and damping systems to handle tougher terrains and surfaces.

Of course, all this uprated performance and matching exterior tweaks get matched with a revamped cabin. There’s even more carbon fibre options present, plus new trims and stitching too. In other words, this isn’t just a mere facelift for the Urus to say the least.

For the European market, the Lamborghini Urus Performante commands a base starting price figure of €218,487 (approx. RM 981,310.57). What do you folks think of this Super-SUV, then?