Driving a Lamborghini is always a special affair. Beautiful cars, amazing interiors, roaring engines – they know what tugs the heartstrings of enthusiasts. A few weeks ago, I was a part of the 2024 Lamborghini Bull Run Mumbai and over there I got a chance to spend some quality time with the Urus S. What’s the Urus S and how different it is from the Performante?
For starters, there are minor cosmetic differences between both the models. The wheels are different too! The Performante gets off-road driving modes while the S gets an air suspension. The S is also 3 kgs heavier than the Performante.
The Lamborghini Urus is a very common sight in metros in India. Heck I’m sure there are a bunch of them in smaller towns as well. It is one of the more practical supercars for our Indian roads and that reflects in its sales numbers which are nothing short of phenomenal for the kind of money this vehicle commands.
My day started at 6 am when I sat in the driver’s seat of the Urus. A pleasant coincidence was that it was my birthday too. Definitely not a bad start to the day. The 4.0-litre V8 came to life and I took the car out of the hotel to a nearby shoot location.
The cabin of the Urus S is so nicely made, I love how all the buttons and knobs are placed. Lamborghini has succeeded in giving it a cockpit-like feel. The fit and finish is top notch though I couldn’t help but notice how certain switches and stalks were similar to the ones I’ve seen on Audi and other VW group cars. Sharing is caring.
The driving position is superb. Great view ahead and I quickly got used to all the controls. I think I spent around half an hour just playing around with the functions and the touchscreen. The vehicle has a brilliant sound system with 21-speakers but I listened to just 1 song on it. The V8 growl sounded better to my ears.
While I thoroughly enjoyed driving the Urus, here’s a fun fact. I was a rear seat passenger in this car for close to 100 kms the previous day. It was more comfortable than I expected but with three people in the rear, it did feel a little tight. There are no grab handles on the roof as well so you have to hold on the front seat at times.
All said and done, now time to drive the Urus. Was waiting for this moment for a long time and the traffic gods were on my side that day because Lonavala was quite empty on this Sunday morning. Lonavala also isn’t the best place to test a car though, especially a 660 HP one. The roads are narrow and straight stretches are far and few.
The V8 engine is amazingly engineered and it delivers all the power from get go. It responds very nicely to throttle inputs and driving the Urus is actually very effortless but if you’re inexperienced, the power can catch you off-guard. I cruised around a little first in Strada mode before moving up the ladder to Sport mode.
Strada mode is basically meant for the city when you want to go easy with the car. Sport mode for highways and Corsa mode for the track. I tried all the modes on the ghats though. Strada itself is quite nice and Sport mode dialled things up. The Urus felt gruntier and eager. Then I switched to Corsa mode and it made a massive difference to the car.
The steering felt heavier, the suspension felt stiffer, engine more responsive and exhaust louder. I really couldn’t get enough of the Urus S in this mode. Oh my, what fun. It’s an SUV yes, but the body control is so good it feels extremely planted no matter how much you push it.
The ride is pliant and surprisingly comfortable. Point to be noted that the Urus shares its platform with various Audi SUVs. The tyres are massive and offer immense grip while the brakes are sharp too. The Urus S also has Sabbia, Terra and Neve modes but those are meant for different terrain like sand, rocky and snow.
My tryst with the Lamborghini Urus S soon came to an end. It is a wonderful car, really, and I hope its owners are enjoying it regularly. It costs Rs. 4.20 Crore (ex-showroom) and Lambo offers a ton of customisation options right from the exterior colour, to interior upholstery colours, badging, stitching, wheels, etc. that every owner can make their car look exclusive. Loved every moment with this car and I can only imagine how the newly launched Urus SE PHEV would be to drive!
