Lamborghini Urus to get unique V8 twin-turbo engine

Lo and behold, the Italian car maker from Sant’Agata will be producing its first-ever V8 twin-turbo engine for its coming Lamborghini Urus SUV. The news was confirmed by the company’s CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, who revealed several insightful details of the Urus to Autocar in a recent interview.

Having driven the SUV with its new V8 twin-turbo heart earlier this year, Winkelmann told the motoring publication that, “the performance was great. I was astonished – it was more than any of us expected, which is a car that is very powerful but easy to drive, with very good handling, and also in terms of drivability and comfort, it has a limousine feel in an SUV. This is very important to us.”

The new high-performance SUV will feature a 4.0 litre V8 twin-turbo engine that will be unique to the Italian brand alone, despite the Urus being likely to share a common platform with the Audi Q7 and Bentley Bentayga.

Research and development boss at Lamborghini, Maurizio Reggiani told Autocar that, “to be the most powerful in the class it must have something that is dedicated to our brand. It must be able to produce the right amount power and torque, but do that in conjunction with the right transmission and chassis control that makes it a true Lamborghini.” No specific performance details were revealed, however.

Leaving the naturally-aspirated V10 and V12 powerplants to the Huracan and the Aventador supercars, the Urus is also Lamborghini’s first 4X4 SUV model since the LM002 which was discontinued in 1993.

On the design of the SUV, the Lamborghini CEO mentioned that the production version would be an evolution of the concept that was first shown at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show (pictured here). It is said that his designers are almost done with the exterior of the car, claiming that it will be easily recognisable as a Lamborghini.

Even the interior of the Urus will be updated from the concept. “Inside, it will have a look and feel that is a bit different from where we have been before. The Urus must be capable of being a family’s first car all year round. It must have drivability, comfort, roominess and more,” he said.

The production-ready Lamborghini Urus SUV powered by its new twin-turbo V8 engine is expected to be revealed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, but the Italian car maker has hinted that if all goes to plan, a 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show premiere is also possible.

Winkelmann suggested that prices for its performance SUV may fall around that of its Huracan supercar, while a Superveloce (SV) and a plug-in hybrid variant are also on the cards. For your reference, in Malaysia, the Huracan is priced at a cool RM2.1 million.

GALLERY: Lamborghini Urus Concept

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