Lamborghini Urus Performante arrives in Oz

LAMBORGHINI has unveiled a hardcore Performante version of its Urus SUV in Sydney just weeks after this new high-performance variant’s international launch in Rome, with Australian customer deliveries to commence in May.

Priced from $465,876 (excluding on-road costs), the Performante is headlined by a 47kg reduction in overall weight, lower and firmer suspension with steel springing, and enhanced acoustics for the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 it shares with the Urus S – now producing 490kW at 6000rpm (compared to 478kW in the outgoing Urus) and the same 850Nm from 2300-4500rpm.

Speaking to Australian automotive media at the Urus Performante’s Sydney debut, Oceania area manager, Peter Crombie-Brown, said he expects the Performante to account for around 50 per cent of Urus volume in Australia – despite offering the same engine outputs as the $56,000-cheaper MY23 Urus S (due to arrive shortly) – with a waitlist time already stretching to 18 months.

“We’ve had cars built, we’ve got cars on boats on the way, and the dealers are about to have their first showroom cars arrive. So, from next month, customers will start taking delivery – around May or June,” said Mr Crombie-Brown.

“We’re seeing around 50:50 split (between Performante and Urus S) at the moment but that could change as soon as we start seeing cars on the road because (the Performante) is not a limited-edition model,” he said, stating that there is a degree of flexibility with the MY23 Urus model split due to the Performante’s full-production status.

First revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours in California in August 2022, the Urus Performante favours weight reduction, suspension finessing and aerodynamic enhancements to assert its position at the top of the Urus SUV line-up.

A carbon-fibre bonnet (painted in body colour but optionally available with visible carbon-fibre), front bumper and splitter in carbon-fibre (with new black air intakes to increase cooling), carbon-fibre wheel arches, carbon-fibre lower rear bumper and diffuser, an optional carbon-fibre roof, and a lightweight titanium Akrapovic exhaust system help reduce the Urus Performante’s overall weight by 47kg to a kerb weight of 2150kg.

Lamborghini claims the Performante’s new rear spoiler improves rear downforce by 38 per cent, and it achieves a 10 per cent overall gain in aerodynamic efficiency due to a new front air curtain, new bonnet air outlets and reduced suspension height.

The Performante’s steel springs (replacing adaptive air springs) are 20mm lower, its tracks widths are 16mm broader, and it rides on forged 22-inch alloys (23s are optional) wearing Pirelli P Zero tyres (285/40 front, 325/35 rear) or an optional P Zero Trofeo R semi-slick alternative.

The front-wheel steering has been recalibrated for enhanced feedback while the rear-wheel steering is now quicker to improve turn-in agility, in combination with adaptive damping, active anti-roll bars, optimised torque distribution, and torque vectoring on the rear differential in both on- and off-road modes.

The Performante’s drive modes have been expanded to include a new Rally mode that allows for increased wheelspin and more oversteer character on dirt tracks, joining the existing Strada, Sport and Corsa modes.

Sport enhances throttle response, hastens gearshifts, sharpens the rear-wheel steering at low speeds and increases stability at high speeds, while Corsa amps everything, including exhaust acoustics.

Combined with standard carbon-ceramic brakes – 440mm front discs with 10-piston calipers, and 370mm rear discs – Lamborghini claims the Urus Performante can sprint from 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds (compared to 3.5sec for the Urus S and 3.6sec for the previous Urus), brake from 100km/h in 32.9m and achieve a top speed of 306km/h.

The Urus Performante recently set a new Production SUV record of 10:32.064 on the Pikes Peak Hillclimb – beating the previous record by 17 seconds.

Inside, the Performante features Nero Cosmus black Alcantara upholstery with hexagonal stitching as standard, a matte-black steering wheel with a leather/Alcantara rim, black anodised aluminium trim, and a Performante-specific HMI graphic on the centre-console screen and main instrument display.

An optional ‘Dark Package’ extends the matte-black treatment throughout the interior, including the lever of Lamborghini’s Tamburo control set-up that includes the drive-mode selector and a new resting pad for your wrist. 

In 2022, the Urus achieved 90 sales in Australia – a 41 per cent increase over the previous year. During the first quarter of 2023, the Urus has managed 15 sales, a figure that doesn’t include the yet-to-arrive MY23 models.