autoX Awards 2023: Lamborghini Urus Performante Performance, Quality and Value for Money Ranked

autoX Awards 2023: Our Performance Car award is pretty straightforward – it goes to whichever machine sets the fastest lap time during our mega test. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also desirable, striking and an overall assault on the senses. Check, check and check!
   
I had the opportunity to pilot the Urus Performante around the hills of Tuscany during the 60-year-of-Lamborghini celebrations earlier this year – and ever since then the Urus, especially in Performante spec, has reserved a very special place in my heart. I can still hear the bark of its Akrapovic exhaust bouncing off the hills and raising the hair on the back of my neck.

4.0-litres, twin-turbos, 8-cylinders and 657 horses, all make up just the right mix of ingredients for its ‘Performance Car of the Year’ title. But the Urus is not a car, you say – it’s an SUV? And you’d be right, but that just means that you can take your friends and the family dog with you as you keep pace with the fastest and most focussed supercars in the world. Although, I must admit that I too doubted its performance credentials initially – until, that is, I got behind the wheel. It doesn’t take long to see just how serious a performance machine it really is. Within the first few kilometres, it shatters your preconceived notions and changes your perspective forever. The way the Urus, in Performante trim, responds to driver inputs and shoots towards the horizon is actually hard to wrap your head around.

Also Read: 60 Years of Lamborghini: The Evolution of an Automotive Legend

On our test track, the banking was dispatched barely without any recognition at all. Grip was simply not a problem, as it adjusted seamlessly to the undulations to enable the driver to carry immense velocity through the corner. And, despite the 23-inch rims, neither the surface change nor the undulations had any impact whatsoever. Following which, the chicane was another eye-opener, simply for the fluidity with which it changed direction. It then darted through the slalom, raced through the second banking and dismissed the emergency braking zone to emerge, far and away, the fastest vehicle we had on test this year.

The only fly in the ointment is its ₹4.22 crore price tag, which means that you have to breathe very rarefied air to experience the combination of style and performance that the Urus Performante offers. But even if you can’t afford one, you can still appreciate its menacing stance, blistering performance and sheer engineering excellence.

autoX Awards << BACKNEXT >> Maruti Suzuki Jimny Performance