Lamborghini is a car company that is known for high performing cars that are both gorgeous and fun to drive. So when they decided to take their already pretty fantastic Urus “Super Sport Utility Vehicle” and make a performance version (you’ll never guess what “performante” means in Italian), we couldn’t wait to see what they had to offer. Our friends over at MotorTrend were lucky enough to take the new Urus Performante out for a test drive, which gave them the opportunity to put the new Urus through its paces as well as compare it to the relatively more basic 2019 Urus.
Lighter, Sportier, More Hp: The Performante Difference
Naturally, to make a performance Lamborghini, there has to be some difference that make it extra special. Lambo really took the effort to make multiple weight saving changes with a liberal use of carbon fiber, as well as an exhaust system made out of titanium. The rear axle ratio is adjusted to support increased acceleration, the air springs are switched out for steel coils that both lower the ride height and give it a more aggressive connection to the road. Both the Performante and the more basic 2023 Urus S do have a little bit of a bump in horsepower over the 2019 edition, with 16 more horses under the hood for a grand total of 657. The Performante is designed to be a more aggressive Urus, one that is focused on speed and acceleration.
So how does it stack up?
The Carbon Fiber Fallacy: Weight Saving Measures Foiled
After seeing what Lamborghini did to make sure the Performante was a lighter improvement to the “basic” Urus S, let’s compare to see how effective their efforts were. Right off the bat, MotorTrend noticed that the Performante was actually heavier than it was supposed to be, at a weight that was 62 lbs heavier than both the 2019 version and the 2023 Urus S model. The carbon fiber was supposed to have a 104 lb reduction in weight in comparison to the Urus S. After some head scratching, they decided that the optional “heated, ventilated, massaging front seats” on their test model added the considerable 166 pounds of difference in how much the car was supposed to weigh versus how much it did weigh.
But Is It Faster? Two Lambos and a Porsche Weigh In
But enough about that, how did it stack up with the 2019 Urus and a 2022 Porsche Cayenne Tubo GT? In just about every category, the Urus Performante came out on top. The Cayenne and the 2019 Urus are the other top performers in the super-SUV category, and the Performante pushed them off of the top of their pedestal, even with no actual weight advantage.
The Performante came in first in most categories, including the time from from 0-100 (7.35 seconds), quarter mile time (11.25 seconds), and 0-100-0 mph (11.48 seconds) categories, among others. The only category that the Performante wasn’t able to overcome a near tie is in the 0-60 realm. The 2019 Urus still holds the crown at 2.97 seconds, with the Cayenne coming in second at 3.02 and the Performante at third with 3.05. All 3 of these records are so close as to be nearly indistinguishable. And it also makes you wonder what the 0-60 time would look like without the weighty massaging seats.
Real World Talk, Is the Performante A Better Option?
We all love looking at the figures that say that the Performante is faster than anything else comparable, but those numbers rarely translate in to how much better it will be for your daily commute. One of the first things to note is that even though it is superior in nearly every test, most of the differences are within tenths or even hundredths of a second of one another. And when you look at some pricing differences, the case for choosing the Performante over the Cayenne Turbo GT or the Urus S gets even shakier. None of these cars are exactly cheap—imported cars are some of the best available, after all—but the Performante is around $75,000 more expensive than the Cayenne Turbo GT. If you know you want a Lamborghini, the base level 2023 Urus S is still roughly $35,000 cheaper than the Performante for a car with the same engine specs. Which means that you could buy yourself an Urus S and still have money left over for a 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan (0-60 in 8.1 seconds) if you skipped out on the Performante.
Another thing to note with the Performante, as with many sport versions of vehicles, is that the things that make it sporty also make it more uncomfortable to ride in regularly. The steel springs give it a handling advantage on the track, but make for a pain in the back when you are on a typical road, no matter what ride setting you choose. The fuel economy isn’t great either (for either of the Urus models or the Cayenne for that matter), with a combined 16 mpg to get you around.
When You Want A Lamborghini, The Choice Isn’t Always Clear
As with any high-end import car, the choice is about what you really want from your car. If you want a Lambo in your garage, paying the premium is worth it, because there’s nothing else quite like it. But which Lambo is the one for you? For more info and to compare the performance details of all 3 SUVs, MotorTrend has you covered.
