Detailed Photos from Our Trip to Iceland with the 2019 Lamborghini Urus
- 1/18
It was quite possibly the first successful river crossing in a Lamborghini in decades. Not that others haven't tried. Plenty of curious things, we imagine, have happened in Lambo's road cars. And certainly someone forded a river in an LM002, back when the Rambo Lambo was fresh. But this was different. This Lamborghini, the Urus, isn't a devoted exotic. And it isn't a sworn off-roader. It's neither, and yet it's both. We went to Iceland to get familiar with the brand's second-ever SUV and to see if Lamborghini's carbuilding talents extend beyond its glittering wedges of decadent speed.
Besides the fact that Iceland has cornered the market on consonants, here's what you need to know about the island nation: It's relatively small-less than half the size of Wyoming. It's also not very tall. The highest peak is Hvannadalshnúkur, which stands at 6920 feet on the northwestern rim of the Öræfajökull volcano. By American geographical standards, these are blips. But spend much time in Iceland's backcountry and you immediately sense its intolerance for fools. Make a bad choice here and nature will make you regret it. Nothing is likely to eat you, though the occasional polar bear does find its way across the Atlantic on ice chunks from Greenland. Instead, you'll die of exposure, probably from freezing rain, Iceland's preferred form of precipitation in the fall and spring. But if you've ventured inland enough, into the highlands as we planned to do, there's snow. Lots and lots of vertigo-inducing whiteout snow.
Charlie Magee - 2/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 3/18
Iceland, after all, is the spiritual home, if not the actual origin, of the snow-going trucks the locals call superjeeps. These are Toyotas, Land Rovers, and other 4x4s-oddly, very infrequently actual Jeeps-fitted with heavier axles and tall, wide tires that float over snow.
Charlie Magee - 4/18
This Urus, with its 22-inch wheels and 40-series front and 35-series rear tires, is not a superjeep.
Charlie Magee - 5/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 6/18
Sport mode lowers the ute 0.6 inch and sharpens its responses to inputs.
Charlie Magee - 7/18
Body roll, at least at the limits allowed by the winter tires, doesn't exist, and the fixed-ratio steering is reliable and accurate.
Charlie Magee - 8/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 9/18
2. Lamborghini Urus – 641 HP
When Lamborghini announced plans to produce its first SUV since the wild Countach-powered LM002 of the 1980s, we knew it would be a potent machine. Well, the 2019 Urus is here, and the Italian super-SUV employs a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 (based on a Volkswagen Group design) making 641 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque. In our testing, the Urus required a mere 3.2 seconds to reach 60 mph, making it the quickest-accelerating non-electric sport-ute currently available.
Charlie Magee - Car and Driver - 10/18
In the Urus, there are unflappable German manners and an immense breadth of strengths, all of which are beset with a heavy flourish of Italian style and speed.
Charlie Magee - 11/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 12/18
The open front differential is the only significant piece of the chassis or powertrain not beholden to some form of electronic control.
Charlie Magee - 13/18
Its V-8 barks to life with a bit of theater, but the engine vanishes into the German stoicism that overarches the Urus's Strada (street) mode at cruising speeds.
Charlie Magee - 14/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 15/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 16/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
- 17/18
As we roll out of Gullfoss, we pass a sign banning two-wheel-drive vehicles in the highlands and, later, another saying the terrain is impassable. We exchange no words.
Charlie Magee - 18/18
The 2019 Lamborghini Urus Just May Be the Ultimate SUV
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.
The new Lambo is a compelling blend of German engineering, Italian flavor, and all-road capability.