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Lamborghini Urus Confirmed to Use 4-Liter Twin-Turbo V8, on Sale in 2018

After Stephan Winkelmann has confirmed that the Lamborghini Centenario will debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016, the head honcho in Sant’Agata Bolognese states that the Lamborghini Urus will be powered by a 4-liter twin-turbo V8. Is this a good thing or bad news?
Lamborghini Urus concept 11 photos
Photo: Lamborghini
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To be frank, it’s neither of those. Call it a necessity, call it whatever, but one thing is certain - turbocharging is the last resort for the automotive industry, even for sports car manufacturers. For the facelifted 911, Porsche opted to force feed its flat-six. The German company went turbo with the 911 due to increasingly dramatic emission regulations and because turbocharging technology is getting better with each and every day in terms of efficiency and performance. As such, what you lose in terms of natural aspiration you gain with turbos.

Speaking to Matt Burt of AutoCar, the CEO and the research & development chief of Lamborghini have confirmed that the company is working on a 4-liter twin-turbo V8 for the Urus. As a brief reminder, the Lamborghini Urus SUV was presented in concept form back in 2012 and the projected on-sale date is the first half of 2018. Winkelmann describes this engine as “a major step” for the Italian automaker.

Considering that the Huracan’s V10 powerplant is shared with the Audi R8, we have a sneaking suspicion that the 4-liter twin-turbo V8 Winkelmann is talking about is an evolution of the 4.0 TFSI found in the Audi S8 plus. With 605 horsepower and 700 Nm (513 lb-ft) of torque in overboost mode, the S8 plus engine appears to be the perfect building block for the upcoming Lamborghini SUV.

R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani insists that the engine will “not be used by anybody else, only for Lamborghini.” Come on, Maurizio! We all know that Audi owns Lamborghini and the budget is tight for engineers to develop an all-new engine from the ground up.

On another note, Winkelmann told the British publication that it already drove the twin-turbo V8-powered Lamborghini Urus and “the performance was great.” It’s so great that Winkelmann promises that the Urus will be the fastest among all SUVs, including the 6-liter twin-turbo W12-powered Bentley Bentayga and, most probably, the next-generation Porsche Cayenne.

Work on the exterior design is almost finished, with minor adjustments left to be addressed. Compared to the concept vehicle, the production-ready model “has more roominess and an evolved design.” A plug-in hybrid Lamborghini Urus is bound to happen after 2018, but only if engineers are able to modify the chassis to accept a battery pack and electric motors. Lamborghini knows a thing or two about that from the Asterion LPI 910-4, so it won’t be impossible for the Urus to go down the plug-in hybrid road. If development proceeds as planned, the Urus will be revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Editor’s note: The Urus will be the first V8-powered Lamborghini since the 1980s. Built between 1981 and 1988, the Lamborghini Jalpa used a 3.5-liter V8 engine with 255 horsepower and 305 Nm (225 lb-ft).

Editor's note 2: Whatever happened to the jaw-dropping Lamborghini Estoque four-door sedan? With the Urus, the Lamborghini LM002 gets a succesor, so why shouldn't the Espada get one as well?
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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