Lamborghini Urus SE 2024 Review – International

The 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE will be phased in to the Raging Bull line-up alongside the existing Urus S and Urus Performante, but it will eventually be left standing as the only variant of the mega-SUV.

That is, at least, until flagship higher-performance PHEV variants materialise down the track.

Lamborghini has confirmed that the Urus SE will be priced from $457,834 plus on-road costs – in the same ballpark as the current $465K Urus Performante.

First deliveries in Australia are expected in the third quarter of 2024.

Lamborghini has made it clear that the SE is a natural replacement for the Urus S (from $409,744), leaving room for a plug-in hybrid Performante.

The marque’s next-generation SUV, however, will move to a full-electric drivetrain, due later this decade.

The 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE standard kit list includes leather trim, 12-way power-adjustable front seats, four-zone climate control, a new 12.3-inch infotainment screen (up from 10.1 inches), Sensonum premium sound system, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity and lots more.

Unique to the Urus SE are 23-inch Galanthus wheels paired as standard with new Pirelli P Zero tyres.

The colour palette has also been expanded, with more than 100 paint choices now available, including two new colours offered at launch: Arancio Egon (orange), in combination with an interior in Arancio Apodis (orange), and Bianco Sapphirus (white) with interior in Terra Kedros (terracotta).

The interior options include an array of 47 colour combinations and four types of embroidery, with the Ad Personam program providing almost endless scope for owners to personalise their cars.

The 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE is equipped with a comprehensive array of active and passive safety features, including eight airbags – dual front, side front, side rear and curtain airbags.

The active safety feature quota includes blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, lane keeping assist, forward collision mitigation, a head-up display, front and rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go technology, available self-parking assist, top-view camera, cornering lights and trailer coupling mode.

Obviously, the key ingredient in the 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE is the 588kW/950Nm hybrid powertrain, which we’ll delve into shortly.

However, it’s not the only point of interest as the rest of the package has also been upgraded to cope with the Urus SE’s added grunt.

Debuting in the newbie is a centrally housed electric torque-vectoring system with an electro-hydraulic multi-plate clutch apportioning torque variably and continuously between the front and rear axles.

The transfer case works in synergy with a new rear axle electronic limited-slip differential that manages torque vectoring by braking, giving the vehicle ‘on demand’ oversteer. Aided by rear-wheel steering, this set-up effectively nullifies the Urus SE’s hefty dimensions.

Both drivetrain elements are calibrated to suit any type of grip condition and driving style, says Lamborghini, providing maximum traction and agility whether you’re cutting fast laps at a racetrack or tackling sand dunes, gravel or ice.

We can certainly vouch for its efficacy on the last surface (more on this later).

As per other Urus variants, there’s a ‘tamburo’ drive mode selector on the centre console with the usual Strada, Sport and Corsa, Neve (Snow), Sabbia (Sand) and Terra (Gravel) modes, but the Urus SE combines this with four new Electric Performance Strategies (EPS) – EV Drive, Hybrid, Performance and Recharge options.

In EV Drive mode, Lamborghini quotes a maximum full-electric range of 60km, with a top speed of 130km/h, beyond which the V8 automatically kicks in.

Unlike the Urus Performante, which rides on steel springs, the SE retains air suspension as Lamborghini chief technical officer Rouven Mohr says this set-up provides the broadest bandwidth between comfort and dynamics.

Mohr says the air suspension was recalibrated to suit the Urus SE’s unique character (and almost 200kg weight increase over the Urus S) and suspension travel ranges from 15mm in Corsa up to 75mm when the lifting system is activated. As before, there’s a 48-volt active roll stabilisation system to keep the big SUV flat, even under heavy cornering loads.

The revised bodywork is said to provide 35 per cent greater rear downforce, along with 15 per cent better engine cooling and 30 per cent better brake cooling.

On the latter, the Urus SE has huge carbon-ceramic stoppers with 10-piston callipers at the front.

The 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE’s core powertrain ingredients are shared with the Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, but the Bolognese offering trumps its 544kW/950Nm Stuttgart cousin in most key metrics.

The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 thrashes out 456kW and 800Nm on its own, while the electric motor chimes in with an additional 141kW and 483Nm.

The two powertrains combine to deliver total outputs of 588kW and 950Nm, giving the Urus SE an on-paper edge against not only the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid but also the Ferrari Purosangue (533kW/716Nm), Aston Martin DBX707 (520kW/900Nm) and Bentley Bentayga Speed (467kW/900Nm).

Mohr says the combustion engine has been tuned to deliver its best high in the rev range, as the electric motor does much of the heavy lifting when the V8 is at low revs. Crucially, Mohr adds that the powertrain strategy needed to ensure the driver perceives a seamless rush of power, with no sudden peaks or troughs.

The permanent magnet synchronous electric motor is nestled within the same housing as the eight-speed automatic transmission, and it enables the vehicle to function as a 4WD even in full-EV mode.

A 25.7kWh lithium-ion battery is situated below the load floor and above the electronically controlled rear differential. As mentioned earlier, it provides a theoretical electric-only range of 60km.

Lamborghini claims the Urus SE sprints from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds (Urus S: 3.5sec), from 0-200km/h in just 11.4sec (S: 12.5sec) and has a top speed of 312km/h (S: 305km/h).

These stats put the Urus SE more or less on par with the Aston Martin DBX707 and Ferrari Purosangue.

No official consumption figures are as yet available for the 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE, but it’s safe to expect it will be less thirsty (especially in urban driving) than its Urus S and Performante counterparts.

For what it’s worth, the company claims CO2 emissions are reduced by 80 per cent vis-a-vis its Urus siblings.

We should point out that the environment in which we tested the 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE is hardly representative of Australian conditions – unless you were to venture to the Snowy Mountains in winter.

Arjeplog at minus-37 degrees is a surreal and beautiful place, but the extreme low-grip surfaces we’d be driving on also posed a supreme test for a weighty vehicle with 588kW and 950Nm at its disposal.

At first acquaintance, the Urus SE doesn’t look or feel dramatically different to existing versions of the ‘Super-SUV’ – until you look closer and start to notice the changes.

The cockpit layout has been revamped (more on this later) and the changes to the exterior are subtle yet profound.

Fire up the V8 and it sounds just as fruity as before, unless you select the EV Drive setting, in which case you’ll hear nothing.

We tried hard to pick up on any clues that two powertrain elements are at work in propelling the Urus SE, but there’s really no way of perceiving it as there are no jerks or hiccups in power delivery – whether you’re pootling around at low speeds or pinning the throttle (as much as the icy conditions would permit, anyway).

One aspect that’s perceptible is that there’s added grunt at low revs, with the e-motor flexing its muscles to get the big beast moving. The other benefit of the electric motor is that it provides torque filling to make for genuinely seamless power delivery.

Lambo CTO Rouven Mohr claims the Urus SE can be “steered on the throttle” and we discover it’s not an empty boast during a couple of outings on tracks carved out into the snow – one is a figure-eight shape, while the other mimics the layout of a racetrack, with a variety of tight corners and sweeping bends.

It takes a brief period of familiarisation to dial into how much throttle is required to unstick the rear-end (the torque split is rear-biased, especially in Sport and Corsa modes), but once the right foot is correctly calibrated, there’s the realisation that it’s not difficult to initiate and maintain drift angles in the Urus SE, especially on these low-grip surfaces.

With the central multi-plate clutch and rear E-diff working in tandem with the four-wheel steer and active roll stabilisation, the perception from behind the wheel is that you’re manhandling a much smaller and lighter vehicle.

Our icy outing isn’t merely a pointless exercise, as Mohr says good dynamics in low-grip conditions also translates to tidy handling on surfaces with a much higher friction coefficient.

In other words, it’s likely the Urus SE would also feel equally sharp and dynamic on a racetrack.

A subsequent drive loop on public roads reveals the Urus SE feels decently quiet and refined at steady cruising speeds, and ride quality is also more absorbent than in the overtly sporting Urus Performante with its coil springs.

The question is not whether the 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE can go off-road, but whether its prospective buyers would ever want to. Few owners who’ve splashed out half a million bucks on their vehicle are likely to venture too far beyond the blacktop.

The fact the Urus SE rides on 23-inch rims shod with low-profile rubber signals its tarmac-focused orientation, but that’s not to say the vehicle couldn’t cope with rugged terrain.

If one were to detach the Lambo’s front splitter and fit knobbly tyres, it would probably fare okay in mud or sand dunes as its copious torque and tractive capabilities would help the big SUV get across rougher terrain more easily than one might imagine.

Lamborghini design director Mitja Borkert says his team’s objective in updating the 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE’s cockpit layout was to build on the brand’s “feel like a pilot” design DNA.

A larger infotainment screen – now 12.3 inches – installed in the centre of the dashboard features a new version of the Human Machine Interface (HMI) that’s consistent with that of the recently launched Revuelto.

There’s a cleaner look to the dash and the leather trim elements have been extended to provide more soft-touch surfaces.

Although most functions are accessible via the twin screens on the centre console, a few physical buttons remain for key functions.

No one buys a Lamborghini Urus because they need one. It’s always a discretionary purchase driven by desire, and one could argue that the SUV’s appeal is enhanced in the new SE version.

Apart from the fact it’s quicker and more potent in a straight line, the 2024 Lamborghini Urus SE comes across as a vehicle that serves up Jekyll-Hyde personalities (in a good way) as it can be both cosseting cruiser and angry fire-breathing beast.

The Urus SE also stands to be less thirsty at the fuel pump than its siblings, although we’ll reserve judgement on this until we’ve tested it on home soil.

Low-emission zones aren’t yet a thing in Australia, but it may not be too long before they’re introduced, and geofencing could theoretically enable PHEVs so enter these zones, adding to the Urus SE’s day-to-day usability.

Lamborghini has found no shortage of buyers for the Urus – the company flogged more than 6000 of them in 2023 worldwide, including 82 in Australia – and we expect the launch of the SE will ensure the queue of customers remains undiminished.

2024 Lamborghini Urus SE at a glance:
Price: $457,834 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Third quarter 2024
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol-electric
Output: 456kW/800Nm (electric motor: 141kW/483Nm)
Total output: 588kW/950Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Battery: 25.7kWh lithium-ion
Range: 60km (manufacturer’s claim)
Energy consumption: To be confirmed
Fuel: To be confirmed
CO2: To be confirmed
Safety rating: Not tested