Urus SUV a "true" Lamborghini

It was no surprise when Lamborghini confirmed it was adding a third model to its exotic range, the Urus SUV... worst kept secrets and all that.

But before you can say "rebadged Audi Q7" the exotic Italian car maker's new crossover will have true Lamborghini DNA flowing through its veins.

That's the word from the Italian car-maker's head of research and development, Maurizio Reggiani, who said the biggest challenge his team faced was "to guarantee Lamborghini DNA".

"You must perceive it is 100 per cent a Lamborghini, in terms of steering feel, suspension and handling behaviour, engine responsiveness. And of course the look, no doubt it has to be 100 per cent Lamborghini."

After recently testing the new 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S, and witnessing flames erupting from the exhaust, we wanted to know if the same party trick would be offered on the Urus.

Turns out it was on the list.

"My wish was yes, but unfortunately due to the longer exhaust system, because the engine [is] in the front, it is more or less impossible. I [would] need to put an injector in the rear for this, and this is not allowed," laughed Reggiani.

The new model will essentially double Lamborghini's global sales from around 3500 vehicles annually to at least 7000 in its first full year on sale, which will be 2019.

Power will initially come from a 4.0-litre twin-turbo borrowed from Audi, but Lamborghini says it'll be significantly different from what its parent company builds, and is tipped to become the world's fastest SUV when it lobs.

The Lamborghini R&D boss wouldn't say when we'll see the new model but it's expected to break cover later in 2017 before it goes on sale in Europe and USA in 2018.

Development work is continuing on the crucial new model to ensure the vehicle is a true Lamborghini says Reggiani: "We [are] in a phase of development that is really important. We have a huge number of prototypes running all around the world, and I can tell you that we achieve Lamborghini DNA also in Urus.

"We play in a field that is completely different [to what we've done before]. We have a higher centre of gravity, we have a higher mass, we have for the first time a turbo engine," he observed.

The affable Italian engineer noted that because of the nature of the vehicle and the fact that it will go off-road at times, there's was no way to avoid a turbo engine, something the company has gone to great lengths to avoid thus far.

"Turbo is mandatory, for example dune surfing you need high levels of torque at low RPM. To create the DNA of a super sports car is not so easy in terms of reaction, shifting, in terms of sound."

Can Reggiani and his team successfully distil that Lamborghini DNA and inject it into the Urus? If so, it will give the high-performance SUV a unique selling point that won't be readily matched by any other brand.

We look forward to seeing the outcome.