The Lamborghini Urus "super SUV" is many things: fast, comfortable and an order of magnitude more practical than any other Lambo for years. But a race car? Apparently so. Lamborghini's motorsport division is gearing up for a race series with plenty of leg room.
You don't hear an awful lot about SUVs going racing, but then most SUVs don't rock a 650-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine or a fighting bull badge. The Urus has both, and Lamborghini's motorsport division plans to start a new SUV race series to give owners a chance to clear this thing's throat and explore its considerable performance potential in a way that would be difficult on the average run dropping the kids off at soccer.
The race series will be a new format combining both tarmac and off-road sections on each circuit, at FIA-approved tracks throughout Europe and the Middle East.
To kick it off, Lamborghini's Squadra Corse race division is building a special racing version of the Urus, which it has revealed as this Urus ST-X concept. A whopping 25 percent lighter than the street car, the ST-X gets a roll cage, fire suppression system and FT3 fuel tank.
The standard Urus's 650 horsepower and 860 Nm (627 lb-ft) of torque have been deemed sufficient; there's no motor upgrades, although the air intakes are bigger to help with cooling. The ST-X carries a distinctive look with its mantis-green paint job, carbon hood, exaggerated rear wing, hexagonal exhausts and 21-inch rims.
Lamborghini says we'll see the ST-X on track sometime in 2019, and the race series will get underway in 2020. Check out a video below, and tell me the engine sound at the end doesn't raise the hairs on the back of your neck.
Source: Lamborghini.
