• Facelift of the regular Urus SUV
  • Urus Performante-matching 657 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque
  • Air suspension and rear-wheel steering

It seems like just last week that Lamborghini unveiled the Urus Performante. We'd known for some time a new Urus derivative was in the works as a facelift of sorts, so when the Performante arrived, we thought that was it. Color us surprised, then, when Lamborghini appeared in our inbox this morning with another new Urus derivative in the form of the Urus S.

While the Performante was a high-performance, almost-track-oriented version of the OG Urus, the Urus S is more of a direct successor/facelift. That makes it a mainstream equivalent to the Performante that inherits many of its upgrades, albeit in a more streetable form akin to the Huracan Tecnica compared to the Huracan STO. According to Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann, the Urus S elevates the reputation of the super-SUV.

Without beating around the bush, the Lamborghini Urus S gets an upgraded 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine that matches that of the Performante. That means a devilish 666 metric horsepower, or 657 in American ponies, and 627 lb-ft of torque. Sent to all four corners via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, zero to 62 mph takes 3.5 seconds before it tops out at 190 mph. While its top speed matches the Performante, the acceleration figures are two-tenths slower. Between these figures, it'll hit 124 mph in 12.5 seconds - a full second off the Performante's effort.

Chalk this up to a number of things. One of them is weight, as the Urus S is 104 lbs heavier than the Performante. Another is likely grip; both variants wear Pirelli P Zero rubber, but the S uses 21-inch wheels while the Performante has lower profile rubber on 22s.

The S also packs more luxury rather than outright dynamism. Instead of steel springs, the Urus S uses adaptive air suspension linked to the various drive modes, which include Strada, Sport, Corsa, and Ego for road/track use and Terra (dirt), Neve (snow), and Sabbia (sand) when off-road. Rear-wheel steering features, and there's electromechanical anti-roll stabilization.

Visually, the Urus S is far less aggressive than the Performante but still a step up over the original SUV. The new front bumper is still edgy, but more refined, and wears a matte black skidplate as standard. You can upgrade the spec in multiple ways, with gloss finishes, body-color inserts, and, naturally, carbon fiber. Speaking of carbon fiber, the hood of the Urus S is made of the stuff with black air vents, and you can spec the roof in a bare carbon finish as well.

The rear bumper also gets a work over with a new take on the twin-tailpipe design finished in brushed stainless steel as standard, but with matte or gloss black options and further customization via the Ad Personam program.

The stock wheels are the aforementioned 21-inch items, but 22-inch Nath wheels with a matte titanium and diamond polish finish are available, as are 23-inch bronze- or diamond-finished Taigete wheels. Within these, carbon-ceramic brakes handle stopping, with 17.3-inch rotors up front and 10-piston front calipers. The rear brakes measure 14.6 inches and are crafted from cast iron with floating single-piston calipers.

The facelift extends to the cabin, too, where new bi-color options feature in Sportivo or Sophisticated fashion. The former uses subtle pops of color and combination cloth/leather, while Sophisticated spec uses black leather with stronger lashings of color in either Blue Leandro/Verde Aura or tan, cream, and brown. Both seating options feature new contrast stitching as seen in the Performante.

Being a more streetable variant of the Urus, communication remains a strong area with navigation, connected apps, in-car control services, remote park via app, and full smartphone integration. You can even link your smartwatch as a key.

US pricing hasn't been publicized yet, but in Europe, the Urus S carries an MSRP of 195,538 Euros excluding tax, or roughly $190,000 at current exchange rates.

We expect more Urus variants to follow, including a plug-in hybrid in due course, all of which will help extend the SUV's current sales run of more than 20,000 units.