This is the Baja version of the Lamborghini Urus – the SUV people love to hate and hate to love.
It's had its fair share of criticism lately, but equally, there are those who are just as rightly still in awe of the idea of a Lamborghini-style off-roader. Either way, the fighting bull doesn’t care what you think and is back with a vengeance.
Thanks to HotCars digital artist Rostislav Prokop we are once again in awe of the Lamborghini Urus in perhaps its ultimate form – the Baja racer, built for sand dunes and breaking records.
Let’s see together if the Urus translates well to a rugged, rough-around-the-edges desert racer and if the design ethos and image get enhanced through this virtual ‘Baja treatment’.
UPDATED APRIL 2023: Article gets updated with any new information on the real off-roading Lamborghini Sterrato, as well as values for the old, classic off-roading Lamborghini; the LM002.
The Off-Road Lamborghini Urus For Your Enjoyment
Engine-wise, It’s the same 641-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 that features in the standard SUV, but the car is re-engineered to cater to the desert racing world. As standard, the super-SUV can reach 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds, but that’s only half of the story. It's an exotic sports utility vehicle that is also luxurious, full of technology, and refined. It is by all accounts good off-road, certainly not as good as a Land Rover defender, but good for a hugely-powerful, exotic SUV - it offers AWD, and drive mods to help tackle tougher roads and tracks. Its price would surely put most people off much harder trails.
For a Baja racer, that lovely interior will presumably have to get stripped out, and the entire body lightened. On the outside, this speculative render shows how a real modified Urus might look. As you’d expect (if you can imagine such a thing), the Lamborghini Urus Baja Racer features an increased ride height thanks to a bespoke suspension setup and drivetrain.
Lamborghini’s Urus In Its Element With An Off-Road Makeover
A raised ride height alone does not make it a desert racer. Luckily, there are off-road tires on large wheels that now sit proudly outside the Urus’ wheel arches. The vehicle below the iconic hood is now protected by scuff plates and there is additional LED lighting in the front bumper and in a massive off-road roof-mounted rack.
Up back arguably the biggest surprise awaits in the form of the open trunk with a spare wheel and a single strip with the Italian brand’s logo and rear lights running across its rear quarters.
A render rarely hits the mark quite like this one, where an idiosyncratic and divisive design such as that of the Urus finds itself where it never thought it would. Just don't expect to see anything like it in a production model by Lamborghini, unless you're talking about the slightly softer, slightly-jacked-up, upcoming Lamborghini Sterrato.
Is There An Off-Road Lamborghini?
Lamborghini will soon be releasing its Huracán Sterrato model, a car which boats a slightly-raised ride height, some rugged optimization of the drivetrain, and lots of off-road-inspired trim. A ride height that is 1.7" taller and some extra width does not an off-road supercar make, but these niche models are more in vogue now partly due to the increase in popularity of SUVs and crossovers.
Porsche will even sell you a Dakar-inspired 'off-road' 911: the aptly-named Porsche 911 Dakar, but it'll cost you at least $222,000.
Production of the Sterrato started this year, but there's another way to get an off-roading Lambo if you don't need the latest style: the Lamborghini LM002. It was a limited-run, expensive off-road vehicle vaguely in the style of the Hummer, with a Lamborghini Countach engine.
The failed military program sold in small numbers and according to many reviews, despite having a 5.2-liter V12 it wasn't very good. Today it is worth an average of $300,000 according to Classic.com.