Parts and tech sharing is the biggest benefit of having multiple brands under one roof. It’s been especially crucial for Lamborghini since it was taken over by Audi nearly 20 years ago, but that doesn’t mean Lambo will always take its sibling’s best stuff. The boss of the Urus line told CarBuzz that Lamborghini will not be borrowing some of Audi’s best tech, even though some of it is really, really good. The Raging Bull will forge its own path, but of course, there’s a bit more to it than that.
Lamborghini ‘Has Its Own’ Tech For Driving Delight
Stefano Cossalter, product line director for Lamborghini UrusLamborghini
At the Goodwood Festival of Speed last week, Carbuzz spoke with Stefano Cossalter, the vehicle line director for Lamborghini EVs and the Urus. He explained the needs behind the latest Urus SE Performante, and the development that went into the PHEV super-SUV.
We asked if Lamborghini was looking at using the newest electromechanical center differential from the Audi RS 5 to make the Urus sharper. It’s a near-magical bit of tech, but Cossalter was pretty straight forward with an answer: “We have our own technology for that.”
“Hypothetically speaking, if you’re getting into a roundabout, you can control the turn just with a gas pedal, and this is really fun.”
– Stefano Cossalter, vehicle line director, Lamborghini Urus
Cossalter described the hardware for the SUV’s differential as being the same hardware that “everyone” can buy from the same supplier. It’s not those parts that matter, though. It’s what you do with the hardware after that counts.
“We have a central differential which is electronically controlled by software which is developed in Sant’ Agata,” he said. “The magic is done by the software that we are developing.”
Lamborghini’s software “magic” involves its own very specific and multiple drive modes for the SUV. Lambo calls anima because “you can really give a different soul to the car,” he said.
Rally Mode Makes The SE Performante ‘Silly’ In The Best Ways
Lamborghini Urus SE PerformanteGabrielle Schmauderer/CarBuzz/Valnet
In the Urus SE Performante, the system has a standard mode which focuses on electric and Strada, which is combustion dominant. Then you get what Cossalter calls “the fun to drive mode,” Sport. It pushes all the torque to the rear, he said, and changes the rear-wheel steering. Sport makes the SUV a tail-happy (or at least tail-out) hot rod. Corsa mode is about speed, but also balance instead of kicking out the rear.
Then there’s the new Rally mode. Cossalter describes it as “a silly way of driving the car.” Despite that, “everybody, when we are developing the car, is queuing up to test the car on the white [gravel] roads,” Cossalter said. “It’s so much fun, really so much fun.”
Mechanically, the difference between the RS 5 and the SE Performante is how the differential is controlled. Audi’s latest uses electromechanical torque vectoring with a fixed coupling. It can change torque distrubution regardless of how much torque is being applied, even working when you’re off the gas. Lamborghini uses electronically controlled clutches, which need torque to function and won’t work off-throttle.
If it sounds a bit like Lamborghini is less concerned about precise performance tech and more interested in enthusiastic driving, you’re not wrong. Whether Lambo’s approach is better or worse is debatable, but there’s no denying that the Italian brand is determined to retain its spirited identity amid its German ownership.
