Lamborghini Urus vs Mercedes-Benz GLE450

What's the difference?

Lamborghini is famous for making glamorous supercars whose pilots seem so carefree they don’t appear to need a boot, or back seats, or even families.

They don’t even seem to mind them being so low they have to get in and out on all fours – well that’s how I need to do it, anyway.

Yup, Lamborghini is famous for these exotic race cars for the road… not SUVs.

But it will be, I know it. 

I know, because the new Lamborghini Urus came to stay with my family and we torture tested it, not on the track or off-road, but in the 'burbs doing the shopping, the school drop-offs, braving multi-storey car parks and the potholed roads daily.

While I never like to give the game away this early in a review, I need to say the Urus is astounding. This is truly a super SUV that is every bit as Lamborghini as I hoped, but with a big difference – you can live with it.

Here’s why.

Well into its second generation, the Mercedes-Benz GLE remains a key player in the luxury large SUV space.

Though it lags well behind the BMW X5 in terms of sales, by about half in fact, the GLE still aims to exude status and luxury, helped by a facelift in 2023.

In its category, there are however plenty of badges with the power to lure buyers away: Audi, Porsche and Range Rover. Even non-Euros like Genesis and Lexus.

Despite the facelift, the category is moving on with big screens and more tech, where the GLE still has to rely on some traditional charm to win over wallets - especially in our big diesel ‘450d’ guise.

A week behind the wheel around and out of the city should reveal whether the GLE still has a strong-enough USP in 2025.