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.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Porsche, a brand synonymous with petrol-guzzling sports cars, tried to do the right thing and make a nearly wholesale switch to electric vehicles by the end of the decade. The problem was, while this made governments happy, it didn’t sit well with customers.
Porsche’s all-electric Macan is enduring a torrid 2026, with sales down over 75 per cent now that all the petrol-engined options are gone.
But that hasn’t stopped the German brand trying again with an all-electric Cayenne. However, there are some key differences that mean this latest electric Porsche won’t suffer the same fate.
Namely, the petrol-powered and hybrid versions aren’t going anywhere and new versions are rumoured to be coming in the not-too-distant future.
For now though, we have this all-new electric Cayenne - so how does it stack up to its predecessors as the sports car brand’s big SUV? And will it be second time lucky for Porsche’s electric transition? Based on two rather unorthodox days of test driving, the verdict might surprise you…
Lamborghini has nailed it. The Urus is a super SUV that’s fast, dynamic, and has Lamborghini looks, but just as importantly it’s practical, spacious, comfortable and easy to drive. You’re not going to find those last four attributes in a sentence about an Aventador.
Where the Urus loses marks is in terms of warranty, value for money and fuel consumption.
I didn’t take the Urus on the Corsa nor the Neve, nor Sabbia and Terra, but as I said in my video we know this SUV is capable on the track and that it can go off-road.
What I really wanted to see was how well it handled regular life. Any competent SUV can deal with shopping centre car parks, dropping kids off at school, carrying boxes and bags, and of course fitting and being driven as you would any car.
The Urus is a Lamborghini anybody could drive, pretty much anywhere.
There is a lot riding on this new Cayenne Electric, it is the sales leader for the German brand and if it suffers the same sales decline as the Macan, that will be a big concern for Porsche.
The good news is it’s an impressive all-rounder, with an incredible breadth of capability. But so is the electric Macan.
Going electric hasn’t diminished its trademark Porsche elements, and instead has amplified them in many respects. The speed is nothing short of staggering in the Turbo, but across the range the on and off-road driving ability is impressive.
Plus it has the kind of spacious, well-considered and premium appointed cabin you should expect for a luxury SUV.
There are two key differences that could see it succeed where the Macan has faltered. Unlike the Macan, Porsche’s decision to give Cayenne buyers the option to stick with internal combustion if they prefer, is likely to ensure it remains a popular member of its line-up for years to come.
And while the Macan was perhaps too much, too soon, the Cayenne arrives at a time when Australians are embracing electric cars more than ever before. Although the luxury and performance end of the EV market is growing more slowly than the mainstream.
As for the pick of the range, as mind-blowing as the Turbo is, the truth is (like pretty much every Porsche model) the entry-level Cayenne is arguably the pick of the bunch. It has all the performance you’ll reasonably need and offers a good blend of capability and luxury for the lowest price.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer with travel, accommodation and meals provided.