The Ultimate Canadian Driving Experience with Lamborghini

As with any luxury item, a major part of the allure of owning a Lamborghini is the implied lifestyle that goes along with it. In the same way that your dad dreamed of table saws and barbecues when he purchased a pair of Velcro-strapped sandals, when one walks out of the Lamborghini dealership with the keys to their brand-new super car, visions of caviar, champagne, and cashmere dance in their head. Or at least that’s what Lamborghini owners used to dream of. These days, especially since the introduction of the Urus SUV, Lamborghini owners value a far more varied lifestyle—one that mixes the high with the low in a way that is as fun as pushing a sports car to its limits on a winding road. I was lucky enough to get a taste of the lifestyle experiences that Lamborghini offers to its valued customers, and it was nothing short of exceptional.

After the rally made its way across the Lions Gate Bridge and onto the Sea-to-Sky Highway, it was high time to begin testing the various Lamborghini’s potentials. Thanks to its 8-cylinder engine—capable of 650 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque—the showy yellow Urus I drove is capable of rumbling from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.6 seconds. But independent testers found Lamborghini’s estimates to be conservative, oftentimes noting its 0-100 is well under three seconds, and that it is perhaps the fastest SUV available today. Sadly, the rally was unable to quite open things up the same way closed-course testers were able to, but nonetheless we were able to enjoy the Urus’ zippy performance throughout our uniquely Canadian drive.

As with most of Canada’s highways, the Sea-to-Sky’s immersion in nature is at once forceful and awe-inspiring. As the Howe Sound gives way to hulking mountains at Squamish, the road begins to meander according to the undulations of the mountains’ bases encroaching on the floor of the valley that runs all the way to Whistler and beyond. Here is where the drive evens out, a steady pace is realized and maintained, and the joy of driving becomes cinematic rather than technical. It is also when the Urus’ luxurious interior amenities become particularly useful. Settling into the heated, ventilated, and massaging seats, I went about arranging entertainment. Via its three massive TFT screens, including two touchscreens in the centre stack, navigating the various comforts of the Urus, including the Bang & Olufsen sound system, is made easy. For the occasion, I chose to listen to Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, because nothing screams Italian supercar like American country music.

After checking in to our accommodations at the Four Seasons Whistler, rally members once again got behind their respective wheels and headed towards a quintessentially Whistler experience, an offroad UTV tour up one of the countless mountains that dot the region. In the interstices between the adrenaline rushes of UTVing—an exhilaration amplified in a region teeming with large, oftentimes sharp-toothed, wildlife—I was able to comprehend the majesty of the region. And the majesty of the Lamborghini’s—UTVs are hardly luxurious, and the spartan amenities leave my body more than a little sore and my clothing plenty dusty. Needless to say, I was looking forward to a warm shower in the gorgeously appointed room back at the hotel, as well as a generous glass of wine at the recently renovated SIDECUT Steakhouse. There was just the return trip now, one with significantly better suspension.

It felt like a sin being as dirty as I was, driving on a gravel road in the Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spyder that I commandeered after lunching at the base of the mountain we had just climbed in the UTVs. But then again, being in a convertible with the top down, able to hear the distinctive rumble of the surrounding Lamborghinis—I came to the realization that these are machines, ridiculously luxurious and perfectly engineered machines, but machines nonetheless. Lamborghinis, like all machines, are braggadocios and messy and meant to make life easier, in this case fun. So, settling into the Huracán’s equally luxurious interior, I kept the top down, put on my sunglasses, and proceeded to enjoy the beauty of Canadian nature in an Italian supercar—the beast with a bite sharper than the bears and cougars living in the mountains above.