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Lamborghini Urus Performante reports for patrol car duty in Dubai

The city of Dubai expanded its fleet of exotic police cars while helping Lamborghini set a new annual sales record. It took delivery of a new Urus Performante, the range-topping version of the Italian brand's high-performance SUV, at the 2023 edition of the Dubai Airshow. Dubai officials plan to use the Urus Performante as a patrol car, so they requested several modifications. Finished in the city's white and green livery, the SUV features a specific rear spoiler with an integrated 360-degree LED light bar and a siren. Interior pictures haven't been released, but we're told it's equipped with an armored gun box, a folding screen that displays messages, and a defibrillator for first-aid response. There's also a special compartment added to the trunk to let the officers assigned to the Urus store their service equipment. What's under the hood doesn't change. Power comes from a 4.0-liter V8 that relies on a pair of turbochargers to make 657 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 627 pound-feet of torque from 2,300 to 4,500 rpm. The engine exhales through a titanium exhaust system designed by Akrapovic, and it spins the four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Hitting 62 mph from a stop takes 3.3 seconds, and the Urus keeps accelerating until it hits 190 mph. It might one day need to reach this speed given Dubai's large concentration of supercars. Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), regularly purchases high-end cars for its police department. Over the past decade or so it has purchased a Lexus RC F, a Bugatti Veyron, a Mercedes-Benz G-Class tuned to 700 horsepower by Brabus, and even a science-fiction-like hoverbike. It's not all supercars; the fleet also includes several Toyota Land Cruisers, Dodge Chargers, and Nissan Pathfinders.  Not to be outdone, Abu Dhabi (the second-largest city in the UAE) also owns exotics. Its fleet includes a Veyron and a Nissan GT-R.  Featured Gallery Lamborghini Urus Performante for Dubai police fleet View 10 Photos Weird Car News Lamborghini SUV Police/Emergency Performance

Living Life Large: Driving $2 million worth of cars in one week

Monterey Car Week has quickly become one of my favorite events of the year. There's something for everyone – classic car shows, modern concepts and new vehicle debuts, auctions, racing, and so much more. From a media perspective, there's also a chance to drive a ton of cars. Many automakers bring their latest wares out to Monterey for us to test during our limited free time, and it's a great opportunity to experience fantastic metal against a gorgeous backdrop. That's exactly what I did this year. Instead of flying into Monterey and being driven around, my journey started in Los Angeles and ended in Napa, and I managed to get behind the wheel of some $2 million worth of new cars. Some were old favorites, and many were new experiences. But looking back, this was one of the best weeks of driving I've had in years. Rather than try to come up with some common arc to tie these cars together, here are my notes on all the cars I tested in California earlier this month, presented in the order in which they were driven. 2016 Mazda CX-3 The CX-3 pictured here isn't the exact one I drove in California, but it's close. The only difference was color – my delivered-to-LAX tester wore Mazda's awesome new Ceramic hue (pictured below on the MX-5 Miata). I used the CX-3 to slum through crummy Los Angeles traffic for two hours on the way out to Santa Barbara, with a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger on the way for good measure. A lot nicer inside than I remember. Everyone praises Mazda for its excellence in engineering and design, but there's a lot to be said for the improvements in overall interior refinement. Quiet, comfortable, and well-equipped; the CX-3 made sitting on the 405 freeway a lot more pleasant. Not all that functional. I had a hard time fitting a week's worth of luggage for two people inside. The cargo area and rear passenger compartment were filled, with only enough room on top to see out the back window. A Honda HR-V would've swallowed all that luggage with plenty of room for more. So good to drive. Not surprising, since this wasn't my first time in the CX-3. I knew this CUV would be good on twisty roads, but on the highway it's really exceptional. Road and wind noise are minimal and the overall ride quality is a comfortable sort of sporty. This is definitely something I could drive every day – it's enjoyable during commuting and entertaining on more interesting roads.

Lamborghini Aventador successor to use supercapacitors instead of batteries?

While we continue trying to zero in on the next-generation Lamborghini flagship and its specs, Lamborghini CTO Maurizio Reggiani spoke to Road & Track to offer glimpses and set a few things straight. Discussing the coming LB48H supercar, Reggiani said the use of supercapacitors in that limited-run supercar will be a "first jump" into a robust hybrid application for supercapacitors, and that Lamborghini "will prove that in a super sports car, it's possible to have this technology." We've known the LB48H would use supercapacitors, but we didn't — and frankly still don't — know how. Based on Reggiani's comment, and likely the fact that Lamborghini uses a special supercar to hint at what's coming in tech and design, RT takes Reggiani's comments to mean that the Aventador successor will "store its electric power electrostatically instead of electrochemically, as you would with a lithium-ion battery." A caveat to this comes in another of Reggiani's remarks. He said the brand hasn't given any indication when an Aventador successor will reach the market, and before that happens, the brand is deciding whether to do another special edition flagship. "There's the possibility to have a kind of final Aventador family member," he said, because the brand probably won't get another chance to make a non-hybrid V12 after the scissor doors come down on the Aventador. Sales of the 6.5-liter V12 monster are still on the rise, remember. The current Aventador already uses a supercapacitor for the starter battery, to run the stop-start system. And the Italian carmaker has been working with MIT for years on such technology previewed in the Terzo Millennio concept, and rolled out for prime time in the LB48H. It's hard to see supercapacitors alone serving the next flagship, though, because company CEO Stefano Domenicali has said that "we need to respect legislation. In certain places, you will need electrification to go into the city." Supercapacitors can boost the kind of fast-acting peak performance buyers expect of a V12 Lamborghini. But their specific energy is roughly one-tenth that of a lithium-ion battery, or less; to provide the kind of range needed for all-electric trips into a city, the flagship would need a trailer hitch to haul a Urus carrying the supercapacitor array. Lamborghini has already said the best-case scenario for the Aventador successor is a 330- to 440-pound weight gain because of the hybrid system.