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2020 Lamborghini Urus Luggage Test | Loading the bull

A Lamborghini was recently at my house, which is sort of like the queen dropping in. And though I assiduously avoided carrying anything that could spill, splash, smudge or muss, one aspect of the 2020 Lamborghini Urus we wanted to check was just how much luggage it can carry considering the limitations imposed by the SUV's extremely sloped roofline. So I hopped onto the Lamborghini Store's website to order up just the right stuff, co-branded by Lamborghini and TecknoMonster — hmm, perhaps the carbon-fiber small trolley case for $4,904, or the carbon-fiber Bynomio big trolley case for $7,874, or the Bynomio Hold Maxi carbon-fiber suitcase for $17,388. Perhaps the whole set. Now you might be saying to yourself, "That's sure an expensive way to haul my clean underwear." But rest assured these suitcases emerge from the autoclave after a cutting-edge aerospace process that merges two different types of carbon fiber and ensures "top performance and excellent mechanical properties, requiring extreme accuracy in all manufacturing steps." Pity the fool who has a suitcase that's anything less. But tragically, there's at least a 20-day lead time in ordering, and the Urus was only here for the weekend. So I guess that fool is me, having to resort to the same old world-weary, beat-up suitcases I usually use, which share space in the garage with the lawn tractor and cat litter box. Six suitcases were at my disposal. Three would need to be checked at the airport, and one of those is particularly ungainly (29x19x11 inches, 26x17x10, 25x16x10). Three others would be small enough to carry on (24x14x10, 23x14x11, 22x14x9), if we were getting on airplanes anymore. Several of these bags have four wheels that jut out and were counted in the dimensions. It's a shame not to have Riswick's wife's fancy bag for such a fancy car. The Lamborghini Urus is pretty big. At 201 inches long and 79 inches wide, it is 2 inches longer than a Ford Explorer, and the same width. It's 4 inches shorter than the big Mercedes-Benz GLS, but 2 inches wider. Plus, those are vehicles with third-row seating; the Urus has two rows and seats five. (Four if you get the backseat buckets and console.) Yet its cargo hold is 21.75 cubic feet, which is only about 3 cubic feet bigger than the others' space behind the third row. It's also much less than various five-seat, midsize SUVs. We're told it is wide enough to fit a couple bags of golf clubs, which looks feasible.

Lamborghini explains the challenges of putting Alexa in a 640-hp coupe

LAS VEGAS — Lamborghini and Amazon will continue their collaboration in a bid to bring an ever-greater degree of connectivity to the supercar segment, the Italian firm told Autoblog on the sidelines of CES 2020. Now that Alexa technology is available in the Huracan Evo, making it available across the rest of the range is relatively straightforward. Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's research and development boss, explained adding voice recognition technology to a car like the 640-horsepower Huracan was easier said than done. "We had to split voice from the engine's sound, especially when the car is in Corsa [mode]. Alexa's engineering team spent a long time in Sant'Agata," he explained. Making the engine quieter so owners can pre-heat their oven while driving wasn't an option. The Huracan Evo released in 2019 is equipped with a relatively new, touchscreen-based infotainment system developed entirely in-house, so it was the ideal starting point. It was also one of the most challenging use cases for the engineering team, and not just because its two-seater cabin is small and noisy in the best possible way. "The V10's frequency is unique. If you take the V12 [in the Aventador S], it's much more regular. The V10's high frequency is one of the most difficult sources of sound to manage," Reggiani said. He stopped short of confirming when Lamborghini's other models will receive Amazon Alexa, though we wouldn't wait for the option to appear on the Aventador S because the model is at the end of its career, and its replacement — which will receive hybrid power — is right around the corner. Reggiani assured us adding Alexa to the Urus would be "much, much, much simpler," partly because its cabin is far quieter than the Huracan's. Why bother with technology when Lamborghini built its reputation mega horsepower? The answer is simple: Buyer demand. "We need to speak the same language as our new, younger customers," Reggiani said. "They want to ask, and to have. The car must be able to satisfy this kind of request." 

Here's Italian patriotism in the form of Lambos, Ducatis, and jets

We're proud 'Muricans here at Autoblog, but we can't deny that other countries can be pretty darn cool, too. A perfect example comes to us from Lamborghini... and Ducati and the Italian Air Force. Apparently the trio came together to celebrate Italy building fast things. The event happened at Rivolto Air Base, where Lambo and Ducati demonstrated the speed and agility of their machines on the runways, and the Italian National Aerobatics Team did the same in the skies while recreating the Italian flag. Lucky for us, they got video of the event, which is above for your viewing pleasure. Now someone needs to start organizing an American version of this, with the Blue Angels, Corvettes, GTs, and Vipers. The Stars and Stripes might be a little tougher to skywrite, though. Related Video: Image Credit: Lamborghini Auto News Lamborghini Military Supercars Videos Ducati jet