Ron picked the Aston before anyone else had their door open. “Everything about the way it’s built says sports car with an SUV’s body,” he said, running a hand along the DBX 707’s roofline like he was checking his own theory. Juliana went straight for the Urus SE’s spec sheet on her phone. “800 combined horsepower and a plug-in hybrid system,” she said, not looking up. “I don’t need to drive it to know it’s the quickest of the three in a straight line.” We’d find out by lunch whether either of them was right about what actually matters up here.
A road built by the Romans, driven by everyone since
The Grande Corniche is the highest of three roads that run along this stretch of coast between Nice and Monaco, and unlike the two lower corniches, it more or less follows the route of the old Roman Via Julia Augusta — a road that’s been carrying traffic along this exact cliff line for roughly two thousand years, just not this fast. What makes it a genuine test for a heavy performance SUV rather than a scenic cruise: real switchbacks cut into the cliffside, drop-offs on one side that are not for anyone who gets nervous near an edge, and long enough sightlines in places that you can actually see the road ahead climbing or dropping several hairpins in advance — useful information a car this size needs more than a lighter sports car does.
Three drivers, three SUVs. Ron takes the Aston Martin DBX 707 on his own insistence. Juliana claims the Lamborghini Urus SE, the plug-in hybrid, because the spec sheet already told her which car she wanted to argue for. The Range Rover P530 Autobiography goes to whoever’s running the test — the least overtly performance-focused of the three on paper, and, as it turns out, the one nobody expected much drama from either way.
The numbers, for anyone who wants them before the story
| Lamborghini Urus SE | Aston Martin DBX 707 | Range Rover P530 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Engine | 4.0L twin-turbo V8 PHEV | 4.0L twin-turbo V8 | 4.4L twin-turbo V8 mild-hybrid |
| Horsepower | 800 hp combined | ~707 PS (~697 hp) | 523 hp |
| Curb weight | ~2,505 kg | ~2,245 kg | ~2,600 kg |
| 0–100 km/h | 3.4 sec | ~3.3 sec | 4.6 sec |
| Top speed | 312 km/h | ~310 km/h | 261 km/h |
| Rental (per day) | ~€1,600 | ~€1,500 | ~€1,200 |
| Drivetrain | AWD | AWD | AWD |
Weight and DBX 707 power/performance figures are manufacturer-published specs, not independently verified this session — treat as indicative rather than exact. See the note on fleet availability below.
Juliana’s first reaction to the table, out loud, was “the Urus wins two of the top three rows, this shouldn’t be close.” It wasn’t close — just not in the direction she expected.
First stint: up to La Turbie
The climb from the coast up to La Turbie is where a heavy SUV usually starts arguing with physics, and it’s where the Range Rover, predictably, felt every one of its roughly 2,600 kilograms — composed, comfortable, genuinely impressive for a vehicle this size, but never pretending to be anything other than a very fast, very refined 2.6-tonne luxury SUV. Nobody expected otherwise, least of all the driver.
The Urus SE was the first real surprise. Juliana’s case for it going in was pure spec-sheet logic — more combined power than either of the other two, an electric motor filling in exactly where a heavy AWD SUV needs help most, off the line. And in a straight line, it delivered precisely what she predicted: brutal, near-instant shove that makes overtaking on the lower corniche roads almost unfair to whoever’s in front. Through the tighter switchbacks near the top of the climb, though, the extra weight of the hybrid battery pack started to show against the DBX, even with Lamborghini’s chassis tuning working hard to hide it.
Second stint: the descent, and the argument Ron won
“It’s not about the number on the badge,” Ron said, dropping into the DBX 707 for the descent. “Aston builds this thing to feel like an SUV that got lost on its way to being a coupe, and I mean that as the highest compliment I’ve got.” Coming down through the tighter sequence of hairpins toward Eze, the DBX 707 was the car that made the other two feel, if only slightly, like they were still SUVs first and performance cars second. Roughly 260 kg lighter than the Urus SE and nearly 350 kg lighter than the Range Rover, with a chassis tuned specifically to fight body roll rather than just manage it, it turned in with a directness that neither of the other two quite matched — not faster on the stopwatch by much, if at all, but noticeably more confident at the same speed, which on a cliffside road with real consequences on one side matters more than a tenth of a second.
Juliana’s counter, delivered at the bottom with her arms crossed: “It’s still an SUV wearing 707 like it’s a personality.” Ron didn’t really argue the point. He just pointed out that he’d rather drive the personality.
A bit of context on each car
The Lamborghini Urus SE is the plug-in hybrid version of the car that’s quietly become central to Lamborghini’s entire business — the Urus outsells the rest of the brand’s lineup combined, and the SE adds a genuine EV-only range on top of the combustion V8, which matters more than it sounds like it should if your route runs through any of the increasingly common low-emission zones along this coast.
The Aston Martin DBX 707 takes its name directly from its horsepower figure — 707 PS, in the metric measurement Aston uses for the badge — and sits at the top of Aston’s DBX range, built around a Mercedes-AMG-sourced twin-turbo V8 tuned specifically to prioritize agility over outright comfort in a segment where most rivals do the opposite.
The Range Rover P530 Autobiography is the flagship of the current full-size Range Rover generation, and its 4.4-liter V8 with mild-hybrid assistance is tuned less for outright numbers than for the kind of effortless, unhurried power delivery Range Rover’s flagship customers have always expected — it’s not trying to win this test, and on the roads its actual customers drive most often, it usually doesn’t need to.
Practical considerations, and a fleet note worth flagging
All three seat five and carry real luggage, unlike the open-top two-seaters in our previous road tests — a genuine consideration if your group is a family or a foursome rather than a couple. All three run AWD, which matters more on this coast than it might elsewhere given how quickly weather can turn on the higher corniche roads.
One flag before booking: the DBX 707 in our current fleet listing is based out of Milan and Rome rather than Monaco or the French Riviera directly — worth confirming availability and any repositioning cost for a Monaco-based booking before counting on it for your own Grande Corniche weekend. The Urus SE and Range Rover P530 are both directly available out of Monaco.
Our call: the Aston Martin DBX 707. On a road built for cornering rather than straight-line drama, it’s the one that least feels like an SUV once you’re actually driving it hard — Ron’s right, and even Juliana conceded the point by the bottom of the hill. Choose the Urus SE if outright power and hybrid tech matter more than outright agility, or the Range Rover P530 if what you actually want is the most comfortable, least dramatic way to cover this same road at a very respectable pace.
All three are available as standalone rentals out of Monaco and the French Riviera (DBX 707 availability pending confirmation, see above) — a completely separate booking from Pure Adrenalin’s Supercars Rally Monaco, which is worth considering on its own if a morning on the Grande Corniche leaves you wanting several more days of driving with a guide. Get in touch and we’ll set one up.