The Lamborghini Huracan LP 580-2 the Italian supercar manufacturer’s rear-wheel drive redemption. Have they made the ultimate driver’s car by sending 580 of their thoroughbred horses right to the rear wheels?
The Huracan, like the many Lamborghinis before it, is named after a Spanish fighting bull, which itself was named after the god of lightning, fire and other natural phenomena from Mayan mythology. It isn’t just the name that is important; the Huracan is supposed to replace the Gallardo – the car that dragged Lamborghini out of misfortune some years ago.
However, when the Huracan LP 610-4 was launched, people questioned how much of a supercar it was and whether it was even a proper Lamborghini. Some thought its relatively softer looks weren’t quiver-inducing enough and that the all-wheel drive system was prone to understeer. But when we tested it last year, we thought it was otherworldly, lightning quick and quirky, like a Lamborghini should be.
Either way, Lamborghini have now launched the 2016 Huracan LP 580-2, a proper real-wheel drive supercar to appease the naysayers and, as you would imagine, we had yet another field day with this new baby Lambo.
DESIGN & AESTHETICS
There isn’t a single bad angle to this Italian supercar and it shares the jaw-dropping looks of many of its predecessors, meaning it is just as bedroom wall pin-up worthy. This larger-than-life machine is, in fact, a tiny car, measuring only 4,459mm longitudinally, and stands particularly short at 1,165mm – just 127mm taller than the ultra-low-slung Ford GT40 race car. Yet, at 1,924mm, it is wider than you’d expect.
The main LED Y-headlamps, like the brows of a belligerent being, provide excellent road illumination and double as the amber turn signal indicators. The rear lights also take on a Y-shaped contour. Speaking of the rear, there is no more than a sculpted lip spoiler that, apparently, provides 50 per cent more downforce than a Gallardo. Also, all those ferocious plumes from the engine exit through upward-slanting quad exhausts.
If you are a car buff, you will know that the already light body and frame is made from hybrid aluminium, carbon-fibre and a composite material, which is now 33kg lighter at 1,389kg, thanks to the front drive shaft being abandoned.
Sadly, the Huracan doesn’t have those ludicrous, stupidly famous scissor doors. A giant rear wing would have definitely added more drama too.
How this LP 580-2 differs from its AWD sibling, is seen in three main ways. The 2WD now has Aventador-like front air intakes, which splits into three sections and the honeycomb mesh has been replaced with black vanes; secondly there is some variation to the rear panels; and finally there is a new set of 19″ black Kari rims.
Aesthetically, the Huracan delivers a crushing blow to any other car on the road, even Ferraris. However, the fantasy of a Lamborghini may fade the older you get, mostly due to the ultra-low-slung cabin, which people above 40 years of age or those with arthritis might find difficult getting into. But, once inside, you will immediately agree that it is quite the spectacle, especially considering how close to the tarmac you are seated. There is a sense that the cabin details are probably borrowed from an alien ship with its ostentatious mix of hexagonal-shaped everything, including protruding air vents and the switchgear. The surfaces are draped in the finest leather and alcantara. The three-spoke flat-bottom steering has a hexagonal centrepiece with a ‘Raging Bull’ emblem. The lack of a steering column and stalks means that you have all the controls, even for the high beam, washers and turn indicators, on the steering wheel itself – the only thing behind the wheel are paddle shifters. Reverse gear is a special large pullback toggle that is gimmicky, but maybe a tad flimsy.
In the Huracan, Lamborghini have abandoned the glance-away screen on the centre head stack. Instead, they have a driver-centric 12.3″ full colour TFT screen for instrument gauges and everything else. As for navigating through the menus, you have Audi-esque MMI four-quadrant controls at your disposal. Some may think of the graphics as cartoonish, some futuristic, but what matters is that it is legible and unlike that in any other car.
You also have a narrow display for climate control, which can be switched to show oil pressure, oil temperature and voltage, and beneath it is a strip of fighter-jet style toggle switches for secondary functions like windows, hazard signal, etc.
Spatially, the cabin is large enough even for those a few inches above 6ft in height. However, the seats are thinly padded and even though they are supportive of supercar antics, and have many electronic adjustments, you won’t want to be driving for more than a couple of hours. Also, this is a strict two-seater, meaning you will have to leave your friends behind or ask them to join as adversaries on the track.
POWERTRAIN & PERFORMANCE
Underneath the glass cover lies a 5.2L V10 with the numbers “1 6 5 10 2 7 3 8 4 9”, which may look like a serial number, but is actually the firing order of the cylinders. This is the same motor from the LP 610-4, equipped with both port and direct injection, but down-tuned, probably to justify its cheaper price tag.
You don’t really have to understand Bolognese to get that the 580 in the name means the metric horsepower it generates, which roughly translates to 571bhp. It comes up at a meteoric 8,000rpm, while max torque, which links to acceleration, peaks at a lavish 540Nm at 6,500rpm. All of this power is sent solely to the rear wheels via a seven-speed LDF transmission – the LDF is a dual-clutch variety whose letters expand to Lamborghini Doppia Frizione. From the looks and sounds of it, this looks like the driver’s car. Right? But then, as a driver’s car, you’d expect an old-school manual, of which there is no trace. There is a manual mode or ‘Corsa’ mode though, to help you paddle your way through the ratios.
These days, horsepower wars are fought over the Internet, but how many of us know the implications of 600bhp? The Huracan, be it RWD or AWD, just pulls hard in first gear, second gear and in virtually any gear that follows. In moments, you can go from a stationary object to one that is catapulted to escape velocity. It can get scary. I mean, you really don’t have to engage launch control to know that you can get to a 100km/h in under four seconds. The company claims 3.4 seconds, which we’re inclined to believe. For comparison, take the new turbo charged 488, it does the dash in three seconds; and the cheaper, smaller-displacement 911 GT3 does it in 3.5 seconds. They are all fast cars – very fast cars!
And the soundtrack that accompanies the changes will change the way you view exhaust notes. It’s not a shrill tone or synthesized noise, but a proper bark that grows in decibels as the revs climb that will blow your eardrums out.
With the older Lambos, you had to wrestle with the car, grab it by its horns if you wanted to make it go your way, but the Huracan is a proper supercar, offering superior grip and easy, but communicative, steering. The 2WD feels similar from the steering wheel to the AWD version, but the added agility – thanks to the lighter front end and 10 per cent softer suspension setup up front – help bring oversteer into play, making this a great car to take to a local circuit.
The suspension is tough as nails and, with every inch you cover, you feel as though you are being beaten by a hammer. Repeatedly. You must really love cars to survive this. That being said, there are other, far more uncompromising supercars out there.
Lamborghini claim the Huracan will do 11.9L/100km on a mixed cycle, but during our drive, it was closer to 19.1L/100km, which isn’t as disappointing, considering the performance gains. Even the emissions, at 278g/km, isn’t too bad. There is a cylinder deactivation system that allows one bank of cylinders to be temporarily decommissioned, like when you are on the highway and the load is low.
FEATURES & FUNCTIONALITY
Unlike Lamborghinis of yesteryear, where you would need to graft a new nose every time you scraped a hump, the Huracan uses push-button hydraulics to raise the front suspension when required. In the event of an accident you have four airbags and belt tensioners to improve life preservation. As for parking, you have a reversing camera, but the problem is that the back view comes up on the instrument screen, which gets obscured by the turning spokes of the steering wheel.
The standard infotainment system comprises of a radio with CD/DVD drive, an AUX interface and six speakers. The navigation system is usable, with detailed 3D graphics, but it should have been given the Audi-sourced navigation with Google Maps as a background, especially at this price point. The available Bluetooth helps you sync your smartphone so that you can play your favourite tunes or make calls on the move. The automatic climate control comes as standard, and it is very efficient keeping both the sun’s radiation and the V10 thermal emissions away from the occupants, unlike say, a Dodge Viper.
And then there is that other small issue. there isn’t any place to keep your stuff!
VERDICT
The 2016 Lamborghini Huracan is as badboy as your adolescent self would hope it to be and it satiates the Lambo nostalgia that recalls some of the greats from the 1980s and 90s. Of course, there is always a sense of theatre surrounding the Lamborghini, good or bad, and it’s not exactly a daily driver for most. But the fact that the LP 580-2 is so much cheaper than its AWD sibling, makes it all the more desirable and we really can’t think of better ways to go faster.
Body type: 2-seater; 2-door ultra-premium ultra-high-performance coupe
Engine: Mid-engine; 5.2L V10; rear-wheel drive
Transmission: 7-speed LDF (automated manual)
Peak output: 572bhp @ 8,000rpm, 540Nm @ 6,500 rpm
Top speed: 320km/h (drag limited; claimed)
0-100km/h: 3.4 seconds (claimed)
Price: Starting at Dh770,700
Good: Essential Lamborghini looks; killer power and delivery; exhaust roar
Bad: Seismographic ride quality; no scissor doors, no flamboyant rear wing either
Author’s Rating: 8/10
FUN FACT
Apparently, the head of Bertone design house said ‘Countach’ when he first glimpsed the concept, which in his Piedmontese dialect meant incredible, which is also expressed by another four-letter word
