2018 was all about the Urus for Lamborghini, its first foray into the premium SUV market resulted in one of the most driver focussed, quickest SUVs you can buy. Then again, you wouldn’t expect anything less from Lamborghini, would you?
But the Urus hasn’t been the only model occupying the production schedules of the Sant’Agata car maker, because while it provides the volume to allow the company to reach its production target of 7,500 cars a year, the additional revenue it generates also allows for more traditional Lamborghinis to flourish and prove that when it comes to drama there’s little to beat a slice of raging Modenese wedge. The Urus helps Lamborghini build cars such as the new £206,000 Huracan Evo.
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Lamborghini creates the Evo by taking the V10 engine from the existing Huracan Performante and installing it in to an aluminium and carbonfibre chassis that is the most technologically advanced of any in a Lamborghini.
At the core of the Huracan Evo is a new electronics package called Lamborghini Dynamic Vehicle Integration (LDVI). LDVI works by controlling these four key dynamic components of the chassis via an algorithm that takes just 20 milliseconds to process the data received before predicting how the driver requires the systems to react. It’s called a Feed Forward Logic approach, one that learns your characteristics on steering input, gearshift patterns, braking and the grip and traction available from the tyres.
Key to LDVI are two new components fitted to a Huracan for the first time: four-wheel steering and torque vectoring. The former delivers the same benefits as it does to every car: increasing agility at slow speeds by turning the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the front wheels, then turning them in the same direction at high speed to increase stability. By adding torque vectoring Lamborghini also ensured the LDVI system can adjust the torque distribution at the rear wheels, adding yet another level of dynamic control to the Lamborghini’s chassis.
A sharp new look comes courtesy of the Huracan Evo’s aerodynamics. Its new front splitter incorporates an integrated, suspended front wing to disperse the air over and under the car as cleanly and as fast as possible. Air curtains in the new front bumper reduce turbulence in the front wheel arches, channelling it directly to the engine intakes ahead of the rear wheels.
At the base of the engine cover is a new rear slotted spoiler that splits the airflow over and under it, the former to provide the downforce, the latter creating a Venturi effect to draw the air through more quickly. A new rear diffuser sucks the air under the car quicker than before and combined with the aero enhancements, increases downforce by a factor of seven over the previous Huracan. In terms of design, it’s so much more aggressive than the outgoing car.
As impressive as this all sounds, and is, what continually fights for your attention is the car’s 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine. Even when you’re sat in the Huracan Evo’s heavily refreshed interior, which now features an 8.3-inch touch screen and a level of connectivity not seen on a Lamborghini before, you’re drawn to the fighter jet style cover for the starter button…
Flick the red cover. Press the button. Wait. Whirr. Boom! Gone is the anodyne tone of the previous Huracan’s engine note, in its place a more rampant, vocal, deep chested roar. You can thank the Performante’s sports exhaust system for the amplified vocals and it’s just what every Huracan requires.
Unfortunately we’re only allowed to test the Huracan Evo on the wide, flat surfaces of the Bahrain International Circuit, so with the Sport driving mode selected (Strada and Corsa are also available), we pull back the right hand paddle to engage first gear on the seven-speed double clutch gearbox and trundle down the pit lane.
Pass the exit lane before selecting second… third… apply more throttle and the Evo is off. Fourth is needed before the first corner and a leap of faith as you turn-in and the Huracan whips its nose to the apex in one beautifully fluid motion. 300 metres covered and already the new Huracan’s chassis has made its predecessor feel obsolete.
With every lap the Huracan Evo impresses more and more. It has the level of agility and precision that was lacking in the old car. Gone is the need to constantly adjust the steering – dynamic steering is now the only option because of the four-wheel steering set-up – and a sense that perhaps the Huracan’s front end wasn’t entirely in tune with the rear of the car. Where there was inconsistency there is now consistency; consistency that breeds trust and confidence to extract as much performance as you feel comfortable with.
What really impresses is how the Huracan Evo delivers this new level of precision, agility and confidence inspiring dynamics without removing any of the excitement, the driver still integral to getting the very best from it.
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