Lamborghini Huracán Performante

WHERE TO START with the Lamborghini Huracán Performante? The technical innovations that mean it can be faster than a 918 Spyder – sister company Porsche’s technical masterpiece hypercar – around the Nürburgring are legion. This is a car with ‘only’ 631bhp yet one that has redefined the pace at which a sports car can move.

For a start, it shows just how valuable a light structure is for going quickly. Its dry weight is 1382kg. Yes, it’ll be more than that at the kerb, but given that it’s a four-wheel-drive supercar with a V10 engine and dualclutch transmission, that’s pretty good going. As is the fact that new forged carbonfibre elements make it 40kg lighter than a standard Huracán.

Some of its potential must also be attributed to the fact that it has newly developed Pirelli Trofeo R tyres.

But the biggest development, and the reason it wins our innovation award, is its active aerodynamics – Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva (ALA) in Lamborghini speak. Lightweight aerodynamic elements are moved at speed by electric motors – considerably lighter and faster than contemporary hydraulic systems – inside the front spoiler, where they open or close to improve either downforce or drag. Around the rear engine cover, there are four more flaps, two of which channel to the rear wing. With the flaps open, air channels through to the wing to reduce drag; when closed, the wing is operating in full downforce mode, making 750% more than a standard Huracán. Uniquely, these flaps can be opened just on one side or the other – mid-corner, for example, increasing downforce on the inside wheel, to get more grip out of it, reducing steering angle and increasing stability.