Lamborghini Huracan Evo
Replacing the charming but flawed LP610-4, the new Huracán Evo keeps the drama but ditches the temper
WOULDN’T it be great if there was a magic pill you could take that would instantly give you god-like driving skills? As it turns out, there is such a panacea and it comes in the form of Lamborghini’s new Huracán Evo, which will soon replace the Huracán LP610-4 that’s been around since 2014.
Mere mortals are able to have the V10 bull dancing at the limits, and the magic pill is the addition of “predictive logic” software (the Huracán Evo is the first Lambo to feature this) anticipating what you’re trying to do and is already several steps ahead of you in terms of setting the car up for what’s about to transpire.
The Evo is a mid-cycle upgrade rather than an all-new car but fresh life has been breathed into Lambo’s “entry-level” supercar via the predictive software, plus the installation of four-wheel steer, torque-vectoring and the same uprated V10 that features in the hardcore Huracán Performante.
It may not get the ALA active aero that features in the Per- formante but the Evo’s revised bodywork is claimed to deliver significantly more downforce than the Huracán LP610-4 it replaces.
Our maiden thrash of the Huracán Evo is at Bahrain International Circuit, a 5,412 km track that’s hosted a round of the F1 championship every year since 2004. Its flowing, undulating layout provides a suitable playground to uncork the full potential of the revamped Lambo and the key takeaway from the fang is that the Evo is fast, furious and fun – much more so than its predecessor. Lamborghini executives say the car is three seconds a lap quicker around the Nardo test track than the LP610-4 and it feels it.
But more than the raw pace, it’s the newfound accessibility of the car’s dynamic repertoire that makes it such a delight to drive in anger. It begs you to wring its neck. A key contributor to this is LDVI (Lamborghini Dynamic Vehicle Integration), an electronic brain overseeing all the vehicle dynamics gubbins and using “feed-forward” logic to predictively tailor the driving setup 50 times a second.
Using info from accelerators and gyroscope sensors that measure roll, yaw and pitch (imagine a ship in high seas that’s being lurched from side to side, bounced off course and bobbing up and down, and you’ll get the idea of what these parameters
are), the LDVI pre-emptively sets all the elements – torque-vectoring, rear-steer, traction control – to make you look like a pro.
The beauty is it makes you think you’re doing it all. Everything happens so seamlessly and invisibly you’re completely unaware of the millions of computations and compensations taking place each lap. Electronic driver aids used to be a party pooper but, in this case, they hugely enhance the fun factor. This might be a heavily digitised car but it feels completely analogue.
Dive into a corner too hot? No problem. The LDVI has already sensed that and the individual torque split to each wheel, traction control and rear-steer has helped compensate for this. You still need to do your part by applying counter-steering and throttle/braking adjustments where necessary but the electronic finessing behind the scenes provides you with added breathing space and a greater sense of security.
The addition of four-wheel steer has dialled out any trace of the slight turn-in understeer that afflicted the Huracán LP610-4 and the Evo’s dynamics are further sharpened by the fitment of the same stiffened stabiliser bars used in the Performante. That said, the Evo retains softer springs than the latter to make it a more user-friendly proposition across patchy tarmac.
That 5,2-litre V10 has always been a jewel of an engine and in its latest guise – featuring titanium intake valves and a freeflow exhaust system that spits spent gases out via a huge pair of flame-thrower-mimicking pipes – it’s been escalated to an even loftier plane.
Towering outputs of 470 kw and 600 N.m partly tell the story (as do stats of 0-100 km/h in 2,9 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 9,0 seconds), but it’s the sheer joyful abandon with which the V10 spins its way past 8 000 r/ min that separates it from the turbo horde. Few other engines go about their business with such neck-hair-raising aural drama.
Ferrari’s 488 delivers a mightier mid-range wallop than
the Lambo, sure, but its turbo-fed torque spike (and the fact that only the rear wheels are doing the driving) makes it more of a handful when you’re on the ragged edge around a racetrack. The linearity of the Huracán Evo’s power delivery and razor-sharp throttle response means it’s a much easier car to finesse at the limit. It telegraphs its intentions and is terrifically adjustable.
The Lambo’s seven-speed dual-clutch ’box is fast and foolproof, although perhaps a fraction behind the whip-crack immediacy of the Ferrari’s transmission. Steering feel, too, isn’t quite as textured in the Huracán Evo as it is in the 488. But we’re talking very small degrees here.
The big change inside is the installation on the centre console of a new 8,4-inch touchscreen (with gesture control) that not only controls the infotainment, climate control and so forth, but can also be optionally configured with a dual-camera telemetry system that allows advanced telemetry recording and analysis. It’s a handy tool if you want to improve your ontrack skills.
Visually, the Huracán Evo isn’t a massive departure from the LP610-4 it replaces, although the eagle-eyed among you may have picked up on the new front splitter and air intakes that optimally channel air under, over and around the car. There’s also a new aero-efficient underfloor design, while out back sits a massive diffuser accommodated by the migration of the exhaust pipes upwards. Further up is a two-channel ducktail spoiler that helps keep the rear end glued to the tarmac at high speeds.
There’s no active aero in the Huracán Evo (R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani says that will be reserved for go-faster versions coming later) but the newcomer is still alledged to be more aero efficient than its predecessor, as well as deliver 16% more engine cooling flow.
As a do-everything, drive-everyday supercar, the Huracán Evo can hold its own against pretty much anything else out there. The newfound agility and dynamism it’s gained via the hightech chassis-control wizardry, all-wheel steer and uprated V10 have turned an already capable car into a great one. It’ll serve the Bolognese Raging Bull well until an all-new replacement arrives in another four years or so.