WHY LAMBO BUCKS 4WD TREND

Since the days of the Diablo, four-wheel drive has been a dynamic pillar for Lamborghini and the result has often been cars lacking in adjustability and with more of an understeer balance than is appropriate.

But with the Huracán Evo RWD, matters suddenly improved and those gains were cemented with the playful and superbly progressive Huracán STO. So why is Lambo bucking an industry trend away from rear-driven supercars?

Technical chief Rouven Mohr said it is all part of the plan, because customer tastes are moving away from spec-sheet superiority and towards drivability and fun.

He said: “At the beginning, when the control systems were not on the same level [as the power], you had to ensure the car was stable and safe. For a mid-engined car, this is a much bigger challenge than [for anything] front engined and with rearwheel drive. Therefore, the first focus was to have a car the customer can handle.”

So that explains why every model from the Murciélago on has launched with AWD, but why change now? “Well, in the meantime, the steps in electronic integration, setup knowledge and so on have been increased dramatically, and now it’s possible to have a car with 631bhp and rear drive that’s so easy to control that every customer can have fun,” said Mohr.

“Also, if you look at the super-sports car field, there is a little bit of change, for sure. In the past, everything was oriented towards lap time performance. But the cars are so incredibly fast you can’t drive them to the limit on the road. Therefore, we decided to offer another aspect of the Lamborghini brand, one related to driver involvement and controllability.”