Lamborghini Huracán Evo Spyder

Does getting closer to Lamborghini’s magnificent V10 give you too much of a good thing?

I ADORE THE HURACÁN EVO RWD. I ENDED up spending a lot of time in the metallic green press car that got within a whisker of winning ecoty in 2020, driving it in all sorts of conditions, on all sorts of roads, and I enjoyed every V10-enriched moment. So I should love the (all-wheel-drive) Evo Spyder even though I’m not a big fan of convertible supercars. I think they never look as good, their torsional stiffness is often compromised, which makes their dynamics fuzzy, and I rarely want to be blown about, sunburned/ frozen and slightly deafened at speed.

I accept that the Huracán is a very good convertible in the sense that the integrity of its mostly aluminium monocoque has been minimally compromised by lopping off the roof. It feels pretty much as solid as the hardtop, so the dynamics are similar and you feel every bit as confident deploying the V10’s epic performance as in the coupe.

There’s even less between you and the sound of that glorious V10 at your back, which ought to be a positive but, oddly, isn’t. I think it’s because even roof up it’s noticeably louder, on the cusp of being too loud. So when you drop the fabric roof or push the button to lower the dinky rear screen (an idea nicked from the convertible Audi R8) its volume is just too much. It’s like playing a favourite album on a hi-fi whose volume won’t go below 8 but does go to 11.

Still, it ensures it’s an intense, visceral experience when you nail it. The phenomenal acceleration is even more thrilling, partly because the escalating howl buzzes right through you. Not that you need to go anywhere near 8000rpm to be thrilled. We bang on endlessly about the joy of a supercar with a big-capacity, naturally aspirated engine but it really is endlessly entertaining, both in the measured, predictable way it responds and for the character you can discover by selecting gears manually and working the mighty V10 in the lowest reaches of its rev range. The pace and tone of any drive is up to you.

That said, the fact that in a near-£200k car you can’t configure a combination of damping, steering weight and drivetrain response to your own taste or mood is baffling. But it is thus with all Huracáns. Ditto the teeny luggage space, the ludicrous onscreen volume control and the other HMI quirks.

My time with the Huracán went pretty quickly. The weather was mostly cold and damp, so the roof was down only a couple of times (professional curiosity) and I didn’t feel the need to explore the edge of the grip. Yet I also didn’t feel like I’d missed out. Some cars you have to rag to the red line and push to the limit to feel like you’ve truly experienced them, but a moderately paced half an hour in the company of the Huracán’s 5.2-litre V10 is wonderfully rich and rewarding, life affirming. Even if it’s a bit loud.

Date acquired January 2023 Total mileage 4394 Mileage this month 401 Cost this month £0 mpg this month 16.1