No amount of warning could prepare us for how quick
this new Lamborghini is
You may know the Nardo Ring as the 7.8-mile asphalt track
where the world’s automakers take their top-speed vacations. A traffic-free
circular autobahn in the heel of Italy’s boot, the Porsche-owned test track is
banked such that you can take your hands off any car’s steering wheel at 149
mph in the outer lane. It’s one of the few places on the planet where
Lamborghini’s new 10-cylinder wedge, the Huracán, could prove to us how
aerodynamically sound it is approaching its claimed top speed of 202 mph.
We say “could” because the ring is off-limits today.
Instead, we’re rifling through Nardo’s other treasure, a 3.9-mile squiggle of
asphalt known only as the handling track. Wide enough to field a NASCAR race
and technical enough for a Grand Prix, it merits a more pretentious name, so
we’ll give it one.
Lamborghini
Huracán LP610-4 first look
Circuito Internationale Nardo, as we’ll call it, is 16
corners of sweepers, hairpins, and flyers that make it a perfect place to
inspect Lamborghini’s new runt and its 602-hp, anything-but-runty V-10. Halfway
around the track, you crest a small rise that reveals a heart-stopping panorama
stretching to the horizon. The land falls all the way to the Ionian Sea,
creating the illusion that a wrong move could send the Huracán sliding nearly
two miles into the drink.
A car with this much drama and this much speed doesn’t let
your pulse rest for long. The Huracán corners flat, grips dog-gedly, and
blitzes out of bends. But it keeps your heart rate from fully redlining by
being just as precise and predictable as it is explosive. There’s more
understeer in this four-wheel-drive Huracán than elsewhere in the mid-engine
stratum, but it’s hardly the frightening push of some past Lambos. Trail the
brakes or lift in a corner and the aluminum-and-carbon-fiber space frame willingly
changes direction. The brakes bite progressively, with some of the best modulation
we’ve experienced from carbon ceramic discs. Pirelli P Zero rubber sinks claws
into the pavement to produce cornering grip of 1.01 g’s and a 70-to-0-mph
stopping distance of just 144 feet. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic,
Lamborghini’s first such transmission, executes ruthless, premeditated gear
changes. You don’t miss turbochargers when you have 10 cylinders inflating a
torque curve to such a healthy level, either.
Lamborghini
Huracán LP610-4 V-10 engine
Lamborghinis once had a reputation for being fast in a
straight line and clunky in corners. This car is fast everywhere, though our
test gear confirmed that this Huracán is freakishly quick in a straight line.
We ripped to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and burst through the quarter-mile in 10.4
seconds at 135 mph. Forget the comparable Ferraris and McLarens- they’re eating
the Huracán’s dust. In fact, the little Lambo even knocks off the Porsche 911
Turbo S, a computerized acceleration kill-bot and another bright satellite in
the VW uni-verse. This thing is Veyron quick.
But the real drama lies closer to home as the Huracán, base
price of $241,945, beats the $404,195 Lamborghini Aventador in the critical
acceleration measures by a half-second. You still have to buy the expensive
one, however, if you want doors that open up rather than out. Seems worth it,
no?
Lamborghini
Huracán LP610-4 back view
Our Huracán demands a break after 55 miles of Nardo’s
handling track. The water- temperature needle nips at the red, and the digital
instrument cluster begs us to have mercy on the transmission. When a cooldown
lap yields no relief, we pit. The 5.2-liter decachord behind the seats snorts
steam through its air intakes and the slatted engine cover, enveloping the rear
half of the car in a sweet-smelling ethylene-glycol fog.
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Test results
·
Acceleration: Zero to 60 mph: 2.5 sec; Zero to 100 mph: 5.7
sec; Zero to 140 mph: 11.2 sec; Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 3.2 sec ·
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 1.9 sec ·
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 2.0 sec ·
1/4-mile: 10.4 sec @ 135 mph ·
Top speed:202 mph ·
Test notes: To activate launch control, switch the ANIMA system
to corsa and disable stability control. Stand on the brake with your left
foot and the throttle with your right. When the revs settle north of 4000
rpm, release the brake and enjoy the ride. ·
Roadholding, 300-ft-Dia Skidpad: 1.01 g ·
Braking, 70-to-zero mph ·
First stop: 147 ft ·
Shortest stop: 144 ft ·
Longest stop: 150 ft ·
Fade rating: none ·
Fuel capacity: 21.1 gal; Octane: 91 (required); Epa city/hwy:
14/20 mpg
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