Lamborghini Huracan Evo

This is the more powerful, more expensive, and more desirable version of what is one of the most successful V10-engined supercars ever, the Lamborghini Huracan. In this Evo guise, it makes almost 640bhp and 600Nm of peak torque, and this is from a naturally aspirated engine.

There are other changes too, as part of the Evo upgrade. It gets torque vectoring, all wheel steering, and LDVI. LDVI or Lamborghini Dinamica Velcolo Integrata is a system that uses an ECU to control the car’s overall dynamic behavior. But, Lamborghini adds that instead of reacting to a situation, this system anticipates what might be needed and responds accordingly, making it quicker and more intuitive.

There are other abbreviations that help this endeavour as well. There’s LPI (Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale) which uses accelerators and gyroscopic sensors to detect the Huracan’s acceleration in the three planes, as well as its roll, pitch and yaw. This info, then helps improve the response of the adaptive dampers, the car’s stability program, and its torque vectoring, all in a bid to give the supercar the best possible traction. And yes, there’s LDS (Lamborghini Dynamic Steering) or Lamborghini speak for a variable ratio rack, which is now coupled with four-wheel steer.

Naturally, a special Huracan deserves some visual add-ons as well. So, there’s a new, sportier bumper upfront, and the side intakes have been redesigned as well. But, it’s from the rear that the Evo truly stands out. The rear bumper is new, of course. But, the car also has its exhausts placed higher. And, the rear diffuser is now so aggressive, you’d submit to it without so much as a whimper.

And though the rest of the things are more or less the same as a regular Huracan, it is still a sight to behold. Especially, in the flesh. With its low and wide stance, its wheels as big as flying saucers, and a silhouette that still deserves to be on every boy’s bedroom wall, the Huracan is as quintessential as a Lamborghini gets.

Now, one might argue that who in their right minds would want a luxurious interior in a supercar. A supercar, is after all more about sound and performance and unadulterated connect. Wrong. A supercar today costs over Rs 2.5 crore. A supercar today isn’t meant just for the racetrack. And a supercar today has to do everything a luxury car does, from offering comfy seats to electrically powered everything, and of course, a touchscreen multimedia system! Because, well, the owners want it.

And it’s this 8.4-inch touchscreen that occupies the pride of place inside the Huracan Evo. It looks great. It has good touch feedback. And, it throws up enough and more info via various swipes and prods. The seats are lovely too, once you manage to flop yourself into them. And I love the driving position.

Then there’s the quality and choice of materials. There’s suede, and aluminium, and soft grain plastic. And of course, the striking orange stitching all over. Now, supercars of yore took pride in being uncomfortable and unfinished and difficult. Not the Huracan. It’s properly made, properly finished, and properly pampering. But, yes, one might need some yoga lessons to get in and out of it.

But, if you thought all that pampering would make the Huracan mute, well you’d be wrong.

Fire it up, and it has goosebumps inducing V10 burble. The engine, as mentioned earlier, is naturally aspirated. It displaces 5.2-litre, uses direction injection, and it is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox. It also sends its output to all four wheels, the torque distribution of which is controlled electronically.

Shift to first by pulling on the excessively tall paddle shifter, and in Strada mode, the Huracan Evo pulls away cleanly and without drama. It does feel quite normal in that sense. But that feeling doesn’t last, especially after shifting to Corsa or race mode.

Then as you come on to a straight, and start leaning on the accelerator pedal more, without warning, you are shot to the horizon from what seems like a catapult designed to send things up in space. You barely have time to pull yourself out of the backrest when it’s time to stand on the brakes because, well, the Evo is covering hundreds of metres in the blink of an eye.

Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there’s no denying that the Evo is phenomenally quick.

Standing on the brake, as it turns out, isn’t needed. With its LDVI and other abbreviations and four-wheel steer, the Huracan Evo can carry mind-numbing speeds into corners. Now, you might be screaming inside your helmet knowing you are going to run into the grass because there’s no way a car can make a corner at that speed. But, the Evo does! And it barely needs half a turn of the steering to do it.

 You dial in the steering, and it points its nose into a corner like a predator that has picked up its prey’s scent. And from then on, it just grips. There’s no under or oversteer, no squealing tyres, and never a need to adjust the racing line. And this recalibration of explosive acceleration, eye-popping braking, and astonishing handling continues corner after corner and lap after lap.

Then when there’s just one lap to go and you are feeling like the best driver in the world, because the car can’t seem to put a foot wrong, you switch to Sport mode. This is the naughty mode. The Huracan chooses to behave more like a playful rear wheel drive puppy in Sports than an all wheel drive grip monster.

So, without a thought, you enter the corner as fast as you did earlier. And sure enough, the front grips like a leach and pulls you in. But, now for the first time you can feel the rear coming out. And in a hurry. Suddenly, you don’t feel like the king of the hill. Instead, you are praying. And, dialing in opposite lock, hoping the car will take over at some point and straighten itself out. And that it will save you the embarrassment of killing yourself and damaging the car.

And it does!

Now, some say the Huracan doesn’t have the same raw appeal of the Gallardo or of older Lamborghinis. Some also say that it’s too sanitised and that the overkill of electronics has taken the car’s soul away.

I don’t agree. What I do know is that if had been in one of the older Lamborghinis including the Gallardo, I wouldn’t have driven back to the pits after that massive slide. I would have been part of the scenery.

What the Huracan is then, is an easy-to-drive-fast supercar. You don’t need to be a matador anymore to tame it. And even so, it still is tremendous amounts of fun.


Photos By Kapil Angane