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Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4: Horsepower Alla Bolognese
SUPERCARS & ROAD TRIPS
LAMBORGHINI HURACAN LP610-4
HORSEPOWER ALLA BOLOGNESE
Words: Alessandro Marrone
Photography: Richard Montagner
“This is it. Have fun! “- says the engineer and product manager, handing me the key to the Huracán and formalizing the beginning of a long-awaited day. From there, the thoughts that have kept their insistence in my skull were only the frantic search for a cleared road and that bit of caution that I preferred not to remove altogether, having to do with a €200,000 Lamborghini. Sant’Agata’s baby has been on the list for 4 abundant years and has been joined by the exceptional version with rear-wheel drive only (the LP580-2), the Avio limited edition and the Nurburgring-master Performante, but the 610 horses of the most classic baby Lambo would turn pale even the most cynical of my colleagues and having the chance to spend time with a bull like this does nothing but awaken in me that desire to play the hardest rock possible.
Out there some lunatics accuse the Huracán of being too tamed, too simple and not to boast that vein of madness that has always characterized Ferruccio creations, but let me say that they are the same who dare to complain about the rigidity of the suspension or the reduced thickness of the seats. Personally I do not care if there are no scissor doors, also because lately I almost got tired of being the center of the attention and be analyzed from head to toe before, during and after each parking maneuver, try to imagine what this could become if having the chance to use it every day. This way it is much more practical and it is easy to get in and out, as well as accessing to the compartment behind the seats, which is perfectly useful due to the low dimensions of the actual luggage compartment under the front bonnet. Better to travel light then, especially your stomach, because this Lambo seems to dart on two rails and the more you urge it, the more it responds almost stiffening everything that is able to communicate to the driver. In Sant’Agata Bolognese there is a bit of fog today, the road surface is nothing short of slimy because of the heavy rains of the past few days, but despite this I do not mean to turn upside down my plans, those intending to point towards the hills south, towards Pianoro, where the vegetation and an almost wild habitat take over the magnificence of the city center of Bologna. During the planning phase we tried to hypothesize and foresee any kind of scenery, like rain, thick fog or even snow. In case we were lucky and kissed by the sun, the photographic requirements would have passed in second plan, giving the highest priority to driving pleasure, also because let’s be honest, we are here to brush up our memory and see if a few years later, this Lambo still is a fury on wheels.
Beyond the chaos of the city, where we are able to attract the stunned looks of any living being even without having exceeded 2,000 revs, the expanses of buildings become less insistent, the trees begin to outline the edges and the road altitude increases. There is a little strip of gravel on the sides, some sporadic residues of snow and all the ingredients to cover the metallic Blue Cielo of the Lambo in dust. I am almost afraid that if I return it as candid as it was, the engineer could accuse me of not having used it properly – and he would have been right. The road surface is not impeccable but the sky seems to become brighter too, leaving room for some shy ray of sun that plays hide and seek with thick clouds. A part from that the tarmac is slippery and does not hide the desire to put in difficulty the four-wheel drive in my hands. Sitting behind the wheel of a supercar that represents three fundamental but at the same time distant aspects such as the exoticism of a design made of edges, the precision of an engineering project carried on with the German cousins (R8 V10) and the Italian heart who beats behind that unmistakable shield on display in the middle of the steering wheel. It is there to satisfy the eyes of the beholder, to make even the simplest move something extraordinary and to direct a symphony that awaits a simple command to unleash the third world war.
In the lower part of the steering wheel there is the magic key, the ANIMA (soul), which allows us to select between the different driving modes and thus passing from STRADA (road) to SPORT, while at least for the moment we leave CORSA (race) on its own. In the intermediate mode the exhaust note becomes more intense and the pleasant crackles accompany each throttle release, just the response of the gas pedal, as well as the resistance of the steering wheel and the speed of the gearbox show their utmost devotion to precision and accentuate the sporty nature of a car that is driven by a naturally aspirated 10-cylinder not made to get stuck in traffic. The 5.2 screams and revs with a frenetic run towards the red line, the first few times it is likely that you will change at 6,500/7,000 rpm, thinking you have already dared enough, but in reality there is some more drama awaiting. At 8,250 revs the 610 horses sing as they should and in the meantime you start holding the steering wheel with force, without realizing that half of it would be enough, given its absurd precision and the perfect ability to fit in any type of curve without ever going to break down the wide tail. The tires, 245 at front and 305 at the back, keep a constant grip and transmit a confidence that is rarely felt at the wheel of cars of such power, allowing you to dare more – ask yourself if this is not the right time you can take advantage of a supercar so close to its full potential. The bends are more insistent now – it is a pleasure – the road remains wet and this makes me tickle the crazy idea of a simple equation like (less grip equal to less speed + more fun). The finger returns to the ANIMA and dares to press on RACE. Traction control is disabled and I am left alone to tame an entire ranch of 610 horses.
To make things even more interesting, the road widens and some straights alternate with the tortuous corners between which I would try to induce some slight oversteer. This means that it will be inevitable to increase the speed and so, after a few seconds, the Lambo madness assaults me and takes over – down the gas, the needle of the digital tachometer starts to overcome one after the other the numbers of its own dial and sling me into the guts of the beast. The direction changes are sudden and the body of the car remains close to the ground, almost as if I were on a race car, with the carbon fiber paddles calling the gears only when I consider that the moment is the most suitable and without forcing a loss of traction, not now. Then it comes the hairpin that answers to the name “If not sideways, maybe horseracing” and turn off the common sense switch: slow down enough, a couple of gears less, a look at the hypothetical apex (which I will not use) and at the exit of the same, here is the moment the right leg is extended with a single movement, almost as if it wanted to shake off a numbness that lasted too long. The wide back of the Huracán barks, the rear wheels start spinning and begin to rape the wet asphalt, lighten a little and trigger that dreamy balance between grip and loss of the same that makes me cross the rest of the hairpin with the nose towards the inside of the corner. At the same time I wonder how difficult would be to counter-steer for straightening the car and above all avoid a pendulum effect, but everything is easier than expected, the Lambo is already straight and after a second of self-hesitation before pressing again full throttle I disappear in a symphony of destruction.
Fast and violent, the little Lambo begins to scare me as far as it is lethal in every respect. It is able to sit in the boring city traffic, devour a curvy road and make you feel a steering wheel boss, now I understand that those criticizing its doors and seats do that only ‘cause they can’t say they’re facing mechanical perfection. But is it really perfect? Mechanically it is unassailable to claim that it is effective as if Mike Tyson were to steal candies to a child. It is disarming, precise, friendly despite its ferocious reactivity to every input. It changes radically behavior depending on the driving mode and seems to weigh a couple hundred kilos less, especially when you are riding the roller coaster in the fast roads of the hills around its hometown. It’s not just brute acceleration (3.2 seconds for the 0-100 kph) and pure speed (325 kph top speed), but it’s the way it allows you to get where with any other car of the same segment you would have already sweated in excess. Its interior is spacious and the forged carbon details on the model I’ve tested are a gem that at the moment only Lamborghini is able to offer on a street legal car. The central tunnel is the one that houses the magical engine ignition key, concealed by an aeronautical design cover and the “lever” that engages the reverse is very similar to the extraterrestrial spacecraft controls in the movie “Alien”. Technologically and visually avant-garde, with well-assembled materials and other buttons that alternate between the typical Audi ones and other selectors that seem borrowed from some jet fighter ready to annihilate every sign of civilization around you. Above them, three digital indicators to monitor the oil pressure and temperature and also the battery charge. The sat-nav is precise, but not very intuitive and stuck in the display behind the steering wheel, therefore easily visible to the driver, but out of reach for the passenger. For those lucky enough to keep you company there will still be a good deal to endure the violent push of the 560Nm of torque, sorted on both axles, 70% at the rear and 30% at front, this under normal conditions.
In the meantime I put back in SPORT and abandon, at least for the moment, my dice game with luck. Gearbox necessarily in manual, savoring every bit of involvement, whether towards the seventh gear or the lower ratios that represent the ideal way to increase the decibels that my ears want devouring greedily. We often find ourselves saying that some cars are too fast for the road and that they would be really exploitable on a track, but the Huracán is reconfirmed as an exceptional way to defeat the competition both on the road and on track, even if you’re not as good as the Sunday driver you think you are. In this case there is no risk of getting tired or getting used to – who could – because every time you want to experience strong emotions, just get on board and drive. To experience something more extreme, inhibit traction controls and fight with the bull. Time to return to the base, several curves and liters of petrol later, with a smile on my face and the certainty that Lamborghini has not lost the spark that makes it one of the brightest stars in the firmament. It offers the less experienced driver the opportunity to find out what happens after the 8,000 revs and to be able to tell it the day after. In my opinion, this, although different from the disconcerting of sacred monsters like Countach and Diablo, is still madness. To be loved madly.
LAMBORGHINI HURACAN LP610-4
Layout – mid-rear engine, all-wheel-drive
Motore – V10 cylinder 5.204cc
Trasmissione – 7-speed automatic gearbox
Potenza – 602 hp @ 8.250 rpm
560 Nm @ 6.500 rpm
Weight – 1.572 kg
Acceleration – 3,2 sec.
Top Speed – 325 kph
Price – from € 185.000
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