Lamborghini Huracán Evo

Lamborghini Huracán Evo

Anybody who knows a thing or three about ‘cars’ (very broad, I know) will know that Lamborghini started off manufacturing tractors, and it’s no secret that a particularly high profile journalist received a lot of flak for stating that the original Huracán handled just like that – a tractor.

While that might have been a slight exaggeration, he did have a point in that the Huracán never quite had neither the dynamism of the then already aged Ferrari 458 nor the ballistic precision of McLaren’s then fresh but not really 650S. Did that really matter? Well, no, because V10.

So while some may have considered the original Huracán to have been a bit of a flop. It gave birth to two pretty decent machines in the form of the Huracán RWD and the highly praised Lamborghini Huracán Performante. What this meant was that there was a Huracán for everyone – the standard one for those who don’t care, the RWD for the ‘purists’ and the Performante for those who think high-tops constitute formalwear.

Meet the Lamborghini Huracán Evo

A little long in the tooth, however, the Huracán will now receive quite the update. This will give it what it needs to take the fight to Ferrari’s blitz 488 GTB and the terrifyingly competent McLaren 720S.

Engine and Chassis

Boasting the Huracán Performante’s more powerful V10 motor, adaptive chassis technology from the Aventador SVJ and a huge focus on aerodynamics, the Lamborghini Huracán Evo is essentially a polished Huracán. A lot of polishing has gone on here, particularly in the chassis department. As in the Aventador S, Lamborghini’s LDVI (Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata) monitors and controls four key elements within the chassis – the four-wheel-drive system, traction control, a new torque-vectoring system and the new four-wheel steering which was developed using components from the Aventador S’s 4WS system. It can supposedly predict within 20 milliseconds how the chassis components should react to any given situation by calculating how much grip is available and reading your throttle, gear change, steering and braking input.

The Lamborghini Huracán Evo’s four-wheel steering system is pretty trick, but also rather complicated. All you need to know is that it doesn’t feature that ever so slight split second lag between steering input and the rear wheels actually turning. This is something that is pretty evident in other 4WS systems when pressing on. For every 10 degrees of input on the front axle, the rear wheels turn by 1 degree, up to a maximum of 3 degrees positive or negative. In order to incorporate this new four-wheel-steering system, Lamborghini’s divisive Dynamic steering system is mandatory.

Aerodynamics

While the new aerodynamics are nowhere nearly as Brakpan/Brackenfell as the Performante’s, downforce has increased sevenfold which is rather remarkable, while drag has also decreased.

The upper section of the new slotted spoiler creates more downforce while the middle section creates a venture effect which accelerates air through the spoiler. The underfloor of the Evo has also been updated which works in conjunction with the diffuser to improve airflow. The front intakes and splitter welcome 16% more air into the radiators. This aids in cooling the brakes before the air is channelled into the rear intakes just fore of the rear wheels.

As you would expect in this league, ceramic brakes, active dampers and a mechanical slip-differential also feature.

The Lamborghini Huracán Evo’s 5.2-litre V10 comes straight from the Performante and produces a healthy 470 kW and 600 N.m, good enough to hurtle the raging bull to 100 km/h in 2.9sec.

The most notable interior update is the 8.4-inch touchscreen which can display all sorts of nerdy telemetry information. This really goes a long way in updating the Huracán’s interior.

Lamborghini are dead set on this being a very serious car indeed, and it seems as though a lot of time, money and effort has gone into what is not ‘just a facelift’ and has certainly shaken the stigma of the Huracán just being an R8 in drag.

Lamborghini Huracán Evo in South Africa

Expect to see the first Huracán Evo’s in South Africa during the first half of 2019.