Lamborghini Huracán Evo review

First, a caveat. All driving impressions were gathered at the Bahrain International Circuit; we’ll have to wait a bit before we get the Huracán Evo on the road. The up side is that this is one of Hermann Tilke’s more satisfying ‘new’ circuits, with some very high speed sections, elevation changes, and corners that hurt anything that can’t manage weight transfer effectively.

So how does the LDVI work? Well, in addition to HAL there’s a set of accelerators and gyroscope sensors positioned at the heart of the car’s centre of gravity, which provide real-time monitoring of lateral, longitudinal and vertical loads, as well as body roll, pitch and yaw. The suspension’s magnetic damping is also part of the equation, as is the traction control, the Evo’s all-wheel drive, torque vectoring, Lamborghini’s dynamic steering, and the active rear axle (borrowed from the Aventador).

There’s a lot going on, a gazillion computations happening in 0.2 milliseconds all with the aim of making any numpty feel heroic, and a decent driver a superhero. Remember the time when these guys had trouble making the indicators work? It’s not dissimilar to systems used by Ferrari and McLaren, although the predictive element is a spooky addition.

Lamborghini refers to this as ‘feed forward’ (rather than feedback, geddit?), altering the car’s behaviour according to which mode you’re in: comfortable daily driving Strada, shoutier Sport, and sharper track-day Pirelli-shredding Corsa. Sport also contains what to all intents and purposes is a drift mode, but Lamborghini refuses to call it that on the grounds that its owners like the idea of being the masters of their own destiny. It certainly works, and the Huracán Evo lets you exit corners with the sort of deft dab of oppo pro drivers routinely deliver, before riding out the kerbs and maximising traction. There’s almost zero understeer, incredibly exact turn-in, while in fast, sweeping corners you can only just feel the algorithms strutting their stuff.

Mostly, HAL and his minions are mercifully unobtrusive, and the combination of slick software electronics and the car’s enhanced aero properties combine to substantially broaden the Huracán’s spectrum of possibilities (a nod here to Pirelli’s super sticky P Zero Corsa rubber). In fact, the engine now almost plays second fiddle to the chassis, an inversion you might not have expected.

It’s mightier than ever, of course, the old-school heartbeat of an increasingly technofied Lamborghini experience, although the seven-speed dual clutch ’box can’t quite keep pace with it on the circuit, and the carbon ceramic brakes – 380mm diameter upfront, 356mm at the rear – aren’t as resolutely feelsome as I’d like, and the car can move around a bit under really hard stopping. Work to be done here, I think. The steering could also do with a bit more heft, too, and lacks the absolute clarity that McLaren has made such a signature. But for a road car designed to be used daily, the Huracán Evo sure is one hell of a track machine.

Basically, I’d expect this to be a devastating bit of kit even on the gnarliest British B-road, in Strada or Sport mode at least. (NB: apart from the stability control, everything else remains on duty when the ESC is switched off. But it can still get very lairy.)