Geneva show: Lamborghini’s Huracan bares its soul

LAMBORGHINI has released even more tantalising details of its Huracan, the replacement for the entry-level Gallardo and the vehicle that will take the supercar brand into the future.

Premiering at this week’s Geneva motor show, the Huracan’s carbon-fibre and aluminium chassis is built around a free-breathing 5.2-litre V10 that produces 448kW of power as it spins up to its 8250rpm redline, up from the current engine’s 405kW from 8000rpm.

Maximum torque is set at 560Nm at 6500rpm, up by 20Nm.

According to Lamborghini, the key to this leap in performance is what it calls “Iniezione Diretta Stratificata” – a combination of direct and indirect fuel injection that combines with an idle-stop system to cap fuel economy at a combined 12.5 litres per 100 kilometres, an 11 per cent improvement over the Gallardo’s consumption.

Drive from the dry-sumped engine is pushed to all four of the Huracan’s wheels via a new seven-speed “Lamborghini Doppia Frizione” transmission and a hydraulic multiplate clutch.

The combination is enough to propel the Huracan from 0-100km/h in just 3.2 seconds, with the 0-200km/h run reached in 9.9 seconds. Maximum speed is set at 325km/h.

The driver can also select from one of three driving modes ranging from road to racetrack via a steering wheel-mounted “Adaptive Network Intelligent Management” (ANIMA) switch – the acronym being a reference to the Italian word for “soul”.

The newest Lamborghini features fade-free ceramic brakes as standard equipment, while LED-based lights are fitted throughout the vehicle, which is claimed to be a world-first. The headlights, also LED-based, produce a light that is very close to daylight in its intensity.

The Huracan also takes a leaf out of fellow Italian supercar brand Ferrari’s book, with the LP610-4 version of the car incorporating Formula One-style buttons on the flat-bottomed three-spoke steering wheel that are used to manage functions such as the indicators and windshield wipers.

Lamborghini says that is so the driver can keep eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel at all times.

No details have been released about the Australian launch date for the latest Lamborghini to roll out of the company’s Sant’Agata production line in Italy.

With the Gallardo costing from $409,500 before on-roads equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox, expect little change from $500,000 when the Huracan makes it here, possibly in early 2015.

When it arrives, the Huracan will take on the likes of McLaren’s 478kW twin-turbo V8 650S, the 419kW Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche’s 412kW 911 Turbo S and Audi’s 404kW R8 Plus.