Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 Coupe 2015 review

While you can buy an Audi R8 5.2 V10 for significantly less money with the same powertrain, there's a certain appeal to having the Lamborghini Huracan name flaunted on the front and back of your supercar. The Huracan is Lambo's latest and greatest supersport coupe, succeeding the long-lived Gallardo, which sold 14,000 units in a decade of production.

Both the R8 and Huracan look sensational, and the new Lambo holds the edge in street wow factors. 

It's stunningly gorgeous and you can't help but notice that the R8 lacks that ultimate notch.

Inside, there are many crossover components between the two cars. Audi owns Lamborghini, so some technology and other things have always been in the pipeline.

The correct name for the new Lambo is the Huracan LP 610-4, with numbers referring to horsepower and all-wheel drive.

Design

The Huracan is the smallest Lambo, and it's strictly a two-seater.

The body/chassis is a hybrid of carbon fiber and aluminium, keeping the weight down to a respectable 1422kg.

The all-wheel drive system passes through a multi-plate clutch system after first passing through an automated dual-clutch manual transmission with proper shifting paddles on the steering column. Terrible automated management at Gallardo is a thing of the past.

Other highlights of the Huracan are 20-inch wheels with 325-width rear tires, carbon/ceramic brakes with six-piston calipers at the front, all-round double wishbone suspension, 42:58 front-to-back weight shift, fuel economy when the engine is stopped. /start (yes), a dry sump engine for downsizing, electromechanical power steering, chain driven camshafts and more.

ENGINES

In metric units, the mid-mounted, naturally aspirated V10 engine with high-strength forged internals delivers 449 kW/560 Nm of power, with the former delivering 8250 rpm. This is facilitated by a wide valve timing range and dual fuel injection, a bit like the Toyota 86 sports car system. It turns out 12.5 l / 100 km.

600+ horsepower, 1422kg, all-wheel drive, race car technology

Lamborghini adds a lot of its own input, including something interesting called ANIMA, a three-mode driving system that provides "street" calibration, "sport" calibration, and "race" calibration for many of the Huracan's dynamic features.

Prices

There are plenty of other things you'll only find on the Huracan - with good Italian styling and cutting-edge tech, though magnetic ride control and adaptive steering are optional - surprising for a car with a $428,000+ price tag.

Driving

But what is it like to drive?

What do you think… 600+ horsepower, 1422 kg, all-wheel drive, race car technology….

Yes, you guessed it right - amazing.

Razor-sharp car with sharp acceleration and superior control

We had a short trip to Sydney Motorsport Park (10 minutes driving time) and that was enough to whet our appetite for more - and it was all over.

The driving experience from this stretch is a machine with razor-sharp handling, sharp acceleration and superb control. 

Acceleration is available at any speed, and with the 8250 rpm redline, there's plenty of time to spin it through the gears at full throttle. The 0-100 km/h sprint takes 3.2 seconds, but we think that's conservative as we were able to spot something better using launch control - and we're suckers.

And all this is accompanied by the sensational howl of the V10 exhaust - perhaps the best-sounding engine of all, which in this case is punctuated by loud bumps when shifting up and when decelerating.

The Huracan barely flinches in tight corners, and the huge Lambo-style Pirelli tires provide great traction no matter how hard you press the gas pedal.

Brakes - what can I say - the best of the best - just fade all day, no matter how much scolded, rush into corners at breakneck speed, jump on pickaxes, watery eyes.

The cabin is also a pleasant place - corresponds to the level of luxury cars.

An excellent replacement for the good, but flawed Gallardo. Sexy style, luxury plus, fading performance, Italian flair.