Test drive Lamborghini Huracan Performante
The idea is to ask for $ 26 for the extra 378 hp. might seem crazy if it didn't come with the label of the fastest car in the world. To get the Nürburgring record, the Italians came up with something unusual
“Per-fo-man-te”, - Christian Mastro, chief of the eastern branch of Lamborghini, pronounces distinctly with an emphasis on the penultimate syllable. This is exactly how, soft and viscous, as if blowing air from the lungs, the Italians pronounce the name of the fastest production car in the world. Nothing to do with the standardized and harsh "Performance" that any more or less "hot" car is now awarded.
The official Huracan Performante result at the Nürburgring North Loop is 6: 52.01. Ahead is only the NextEV Nio EP9 electric car (6: 45.90) and the Radical SR8LM prototype (6: 48.00), which even conditionally cannot be considered serial. Keeping these numbers in mind, you approach Perfomant with caution, but the soft confidence with which her name is pronounced is somewhat reassuring.
Landing, in comparison with any passenger car, is like a backside on the asphalt. I feel it especially clearly, because an hour ago I was kneading the dirt of summer cottages on a quite decent all-wheel drive. Out of the mud in a Lamborghini? It's good that a spare pair of sneakers was in the trunk of the country car. And although the Huracan is clearly not one of those cars, getting into which you want to put on removable shoes, you feel a certain reverence inside. No, not to the amount on the dealer's price list. And to the fact with what defiant rudeness this car breaks the usual notions of luxury and comfort. And also how much life is invested here in each square decimeter of finishing materials.
The fact that you have to sit almost on the asphalt seems quite normal. But the roof is so low that you want to sit even lower, and this is no longer possible. There is nowhere to go from the combat seats, and then the instructor strongly recommends moving as close to the steering wheel as possible. The view is blocked by both the pillars and the mirror, which is brazenly hanging just to the right of the sector of view.
And the location of the controls has nothing to do with the erogonomics of a family car. Pseudo-aviation keys scare you with obscure functionality, and angles and geometric shapes of surfaces look at the driver from all sides. This sharp and visually tough interior was clearly not drawn for young ladies of noble blood, and you quickly agree to the rules of the game, trying on the role of a tough guy.
The Performante interior differs from the standard Huracan only with an even more provocative finish and an abundance of carbon fiber elements, which do not seem kitsch here at all. The bonnet, bumpers, spoilers and diffuser are also made of composite materials. The rest of the revision program seems to be standard: small engine tuning, sharper steering wheel and stiffer suspension.
But the main highlight of the Performante is its active aerodynamic elements. The Italians invented a whole complex with the no less melodious name Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva (ALA). First, there is a front spoiler with controllable flaps. And, secondly, an active rear wing. Moreover, it does not slide out and does not turn. Each of the two wing struts has air ducts that direct the flow from the air intake on the engine cover to the deflectors at the bottom of the wing, disrupting the flow and reducing the downforce. If the air vents are closed, air flows down the wing from above, pressing the rear axle against the road.
Why is all this needed? During acceleration and driving at high speeds, the flaps in the front spoiler open, sending some of the air under the underbody and reducing aerodynamic drag. The rear wing also "turns off". In cornering mode, on the other hand, the channels close, forcing the air to press the car more against the road, both front and rear. And the main magic happens when braking before corners, when the active elements of the wing work alternately, loading the inner and unloading the outer wheels, which allows you to go through the bend at the limit even faster. By analogy with the "torque vectoring" system, Italians call their technology "aero vectoring".
The 10-liter ten-cylinder V5,2 received lighter titanium valves, a new intake manifold and a different exhaust system. In addition, the settings of the seven-speed preselective "robot" and the algorithms for the all-wheel drive transmission have changed. There was no and no boost, but Italians seem to care the least about conventional CO2 and average fuel consumption regulations. The output has grown from 610 to 640 hp, and the torque has also grown slightly. In terms of numbers, nothing shocking, but 2,9 s to "hundreds" instead of the previous 3,2 s are already really impressive. And in personal feelings, this is a completely different reality.
The "robot" is controlled by keys, roughly moves the car from a place and constantly keeps the driver in suspense. If you don’t think too much and re-accept the rules of the game, everything will fall into place. After a short hitch at the start, the coupe shoots forward so that it becomes cloudy in the eyes. A push - and again acceleration, which does not imprint on the back of the chair, but simply merges the body with the car into a single whole. There is treacherously little space before the turn - the Huracan has not yet managed to move to third, and you have to get out of the intoxicating acceleration to take part in the management.
At the bottom of the Huracan's steering wheel, there is a swinging mode change lever. The first two laps I drive behind the instructor's car in the civilian Strada mode - faster, faster, even faster. The stability margin seems phenomenal, and the instructor, who rides fast in a standard Huracan, suggests switching to Sport via radio. I click the lever and out of the corner of my eye I notice that the picture on the digital instrument panel has changed. Now it's not up to her - the presenter went even more fun, and I have to manage even more carefully. Speeds grow to indecent, the track visually narrows, and in turns the wheels tend to slip, but everything is still reliable, and I seem to be ready to go to the next level.
“If you are not sure, then leave it as it is. In Corsa mode, the stabilization system is turned off, ”the instructor reminds and immediately adds a stroke. I flick the handle, and a second later, the motor jerks nervously at about 7000 rpm. It turns out that the Corsa requires manual shifting, and now I really don't want to be distracted by them. The instructor no longer touches the radio, I diligently write the trajectories after him, but he still cannot do without errors. A little missed - and Huracan easily goes into a skid, which is just as easily extinguished with a short movement of the steering wheel. After a while, you realize that all-wheel drive generally allows you to take turns with slight slipping, but so easily, as if a simple and understandable Subaru Impreza is under you. But the speeds here are completely different.
In the limit, the Huracan performed by Perfomante did not become faster - the same maximum 325 km / h, and it was hardly possible to reach this figure on the Moscow Raceway track. On the most running section of the track, where, with proper piloting, the cars already take off on a good run, I saw the number "180" on the dashboard. Preparing the cars for the test, the Italians, with their characteristic recklessness, for some reason switched the speedometer to display in miles, so I can say with full responsibility: I managed to accelerate the Huracan Performante to 290 km / h for sure.
The senses are sharpened to the limit, but the car remains obedient and stable so that I, it seems, would add a little more. But you can regret the 10 km / h missing to the round result only because the corresponding tick in the list of personal achievements has not yet been put. Representatives of the company offered to take the car for a test, but I have no need to repeat this experience outside the race track. Why, if even a wide track in this mode shrinks to sensations at your fingertips, and any driver error threatens the most dire consequences?
“I saw how you were driving, and with each lap I gave more and more freedom,” the instructor later admitted to me in response to the assumption that not all clients are capable of driving at such a speed. However, there are not so many completely inadequate among them, he explained, - as a rule, people who have matured from all points of view sit behind the wheel of such supercars.
It is clear that a failed person cannot even approach the basic version, let alone a car with the label of the fastest in the world. The conventionally standard Huracan LP610-4 5.2 with a 610-horsepower engine is sold for $ 179 and this is just an entry price tag into the Lamborghini world. The fast Perfomante costs $ 370 more, but that money doesn't just include the extra 26 hp. and the fact of owning the fastest car in the Nurburgring.
The Italians seem to have learned how to control the air, and judging by the speeds in the corners, quite efficiently. And now, every time I hear the word "Per-fo-man-te", I see an animated picture of air currents flowing gently through the channels and powerfully pressing the Huracan in corners.
| Body type | Coupe |
| Dimensions (length / width / height), mm | 4506/1924/1165 |
| Wheelbase, mm | 2620 |
| Curb weight, kg | 1382 |
| engine's type | Petrol V10 |
| Working volume, cubic meters cm | 5204 |
| Power, hp with. at rpm | 640 at 8000 |
| Max. cool. moment, Nm at rpm | 600 at 6500 |
| Трансмиссия | Four-wheel drive, 7-speed. "robot" |
| Maximum speed km / h | 325 |
| Acceleration to 100 km / h, from | 2,9 |
| Fuel consumption (city / highway / mixed), l | 19,6/10,3/13,7 |
| Cargo space, l | 100 |
| Price from, $. | 205 023 |
