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It's the most involving car Lamborghini makes and genuinely good to drive. Could it be better even than the best from Ferrari?

What is it?

Lamborghini likes to keep us waiting for the sweetest derivative of its entry-level supercar.

It’s a cruel habit, I know, and one that took root in 2009 with the much-loved Gallardo LP550-2 Balboni, which arrived a mere six years after the introduction of the original ‘baby Lambo’. There was then a delay of two years between the launch of Lamborghini the Huracán LP610-4 and the considerably better LP580-2. And now, only after the coupé and Spyder versions of Lamborghini the widely revised Huracán Evo have enjoyed generous head starts, has Lamborghini presented its latest potential gem: the Huracán Evo RWD.

As the name suggests, and as formerly denoted in Lamborghini nomenclature by the number ‘2’, this is a rear-wheel-drive model. It is also now the most attainable rung on the Huracán ladder, costing £34,000 less than the ‘normal’, four-wheel-drive Evo. At £164,000, the RWD is priced closer to the £149,000 McLaren 570S than Ferrari’s £203,500 F8 Tributo and therefore looks good value, although there are some eye-watering options. The transparent engine cover alone costs £4860, while composite brake discs will set you back £5412 and a DAB radio an indefensible £648. All in, the Verde Selvans example seen here totals £223,000.

What you lose, apart from the front driveshafts, is the standard Evo’s four-wheel steering and highly effective torque-vectoring electronics. You also lose 33kg from the kerb weight and 29bhp from the howling 5.2-litre V10, which is otherwise transplanted directly, titanium valves and all, from the bowels of the outgoing Huracán Performante.

It’s a nominal decrease in power, and one designed to usher more suggestible customers towards the more expensive four-wheel-drive Huracán. For the rest of us, the RWD’s 602bhp, 413lb ft and 0-62mph time of 3.3sec (versus 2.9sec for the regular Evo) are more than enough to be getting on with.

10 Lamborghini huracan evo rwd 2020 uk fd otr side

What's it like?

The RWD is also the finer driver's car, although what you gain from this new layout can take a moment to fully appreciate. As always with Lamborghini, you need to get the absurdity of it all out of your system before you can properly burrow under the car’s skin. When combined, the sound and the performance are as giddily pulverising as ever, and even without four-wheel drive, there’s never any issue with straight-line traction, at least on dry roads.

All you ever hear about is this magnificent engine’s top end, but so big are its lungs that you’ll have left almost anything else for dead by the time the needle has reached even 4000rpm, and from then on, things only get wilder. It's one of the greatest road car engines ever built, no question. 

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This dual-clutch gearbox is another highlight and the large but spindly paddle shifters remain a joy to use, being nicely weighted and enacting ultra-quick changes. As a method of reloading the engine for another surge to the 8500rpm redline, this takes some beating. Equally, if you want to lope about in Strada mode, with the dampers usefully softened off (Sport remains marginally too firm for the road and Corsa is straight-up brittle), this ’box goes about its business gently, leaning on the engine’s torque. In fact, drivability at low speeds is excellent and the very short wheelbase that makes the car so deliriously agile at speed also makes it easy to get along with in town. By comparison, Lamborghini the Aventador feels like putting an oil tanker up a canal.

But by far the best thing about the RWD is that, where the regular Huracán needs to be driven at breakneck speed in order to express itself, this new car flows more sweetly at sensible speeds and feels less frenetic. Without rear wheels that swivel, the steering rack can feel lazy mid-corner, but without the corruption of driveshafts, its initial travel is cleaner and lighter, and less unsprung mass means the front axle also rides bumps in the road more fluently.

Better still, with nothing pulling the car’s nose along, there’s more of a squatting sensation at the rear through corners. Technically speaking, this is less desirable than a perfectly flat body, but it feels far more satisfying from behind the wheel. Really chase throttle and you’ll also get the rear tyres ever so slightly over-rotating with a degree of delicacy that’s beyond the regular Evo.    

Equally, there’s so much grip that for outright oversteer, you need to provoke the car and use some weight transfer; and if the RWD has a vice, it’s that the tail can snatch wide sharply and requires concentration to catch. The F8 Tributo is more playful and forgiving in this sense and, just maybe, a little less authentic. 

3 Lamborghini huracan evo rwd 2020 uk fd interior

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Should I buy one?

That's the thing about this latest Huracán: beyond the noise and performance, it’s more gritty and involving than typical Lamborghini fare, and the additional polish in the steering and handling add up to something special.

Worth the wait, I’d say, and it shows what they can really do in Sant’Agata.

Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD specification

Where Bedfordshire, UK Price £164,400 On sale Now Engine V10, 5204cc, petrol Power 602bhp at 8000rpm Torque 413lb ft at 6500rpm Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch automatic Kerb weight 1389kg (dry) Top speed 202mph 0-62mph 3.3sec Fuel economy 20.5mpg CO2 330g/km Rivals Ferrari F8 Tributo, McLaren 570S, Audi R8 RWD

2 Lamborghini huracan evo rwd 2020 uk fd hero rear

Richard Lane

Richard Lane
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017, arriving from Evo magazine, and is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel.

As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests, performance benchmarking and supercar lap-times, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found on Autocar's YouTube channel

Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year, and focuses mainly on the more driver-orientated products, as is tradition at Autocar. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat. 

Away from work, but remaining on the subject of cars, Richard owns an eight-valve Integrale, loves watching sportscar racing, and holds a post-grad in transport engineering. 

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Comments
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eseaton 13 April 2020

It's cool becuase of the NA

It's cool becuase of the NA V10 of course. 

 

But money no object, I'd take a manual Gallardo Balboni in preference to a Huracan any day.

 

 

xxxx 13 April 2020

Essentially on the 15.01.19

5th picture has the date and time, although being true to it's Italian heritage the electrics were probably playing up 

LP in Brighton 13 April 2020

Essential journey?

Presumably this test was deemed an "essential journey" within the confines of the Millbrook proving ground! Or was the test carried out three weeks ago before we had the restrictive measures?  

Either way, I'm glad that we can still read about such exotic cars - and my thanks to Autocar for an interesting read about a car that most of us can only dream about.