AT GoAuto we are very fond of Lamborghini. The hulking Aventador LP700-4 is like a neurotic doberman that you can’t help but love even though it will one day tear off your arms and legs, and the Huracan LP610-4 is the manic howling supercar beast with separation anxiety that you want to take to work every day.
Both cars are extremely different in almost every way, but the common Lambo denominator is power. Lots and lots of power, so it was with a little trepidation that we learned the Italian car-maker was introducing a version of its Huracan with less power.
It is not uncommon for a car-maker to offer a down-specced variant in the name of affordability, but this is Lamborghini we are talking about and even though the new Huracan LP580-2 is its cheapest model, it still costs $378,900 so you're not looking at the people’s Lambo here.
So what is the point of the new diet Huracan?
The LP580-2’s mid-mounted 5.2-litre V10 engine has been detuned by 23kW from 449kW to 426kW, but critically, the grunt is sent to the road via just the rear wheels, not all four corners like its LP610-4 sibling.
And the news gets better, because by putting a differential, prop-shaft and a pair of half-shafts in the bin, the new version is also 33kg lighter. 426kW through just two wheels and a dry weight of 1389kg – is the LP580-2 starting to make sense now? Lamborghini says its newest addition is all about fun and we couldn’t agree more.
Exploring all the Huracan’s intimacies on a public road is a one-way ticket to the big scrapyard in the sky – or to the magistrate’s court at best – so we loosened the new LP580-2’s leash at the Phillip Island raceway to see if less really is more.
Maybe we need to drive more 400kW-plus cars but with a full noise blast out of the pits there is no discernible difference in straight-line performance when compared with the LP610-4. The more powerful version will crack 100km/h from standstill in 3.2 seconds and the 2WD will do the dash in 3.4s but what’s 0.2 seconds between friends?
It is also worth pointing out that the sound of the V10 is totally unaffected by the detuning work. We could listen to that spine-tingling holler all day.
But everything changes when you show the Lamborghini a corner because its revised, slightly softer suspension set up has been tuned not for incinerating lap-times, but for pure theatrics.
Tip the nose into turn one and the Lambo’s steering shouted back at us with a purity and communication that is hard to fathom. That sharp feel is backed up with an extraordinary level of feedback through the firm bucket seat.
Concentration is essential, not because the Huracan feels as though it will snap at you, but because nailing a corner entry, apex and exit in the LP580-2 is hugely rewarding and very addictive.
You might think all that power though one pair of hoops combined with the nature of mid-engined cars might render the new Huracan a bit of a widow-maker (indeed its Gallardo LP550-2 equivalent was exactly that), but the chassis is so beautifully engineered that the power output is not overkill. When driven in anger, the detune makes perfect sense.
We were a little hesitant to flick the Anima driving modes to the least-chaperoned Corsa setting, but we are glad we did because if you leave the Huracan’s cage door open it will delight you.
Dial in too many kilowatts and the tail will wag in the most predictable and progressive way, but rather than encouraging us to shred a pair of boots in an afternoon of manic power slides, we felt more compelled to perfect our laps.
There is no doubt the all-wheel-drive Huracan would get around a track faster but what Lamborghini has emphatically proved with its LP580-2 is that fun is an immeasurable commodity and by removing something from an already very accomplished car, the manufacturer has perfected it.
Only Ferrari's new 488 GTB and the McLaren 570S can compete with the balance and sharpness of the rear-drive Lambo, but in the case of the Huracan, its slightly more compliant ride and higher-revving engine instills a far greater sense that you are immersed in real metal, grease and carbon-fibre.
In fact, the new Huracan puts us in a difficult position because, unless outright lap times and sheer speed are your priority, then we can't think of a single reason to buy a Huracan 610-4 over its cheaper, lighter, better sibling.
Daniel Gardner GoAuto.com.au
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