Lamborghini rewinds to rear wheel drive. The new Huracan EVO RWD is mean
Development doesn’t always mean progress. Development sometimes forgets what is real. Lamborghini corrected it.
It’s taken nigh 6 months, tons of back and forth, patient waiting, and loud whining. But it’s finally here. For us. To test. The bad boy of the Audi company. The irreverent rear wheel drive for the connoisseur. The lightweight cornering machine with teeth. The analogue response to digital efficiency. The Lamborghini Huracan EVO RWD. The driver machine.
Poetry in motion. Baritone singer of the open road. Italian muscle for the French Riviera, the Dubai highway and the California hills. Perfect companion to loafers, sports jackets, open collar shirts and aviator sunglasses. The 610 Bhp V10 beckons. Tremble to the rear wheels and rumble through your back.
It turns into a beautiful golden shade at low light
Aggressive as every Lamborghini, the new EVO starts with clean lines, soft shapes and the usual sleek profile. Punch a hole in the air or hold an open door. She sits you right in the longitudinal center of the car. Feet next to the front axle, and head resting on the engine wall. Your girth becomes integral to the balance of the car.
The Philosophy
Hardware versus Software. Metal versus electric circuit and processor. Man action versus computer reaction. This RWD is a driver’s car; its pure and direct like her 4WD sister but a little more “Woodstock concert”. She is the original Janis Joplin, the rebel, straight forward, rude and incorrect. But marvelous. Like with Janis’s voice, one note is enough to have your hairs straight up and that is only the intro to a great tune which will not please everyone but will touch a few deep within their soul. We are turning in circles. This is character. Cannot be unnoticed. Adoration or despise. Yearn or loathe. There is no in-between. Pick your side.
The Technology
The RWD is a much simpler car than the 4WD we extensively drove and loved in the past. A significant amount of electronic wizardry is absent for this version; the LDVI, for example, which manages the exact transfer of power between the three differentials and every wheel, is not necessary on a two wheel drive. The four wheel steering we grew used to leaves its place for a direct rack and pinion that abdicates the responsibility for “agility” and “stability” to the hands of the driver. The standard “flower” brakes are stainless steel instead of Carbon-ceramic, which apart from being more affordable in spare parts, Lambo claims to be a touch lighter than the usual rounded ones. Standard 19″ wheels with a 20″ option were you to choose the carbon brakes. The rotors demand them.
The new Performance Traction Control System (P-TCS) intervention is calibrated according to the Huracán EVO RWD’s driving modes, selected via the steering wheel’s ANIMA button (Adaptive Network Intelligent Management: ‘soul’ in Italian). In STRADA, the P-TCS minimizes rear wheel slippage to ensure stability and safety in all conditions: with a more proactive strategy P-TCS manages torque delivery on low-adhesion surfaces.
In SPORT mode, the P-TCS maximizes the fun-to-drive experience: the rear wheels can slide and skate during acceleration, for easy drifting fun without compromising safety. The system recognizes conditions where the angle of oversteer increases rapidly and limits torque delivery to the rear wheels, allowing the driver to perfectly control and stabilize the car.
In CORSA, the P-TCS is calibrated to achieve the rear-wheel slip that optimizes the car’s traction and agility when exiting a corner, allowing the driver to maximize performance. The P-TCS improves smoothness of intervention by 30% compared to the previous Huracán RWD model; improves corner-exit traction by 20% and enhances oversteer by 30%.
“The Huracán EVO rear-wheel drive puts the car in the driver’s hands: the driving experience is delivered by the hardware,” says Stefano Domenicali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini. “This car reminds the driver of Lamborghini’s pure engineering origins: the driver is at the center of the Huracán EVO RWD’s performance, with unfiltered feedback and an emotive and more engaging driving experience controlled by the pilot. The Huracán EVO RWD performance relies on the harmony between man and machine: driving skills and the Huracán EVO’s RWD mechanics deliver perfectly balanced dynamics, physical feedback and a pure performance. The Huracán EVO RWD enhances the V10 Huracán line-up with a model appealing to brand newcomers as well as those seeking sublime driving fun.”
The Driving
The first immediate sensations, very obviously, come from the front end of the car. The 4WD sister was already furiously quick entering corners but this 2WD is even more fluid. It accepts the input from the steering with even more enthusiasm and it makes it feel more natural, without any hint of drag. It reminds me of the Rotax gokart I used to race. It’s so precise, so keen on turning, so direct and immensely precise. It immediately bites and she truly wants to show you how good she is in keeping the radius you want to follow. The steering feels connected as a “One” with the front wheels, even if it has to go through a hydraulic servo system.
As mentioned, it also lost the 4 wheel steering, which means that the sort of artificial increase of agility at low speed and stability at high speed is now in your hands. It’s more analogical, you feel it in your body, through your butt. The transition between under and over-steer is your fail or your win. Brakes on this model are stainless steel, which definitely add some feel when cold or at low speed, in comparison to the carbon-ceramic units. We cannot tell you about the resistance to fatigue and/or fading because we still haven’t driven it hard enough on the race-track. The pedal is sensitive, strong and rewards you with a perfect feedback.
The mid engine architecture makes the reaction to trail braking very smooth. You enter a corner with a thirty percent brake pressure and the tail doesn’t try to step out. It always follows the front end. This is telling me how good is the balance of this vehicle, even without any computers help.
The traction is immense thank to its 60/40 weight distribution biased to the rear, the new limited slip diff and the “dynamic” traction control. Lambo claims this car loses around 4/10th of a second from 0-100 km/h due to obvious loss of traction from stand still, in comparison to the 4WD (3.3 vs 2.9) It makes sense and I couldn’t care less. We leave drag racing to straight line lovers.
The gear box hasn’t changed. It still offers seven speeds which are mega-quick, used both in auto or through the paddle shifts, mounted solid on the steering column. (why not turning with the steering wheel?)
The engine is the well known, barely tamed beast. 610 Bhp, versus the slightly heavier Four Wheel Drive 640 Bhp is a perfect match to this crazy youngster. Creamy and raucous at mid range, hysterical and brutal close to the red zone. There are no modern turbo engines that can match a high revving naturally aspirated motors. It’s just pure fun and entertainment. Doesn’t have the low range torque? Who cares, I downshift a gear and I take off like a missile. And all this in a Euro 6 emission specification. Not bad.
Interiors & Design
The only way to recognize the RWD from the 4WD is to look at it from the front. The lower part of this edition is simpler from an aerodynamic point of view. It lost the characteristic Y shape of the air intakes. We like this a lot. The interiors remain the same as the EVO 4WD. We love the seats and the driving position. For my taste I would like it another couple centimeters lower. The tested car seats offer manual adjustment, with a unique “sblocca” (unlock) lever between your legs to adjust the seat distance from the pedals. As highlighted in the previous test, the media volume is regulated only via the beautiful screen, so it can be a distraction. A simple toggle top right of the screen would allow the passenger and the drive to adjust it nearly “no look”.
As far as the price is concerned, the Manufacturer suggests that the price for this new baby will be slightly lower than the 4WD sister.
My personal specs are: Blue outside with Black Alcantara inside. Racing seats with special stitching. Cruise Control, 19″ Black Rims with steel brakes. Manual seats. Ready to hit the race-track. It’s already very very loud.
By the way, the internal clock on the tested car was set on Italy time, two hours behind. It should never be changed.
Photos by: Mr.Solo