Revealed at last week’s Los Angeles Motor Show, the new LP580 ‘baby’ Huracan will be the first of a raft of new variants for the Huracan lineup.
Lamborghini have said the rear-wheel drive LP580 will be as low as they’ll go, with future Huracan model expected to be more hardcore and therefore more expensive.
The rear-wheel drive Huracan uses the same 5.2-litre V10 engine found in the LP610 but produces a more modest 571bhp and 520NM of torque. 0-100 km/h is done 3.4 seconds (two-tenths less than the LP610) and top speed is just shy of 320 km/h.
Although power is down for the LP580, weight has also dropped by 33kg to 1389kg. Weight distribution is 40/60. Lamborghini claim Strada, Sport, and Corsa modes enable better “oversteer characteristics”. I can’t wait to see videos and photos of one of these going sideways in a cloud of tyre smoke. Something many have criticised the LP610-4 for not being able to do.
The LP580-2 will only be available with the same 7-speed dual-clutch transmission as seen in the LP610. Lamborghini say there was not enough customer interest to warrant a manual version. But even if there was it’d be too difficult to engineer.
That’s a real shame. One, because that statement shows the sort of people who buy these and two, a 6-speed manual with a metal gate, rear-driven Lambo is exactly what the world needs right now.
At least it’ll be good for the environment. Well, better for it than Lambos of old. The LP580 is said to be the cleanest Lambo with a claimed fuel economy 11.9L/100km and emits only 278g/km. But this being a product of the Volkswagen-Audi Group I wouldn’t read too much into those numbers.
There are subtle styling differences between the LP580 and LP610. The rear-wheel drive model gets new front and rear bumpers with new air intakes as well as bespoke ‘Kari’ wheels. These are wrapped in specially designed Pirelli P-Zero rubber.
Building on the LP580, there’ll be a Spyder model to follow as well as hardcore and lighter variants too. I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to seeing these future versions of the Huracan. I maybe in the minority but I still prefer the old Gallardo to the Huracan. Perhaps these new models, especially the lightweight ones, will change my mind.
As expected, the Huracan LP580-2 will be fractionally more affordable than the LP610 model. No official prices for NZ have been announced but European prices are expected to be around the €150,000 (NZ$243,188 approx). When it lands, it should give rivals such as the McLaren 570S some stiff competition. Is the LP580 your pick of the Huracan range or would you be willing to pay the extra for the four-wheel drive LP610?