It is a big deal when Lamborghini decides to launch a brand new model, after all the company has only made a few more than a dozen main models in its 50-year history. It is an even bigger deal when that new model is meant to take the place of the outgoing Gallardo – the company’s most successful super sports car ever.
Automobili Lamborghini has just announced the brand new Huracán and the company calls it the beginning of a new era for itself and the luxury super sports car segment. In the new Huracán, Lamborghini is not only presenting the successor to the iconic Gallardo, but is also redefining the benchmark for luxury super sports cars in this segment, a statement from the Italian marque said.
With the Huracán, Lamborghini is taking a big step into the future, and enhancing the brand’s illustrious history with the next automotive legend. Starting from January 2014 the Huracán will be showcased at 130 private preview events in more than 60 cities throughout the world.
The Lamborghini Huracán will make its world public debut at the Geneva Motorshow 2014. Here is the extract from a company statement about the new Huracán.
The Name The Lamborghini Gallardo has been the most successful Lamborghini ever built, with a total volume of 14,022 cars produced. The Gallardo, in its ten-year lifecycle, lifted the Lamborghini marque to a whole new level. Its successor, the new Huracán, has been developed from scratch down to the very last detail and, like the Gallardo and most other Lamborghini models, derives its name from the world of bullfighting. The fighting bull Huracán of the Spanish Conte de la Patilla breed was known for his outstanding courage and strong sense of attack.
Design The new Huracán revolutionises the design language of the Gallardo and is pure in its lines: precise technology and top level craftsmanship meet an audacious design with sharp edges, monolithic and sculptured volumes and precise surfaces. The starting point is the silhouette of the Huracán, born out of the desire of creating an automobile, whose profile is defined by only one line that merges the front with the cockpit and the rear of the car. The lateral windows come together to create a hexagonal form inserted like a glass jewel in the car’s profile.
Also by night the Huracán is unmistakably a Lamborghini. Not only are the main headlamps equipped with full LED illumination, but all other light functions also feature state-of-the-art LED technology as a standard feature for the first time in the segment.
Interior The interior is dominated by an innovative cockpit. A 12.3 inch full-color TFT instrument panel delivers all car related information to the driver, from rev counter to navigation maps and infotainment functions, and can be configured by the driver in different setups. Fine Nappa leather and Alcantara distinguish the interior, with several color combinations offered to ensure broad individualisation options. The design of dashboard and central tunnel underline a new lightness in the interior. Superb craftsmanship guarantees the highest quality and sense of luxury throughout.
Chassis and powertrain Systematic lightweight design and Automobili Lamborghini’s extensive expertise in carbon-fibre come together in the Huracán’s new hybrid chassis – an integrated structure of carbon and aluminium elements. With a dry weight of 1,422 kg it enables not only the excellent power-to-weight ratio of just 2.33 kilograms per horse power, but also guarantees race-car precision with outstanding stiffness.
The new 5.2 liter V10 engine delivers a maximum power of 448 kW / 610 HP at 8,250 rpm and a maximum torque of 560 Nm at 6.500 rpm. In the new ‘‘Iniezione Diretta Stratificata’’ (IDS), direct and indirect gasoline injections are smartly combined. This results in more power and torque with lower fuel consumption and emissions compared with the Gallardo V10 engine. The top speed of over 325 kmph and the acceleration from 0 to 100 kmph in 3.2 seconds and to 200 kmph in 9.9 seconds only partially describe the dynamic experience at the wheel of the Huracán. Also thanks to the Stop & Start technology, the combined EU consumption figure has been further reduced to 12.5 litres per 100 km (290 g/km CO2 emissions). The engine complies with EU6 emissions regulation.
Driving dynamics The power of the V10 engine is brought to the road via the new 7-speed dual-clutch transmission ‘‘Lamborghini Doppia Frizione’’ (LDF) and fully electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. The different driving modes of the Huracán can be selected via a driving dynamics selector switch in the steering wheel -- from traction-oriented on the road to extreme performance on the race track, with three setups of the dynamics system: STRADA, SPORT and CORSA. The different modes ensure extensive modification in road behaviour of the Huracán. In particular they influence the set-ups of several systems, such as the gearbox and engine behaviour, the sound, the four-wheel-drive system and electronic stability control. The Huracán’s carbon-ceramic brakes are a standard feature for consistently superb braking performance. The ‘‘Lamborghini Dynamic Steering’’ variable steering ratio system and magneto-rheologic suspension damper control are both available as options for further customisation of the Huracán’s dynamic behaviour. They are also calibrated via the three different dynamic set-ups.
The Huracán is to be produced at the Automobili Lamborghini headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy on an entirely newly-equipped production line. Delivery to the first customers is planned for spring 2014.