Current location:
This blue shark you see on these pages is as evocative as a car can ever be. Italians know how to make things beautiful and the Huracan Spyder in this cool blue colour is no exception. It was a fitting conclusion in what had been three remarkable days at the MMRT racetrack for our inaugural CarWale Track Day 2016. But jaw dropping looks is not the main reason as to why this car has come to this test. Under the celebrity overshadowing bodywork, it’s a car that has been designed to thrill every senses in your body and is equipped to give you an experience like never before. The Huracan’s skin and most of the chassis are mostly aluminium. To keep weight down and improve rigidity, Lamborghini have used carbon fibre in the rear bulkhead, centre tunnel, and portions of the B-pillars.
But the Huracan's biggest party piece lies behind your ears, a fire breathing 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 motor. This 602bhp engine, right from the way it rumbles to life to the way it howls to its near 9000rpm redline makes even a drive around a car park an event and here we had a flowing 3.7kilometer racetrack to ourselves! Then there is the taut suspension, the relentless carbon ceramic brakes, traction pursuing all-wheel-drive system and neck breaking grip from the 305 section Pirelli tyres. I expected this baby Lambo to scare the living hell out of me. But once on track the feeling was surprisingly different.
The Madras Motor Race Track is a great place to push the handling envelope of cars. It’s not a track that favours horsepower; instead a car with great chassis balance is what really shines around this bumpy 3.7 kilometre flowing circuit. Speaking of which, right after the short start finish straight is the fast and bumpy C1. One must then scrub off a lot of speed for the right-hander C2. The C7, as we found out, is the most difficult corner to master as it’s a long right-hander that is ever tightening and has a double apex. Getting a great exit out of C7 is important because it leads onto the second of the two really quick sections of the MMRT.
1m59.72s
186.67kmph
129.8kmph
96.95kmph
After Aditya had his fair share of fun behind the wheel of this baby Lambo, it was my turn to have a go and I felt as excited as a monkey who got his hands on a peanut machine.
My first impression of the car, was that it felt as compact as an Audi TT and was as easy to drive as the VW GTI I had just sampled. When I was taking it easy around the track, the Huracan felt remarkably tamed and friendly. But then I remembered what Aditya said to me when he was doing hot laps on the car. The thing is, the Huracan’s dynamic envelope is so thick that you have to go really fast to really exploit it. And even when I got to the edge of potential disaster, this baby Lambo was just so forgiving and adjustable, that it made me feel like a legend! There was leech like grip from the tyres and the intelligent four wheel drive system made sure that I was pointing in the right direction rather than ending up in the scenery. The Huracan just felt so light on its foot and even from the passenger seat when Aditya was driving, the way he was easily able to hustle this mid-engine monster around was truly remarkable. Then there are the carbon ceramic brakes which are just phenomenal. Despite hard use they were fade free and even the pedal feel was just right, which gave me the confidence to trail brake going into a corner with precision and correct my line if I entered too fast.
Lets get to the part where this car just stands out, that stunning naturally aspirated 5.2-litre motor placed in the middle of the car. The list of advantages of turbo charging an engine is long, but in my eyes the plusses of having a naturally aspirated motor is much lengthier especially in a supercar like this. For starters the throttle pedal felt like it was connected straight to my brain, a dab and the engine reacted in a way I expected a 602bhp motor to. There is no hang, no lag. I asked of the throttle and the engine delivered immediately. This V10’s power delivery is deliciously linear and the organ compressing mid-range just makes it an easy car to point and shoot out of corners. In Corsa mode, the Huracan Spyder is so loud that I could even hear it downshifting at the far end of the track from the pitlane! Contributing factor to its ferocity and speed was also its dual-clutch transmission. The seven-speed, gearbox felt lightning-quick with its shifts and in Corsa mode it was downshifting even near it’s redline. On the track I preferred the manual mode as I was able upshift or bang down the gears at will. Although not exactly good for lap times, but the pleasure I got in hitting against the rev limiter at nearly 9000rpm, in manual mode is something I can’t describe.
As expected the Huracan was the fastest car of all. But this time was set in extremely wet conditions with ankle deep standing water, especially in the crucial C7 and entry to C8 corners. The highlight numbers of the Huracan were not only the straight-line speeds it was able to attain but also the amount of momentum it was able to carry through corners. It also had traction advantage exiting corners thanks to the AWD system. In the extremely fast, wet and tricky C1 corner, the Huracan was able to achieve a remarkable 129kmph on exit! The more amazing thing is that it was able to generate more than 1g in lateral forces in the wet. Despite having more treacherous conditions than all the other cars, the Lambo was able to carry more corner speed and also thanks to those astonishing brakes, Aditya was able to brake deeper and make up lot of time. Aditya achieved a lap time of 1m 59.7s, which he thought would have easily been about 8-10 seconds faster had it been dry.
When I saw the track this morning, with so much standing water, I said to myself, it’s not going to be much fun driving the Lamoborghini here. But I was so wrong. Just after half a lap it just felt so engaging and fun that I forgot I am driving a 600bhp plus monster. The V10 symphony, the chassis balance and combined with the AWD system gave me the confidence to go faster and eventually push very hard. This is my first encounter with a Lamborghini and I don’t think it could have been any better.
The Huracan Spyder completely lived up to my and Aditya’s expectations and is a machine that is not only rewarding in the hands of a race driver but is also easily exploitable by a novice driver like me. Sure, a rear wheel drive car will feel more thrilling on track, but given the treacherous conditions I was thankful that Lamborghini decided to send us the LP 610-4 and not the LP 580-2 version of the Huracan. Lamborghini’s of old have always had a reputation of just looking good and having a vocal engine to thrill you in a straight-line, not much else. But the Huracan completely crushes this theory and comes out as a car that is as stunning to drive as it is to look at.
Photos by Kapil Angane
