2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2 India track drive

Could the cheaper, less powerful Lamborghini Huracán LP580-2 really be the pick of the range?

Published on Oct 11, 2016 08:00:00 AM

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2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2 India track drive

A Huracán can inspire a bit of disobedience in anyone.

the sci-fi cockpit seems to envelop you in the low driver’s seat.

EASING BACK IN

Okay, no more childish bravado. It’s time to ‘learn’ this car from scratch, and this time with a far gentler hand. I do remember that the nose is a lot, lot lighter than the LP610-4, since it doesn’t have to bear the burden and stresses of driveshafts at its front wheels, and all of the 33kg weight loss has happened at the front. It’s so much quicker to turn in, and though freshly re-surfaced, I can still feel every last ripple of the MMRT as I flick through the chicanes. The lighter nose also means the rearward weight bias is all that more evident in this car, and I have to teach myself to drive around that, lest it take another swipe at me. Carefully, I up the pace, hurling the yellow wedge into corners a little bit faster each time, and when the 305-section rear tyres do let go even a little bit, a quick pang of dread jabs me in the spine. The furthest I dare set the Anima switch is the middle ‘Sport’ setting, and of course the ESP switch stays firmly on. I’m not testing this car, it’s testing me. Slowly but surely, it’s all coming back to me; we’re becoming friends again, no longer hitman and target.

Concentration through corners, big dumb grin on the straights.

Phew, I’ve made it to the back straight in one piece, and I whack the V10 wide open – the howl, I’m told, is so crisply audible in the control tower, they don’t need to look to know where I am at any point. Can I tell that this motor has 30hp less than the AWD Huracán? Not a chance. It yells just as loudly, filling the two-seat cabin with a beautiful cacophony. Unlike Taiwan, I know the braking point for the tight right-hander that follows, so I slam late on the fast-biting steel petal discs and with it, apply two big downshifts on the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox – BWOARMMM… BWOARMMM… Words cannot do the sound justice.

A DYING BREED

Will we ever have another high-capacity atmospheric engine ever again? It’s certainly looking unlikely, and this is a thought that furrows my brow as I tackle the last corner before the home straight – uncoiling the steering and feeding in the throttle in unison. The hum becomes a snarl becomes a growl becomes a shout becomes a wail, and my eyes are almost watering as the MMRT’s longest straight is dispatched in the blink of an eye. I’m trying to count the number of high-performance motors available in India that don’t use forced induction of some sort – not easy when you’re also negotiating the 90-degree right of C2 – and, well, there’s Jeep’s 6.4-litre HEMI, the Mustang, this car’s sibling the Aventador, this car’s step-sibling the R8, some high-end Ferraris, one Maserati and a few Astons that are about to be replaced. That’s it.

5.2 V10 makes 30hp less than the LP610-4, but you won’t know it over all the noise

That gorgeous sound is just one side of the story; there’s also the power delivery. I never thought I could say this of something with 580hp but it’s just so damn manageable. There’s no sudden on-boost-off-boost step as the revs climb and fall amidst your gearshifts, and yes, while turbocharged engines have gotten so much better these days, there’s just no beating normal aspiration for predictability. Yes, you have to rev it to the high heavens to get the most out of it. And…? Exactly. With an 8,500rpm redline and the one-of-a-kind noise this Italian V10 makes, how could that possibly be a reason to complain?