2014 lamborghini huracan

If ever a Lamborghini came close to ubiquity, the Gallardo pulled the trick. More than 14,000 of the roughly $200,000 exotics found homes over a 10-year run that ended this year, making it the Toyota Corolla of the V-10–powered sports-car realm. It’s fitting, then, that Lamborghini chose to honor a fighting bull known for its “unrelenting character” and “invincible” nature by applying its name, Huracán, to the car’s replacement. Intended to pick up where the Gallardo left off, the Huracán continues Lamborghini’s work to civilize its wares and expand their everyday-usable appeal.

This, of course, is tricky, because Lambo has for years traded on a widowmaker image bolstered by stuff like the Countach and the Diablo. But the brand’s first real dash toward sanity, the Aventador, is immensely capable and eminently drivable—a high-performance ride that aims to minimize come-to-Jesus moments.

Il Diavolo, Leggero

To this end, Lamborghini is calling the Huracán “a new dimension in luxury super sports cars,” that “combines absolute performance with easy-to-drive road behavior.” We may look upon the days of the hairy, take-no-prisoners, don’t-eff-up-that-corner hero cars of Lamborghini’s past with nostalgia—and quietly be relieved that those days indeed are in the past—but we’re still getting used to hearing such boasts from Sant’Agata. And to those in the know, Huracán drivers won’t be regarded as having the bowling-ball-sized family jewels Countach pilots drag around. But because the car’s styling hews closely to the exotic wedge concept that’s defined Lamborghinis since the 1970s, image-conscious rich folk needn’t fret. Laypeople won’t be able to tell that that splinter of a car you’re riding in coddles with stability control and an automatic transmission.

Within that familiar shape, though, plenty is new, including Aventador-mimicking detailing that incorporates plenty of angles, hexagonal elements, and surface depth. Whereas the Gallardo’s snout was wide, flat, and adorned with simpler headlights, the Huracán gets thinner peepers stuffed with dual Y-shaped LED accents, a plethora of creases and subtle surface bends, and a gaping full-width intake treatment. The perception of a stylist’s caring touch extends down the body sides, which are more three-dimensional than the Gallardo’s slab sides, and we particularly like the way the side windows appear embedded into body—we can’t imagine blind-spot visibility will be one of the Huracán’s strong suits, however. In the way back, the blade-like tail appears borrowed directly from the Aventador, although it seems better executed here thanks to the awesome-looking wide-set quad exhaust outlets.

Ten Cylinders, Two Clutches, and One Special Audi

The 2014 Huracán might pack a more steady-handed driving experience, but it follows a performance format identical to the Gallardo’s. There’s still a mid-mounted 5.2-liter V-10 driving all four wheels, and evolution comes by way of a bump in power to 601 horses and 413 lb-ft of torque, big jumps over the Gallardo’s 552 ponies and 398 lb-ft, putting it in the same atmosphere as the larger V-12–powered Aventador. Down the road, rear-drive versions will be offered, as they were on the Gallardo. A new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission takes the place of the Gallardo’s finicky single-clutch automatic. To the dismay of us and the five or so people who bought Gallardos thus equipped, a manual transmission won’t be available in the Huracán.

Underneath, the Huracán shares a notable amount of components with Audi’s next-generation R8, as the two make use of Volkswagen Group’s modular sports-car architecture (MSS). In the Lambo’s case, the structure uses a combination of carbon fiber and aluminum to deliver a claimed dry weight of about 3100 pounds; moistened with fluids, we’d up that figure by at least 100, but that’s still light compared to the Gallardo, which weighed about 3500 pounds depending on the trim. (Lighter Superleggera and special-edition models shed as much as 100 pounds.) Lamborghini says the lighter Huracán and its engine stop-start system should return better fuel economy, although given this is a high-performance 10-cylinder supercar, don’t expect miracles. Reduced mass also should bring Gallardo-bettering performance, but we’ll have to wait to verify this with our own testing. For now, the estimation machine in Sant’Agata says the new Lambo is good for a 3.2-second 0-to-62-mph time and a top speed eclipsing 202 mph.

Hanno a Modo Tuo

Among its onboard electronic gadgetry, the Huracán offers an array of driver-selectable modes for the transmission, throttle mapping, all-wheel-drive system, stability control, and optional magnetorheological dampers and variable-ratio steering rack. These settings are distilled to three key choices: Strada (street), Sport, and Corsa (race), and are selectable via a thumb switch on the steering wheel. Carbon-ceramic brakes are standard. The cabin continues the have-it-your-way theme, and offers what’s sure to be a bevy of color choices for the Nappa leather and Alcantara that seem to cover everything. The interior design has been brought into this decade, and shares its angular and sculptural look with, you guessed it, the Aventador. The gauge cluster consists of a customizable 12.3-inch color TFT screen, and the central tunnel is thinner and more elegant than the Gallardo’s chunky piece.

Whether the Huracán’s innards and driving experience live up to Lamborghini’s claims of luxurious sports-car-ness can’t be confirmed until we drive one. Still, as good as added refinement sounds, we do hope a little of the actual Huracán bull’s “strong sense of attack,” as Lamborghini puts it, makes it into the final product. After all, “ferocious” is an adjective that applies equally well to a hurricane or a bull.