Dream Drive
The oddly specific time period above is how long it took the Lamborghini Huracan Performante to complete a lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The famed 20.83 km circuit in Germany features 73 corners and is considered the global benchmark for performance vehicle testing and development. To put that lap time into perspective, the 2015 Volkswagen Golf R completed the same lap in eight min 14sec. That makes the Performante incredibly fast, so when Lamborghini invited me to drive one in the Western Cape recently, I quite literally leap at the opportunity.
Dreams into reality
The decision by Lamborghini South Africa to place three Performante models into their press fleet was a bold one, but like its products, Lamborghini isn’t about playing it safe, so the local motoring media had a shot at driving one of the most hyped supercars of the past decade.
In truth, the Performante isn’t exactly a new car with press drives dating back as far as 2017 with the updated Huracan Evo already being available for order locally, however, the technology used in this car is still cutting edge with most of its development work being transferred into the Aventador SVJ.
The Performante
The ‘regular’ Huracan certainly wasn’t lacking in performance or charisma, but as with most supercar makers, there had to be a faster and more hardcore variant produced.
In the Performante, Lamborghini has taken the standard Huracan and added in some clever aerodynamics, which the Sant’Agata automaker calls ‘Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva’ or ALA. What’s more, the Performante also has power, 470 kW and 600 N.m of torque from the 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10, while also being lighter by 40 kg.
The lower weight comes courtesy of forged carbon composites for the rear spoiler, rear diffuser and front splitter which are also used or the aforementioned active aerodynamics. The suspension has also been revised with a stiffer setup, while the steering has been re-worked too while there are also stickier 20-inch Pirelli PZero Corsa tyres.
Add all this in, and the results speak for themselves with 100 km/h from standstill coming up in 2.9 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 8.9 seconds and a top speed of well over 300km/h. All of this performance is accessible thanks to a rear-bias four-wheel-drive system as well as a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox
The drive
Leaving the Lamborghini showroom in Cape Town’s Century City early on a Monday morning on-board a Rosso Mars Huracan with two Performante’s and an Aventador S ahead of my driving partner and I was one of the most surreal moments of my automotive career so far.
Once out of the city, we had a chance to feel what Lamborghini’s most hardcore Huracan to date has to offer in the way of on-road driving manners. Aside from the incredible howl from the V10 and the rather ferocious shifts from the gearbox, the stiffer suspension and less forgiving seats were immediately apparent over the imperfect surfaces.
I wouldn’t be able to tell you much about the ergonomics, how well the infotainment system works nor how practical the Performante is because, well, I couldn’t care less. What I can tell you is that Lamborghini has made a supercar that you and I can drive, and drive hard, with confidence.
I’ll spare you the details of the ALA system, but it’s safe to say that this car generates real downforce – it simply feels as if it will never come unstuck dynamically. Due to the fact that the four hours I had with the car are likely the only time I’ll ever have with a Performante again, I left it in Corsa, the most aggressive driving mode with the other two being Sport and Strada.
I simply couldn’t believe the level of grip and the savage thump from the gear shifts. I’ve driven scary performance cars and I’ve driven sedate performance cars, but the Huracan manages to provide a balance of excitement that’s on par with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, yet feels more accessible when really pushing on.
Coming from a string of turbocharged performance cars recently, the Huracan doesn’t feel insanely fast, but watching the speedometer climb from the passenger seat is quite incredible. I now fully understand the excuse “I’m sorry officer, I didn’t know how fast was I was going.”
Verdict
The day spent with the Performante will be forever etched into my mind, a day where I had access to what is likely one of the very last naturally aspirated supercars as we approach the all-electric and hybridised future. The maker of some of the most theatrical cars of all time still knows how to make a poster car; even now in my late 20s I’d have a poster of one on my wall, but for a slightly different reason.
