Lamborghini Huracan: Everything you need to know

Introduced in 2003, the Lamborghini Gallardo was meant to be a cheaper, more affordable and more sensible Lamborghini. It was termed as the baby Lamborghini and it went on to become the most successful Lamborghini ever. During the Gallardo era, Lamborghini manufactured 10 times more cars than what they were manufacturing earlier. 32 variants sold more 14,022 cars. That is nearly half of the total number of Lamborghini ever sold.

Its 10 year reign came to an end recently but it is being replaced by an all new car. Named the Huracan, it aims to continue the success of the Gallardo. Carrying Lamborghini’s tradition forward, the Huracan is named after a Spanish fighting bull. The Huracan aims to take the fight to the Ferrari 458 (458 is being replaced by 488) and the McLaren 650S. This means that it has to be good and every small detail should be worked upon with at most care and perfection.

Design:

With the new Huracan, Lamborghini had a design challenge. They had to keep up the design expectations from a car that was to become the successor for the best selling Lamborghini ever. Designed by Filippo Perini and his team, the Huracan sticks to Lamborghini’s design DNA, which is the silhouette of the car. It is the line that connects the front of the car to the rear. The Huracan was built with a single line. This means there is no division between the front, cockpit and the rear. Everything is connected. Just like the other Lamborghini models, the Huracan has precise lines resulting in sharp edges. This gives rise to convex and concave surfaces. The overall design gives a mix of aggressiveness and purity. To keep the sleek look of the vehicle, the air vents are overlapping surfaces. The rear has an aluminum grill to reduce size. The front of the car needs to have the aggressive look which should be depicted through the eyes. Thus, a double Y-shaped DRLs have been used to make the car instantly recognisable. The triangular and trapezoidal shapes used in the Gallardo have been replaced with hexagonal shapes. This has especially been used in a disguised in the side windows.

This theme is seen on the inside as well which sports a clean horizontally sculpted dashboard with hexagonal air vents. Compared to the Gallardo, the interiors of the Huracan seems to be stripped out. The idea was to reduce the volume. The new steering wheel has been give utmost importance since it is the first and most important point of contact for the driver. The human brain give the most attention to the top part of the steering wheel. Therefore, Lamborghini have included the side light indicators, high beam and blinkers, washer and wiper buttons on this part of the steering wheel. The bottom part of the wheel also has the ANIMA toggle switch. ANIMA stands for Adaptive Network Intelligent Management. ANIMA is the Italian for soul. The ANIMA toggle switch is used to switch between Strada, Sport and Corsa modes. These modes vary the engine response and sound, gearbox behavior, steering, all-wheel drive system and the dampers. The Huracan also gets new paddles and the engine start button, which is placed on the centre console, has been picked up from the Aventador. The car also gets a new 12.3 inch TFT virtual instrument cluster with a resolution of 1440x540 pixels. Different layouts can be chosen for the display. It can show the classic rpm display or it can show the speed of the vehicle. Along with the odometer, the navigation system can also be shown. When navigation is the most important requirement, the screen can be used to display only the navigation system. The TFT display also shows various reading like fuel level and the temperature of the engine and fuel. The car has more space and better visibility than the Gallardo. The Huracan seems to keep up to the expectations along with the Lamborghini traditions.

Aerodynamically, the car is step up from the previous Gallardo. Aerodynamics combines both engineering and design. The car should look good at the same time, it should be aerodynamically efficient. Compared to the old car, the Huracan has a 3% reduction in drag force and a massive 50% increase in downforce. This has helped improve aerodynamic balance and the grip levels. The car is now able to put more downforce at the front, reducing the chance of understeer. The car’s efficiency, that is the ratio between drag and downforce, has also increased by 8%. More attention was given to the underbody to keep it clean, which helps the rear diffuser. The Huracan also has a good cooling efficiency. All this has been achieved without using movable flaps and spoilers. The perfect flow also reduces wind noise and turbulence.

Engine and Transmission:

The Lamborghini Huracan is powered by a re-tuned version of the same 5.2-litre, naturally aspirated 90 degree V10 found in the Gallardo. Lamborghini have not taken the turbocharging or hybrid engines path for their road cars yet. The new engine, with multi point fuel injection, now makes 610 horsepower at 8250 rpm. This means a specific output of 117.3 hp per litre. The torque figure stands at 560 Nm at 6500 rpm. 75% of the torque produced is available from as low as 1000 rpm. The carbon dioxide emissions are down by 11% and the engine now obeys Euro 6 emission norms. The engine block is made out of cast aluminium alloy whereas the crankcase is made out of aluminium silicon alloy to give it better wear resistance. The engine, which has the new Iniezione Diretta Stratificata which combines direct and indirect injection to achieve higher power output but decreases fuel consumption and emissions at the same time, is mounted longitudinally. The car gets a stop start function as well.

The power from the engine is transmitted to all four wheels via a new hydraulic seven speed dual clutch transmission called the Lamborghini Doppia Frizione. This new tech translates into much faster gear changes which is a huge improvement over the single clutch transmission in the Gallardo. Both the clutches are 200mm in diameter which guarantees that the torque distribution is same. The gearbox is able to provide smooth shifting without any torque distribution. The new unit is just 60 centimetres long. The Huracan is also fitted with the latest launch control to give it outstanding acceleration figures. The car also features a new all-wheel drive system. It has a new full electronic controlled system whereas the Gallardo had a visco coupling unit. The all-wheel drive system is rear biased. It sends 30% of the power to the front wheels and 70% to the rear wheels. The maximum that can be sent to the rear wheels is 100% which makes it a rear wheel drive car wheres 50% is the maximum that can be sent to the front wheels.

Steering and Suspension:

The steering system is one of the most important parts of the car since it connects the driver to the car and gives vital feedback to the driver which enhances the driving experience. The Huracan features an electro mechanical rack-and-pinion power steering where in different modes or at different speeds, the wheel turns at different angles for the same steering input. This can be helpful while parking since you get a larger wheel angle. On the race track, Lamborghini Dynamic Steering gives a good feedback to the driver due to its variable steering ratio. The power assistance decreases as speed increases. The LDS also decreases understeer and oversteer by giving tiny directed counterteering impulses. The new steering mechanism also has improved precision and agility which helps improve the driver’s confidence.

The car is equipped with a double wishbone suspension coupled with magneto-rheological dampers. In strada or comfort mode, the suspension and dampers gives better comfort to the driver and passenger. In sport and corsa modes, it improves the handling characteristics of the car for track and dynamic usage. The suspension is made from forged aluminium to reduce unsprung masses. The pistons in the shock absorbers have tiny magnetic particles in the synthetic oil. When a voltage is applied, they align themselves perpendicularly to the flow of electricity. During turn-in, it raises the damping force at the outside front wheel. This reduces body roll and in-turn improves reaction time.

Brakes and Tires:

The new Lamborghini comes with carbon ceramic brake discs as standard. In the front, it is fitted with 380mm diameter brakes with six calipers whereas the rear has 350mm diameter brakes with four calipers. The new brakes are lighter and have better stopping power over the previous Gallardo. Carbon ceramic brakes have better heat dissipation capacity than normal steel disc brakes

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The tires fitted on the Gallardo replacement are new Pirelli P ZERO tires on standard 20 inch alloy wheels. The new tires have good grip levels thanks to the thread pattern. It gives good feeling and improves the confident of the driver. It has the right wearing and the right rolling resistance which is crucial for carbon dioxide emissions. It gives proper comfort for driving in city. On the track, it has been designed to react in extreme ways. It has a dedicated setup for maximum performance in every condition.

Iniertial platform and hybrid chassis:

The Huracan debuts the latest sophisticated Lamborghini Plattaforma Inerziale. This new technology maximizes vehicle performance and improves responsiveness of vehicular dynamics. Before its application in the Huracan, it has been used to calculate real time positioning of planes and rockets. The car has three accelerometers and three gyroscopes placed in its centre of gravity. They monitor all aspects of the vehicle’s performance and send the information gathered to the brain of the car. It then decides the necessary action to be taken to improve the performance and varies the amount of power going to each wheel. All the parts of the car are tuned to react to this system and give the exact output to maximize performance. The system measures X, Y and Z accelerations along with roll, pitch and yaw rates.

The new chassis gives the best balance between torsional stiffness and weight. It is made with the integration of two different materials – one isotropic and one non-isotropic. The chassis was designed in collaboration with Audi to decide the type of joints and curing techniques. The chassis combines aluminium and carbon-fibre reinforced polymer. Carbon-fibre has been used around the occupant cell. The orientation of the fibres gives good protection even during a side impact. The chassis gives the best balance between torsional stiffness and weight. The torsional stiffness has been increased by 50% compared to the Gallardo and there has been a 10% reduction in weight. The Huracan weighs 200 kilograms less than the Gallardo.

Result:

All this amazing tech on the new Lamborghini results in sensational performance. The Huracan hits 100km/hr in just 3.2 seconds and 200km/hr in 9.9 seconds. It has a top speed of over 325km/hr. The Huracan weighs just 1,422 kg (dry). This gives it a weight to power ratio of only 2.33kg/hp. The Huracan gives a combined efficiency of 8kmpl and a carbon dioxide emission of 290g/km. On the TopGear test track, the Stig took the Huracan around in 1:15.8 which is quicker than its bigger brother, the mighty Aventador. All these facts show that the Huracan is a sensational product.

Source - Lamborghini Media Centre
(image courtesy: Google Images and Lamborghini Media)