The launch of the Huracán LP580-2 effectively gives Lamborghini two different Huracán platforms on which to base other models, and the company’s insistence that we should not see its newest variant as being merely a base version leads to wonder whether any other variants will be allowed to share its power-oversteering, fun-to-drive ethos.
There definitely won’t be a rear-drive Aventador; a phrase that looks scary even when written down, with Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann—who may be leaving for Audi Quattro next year—telling us at the launch of the LP580-2 that he thinks it would be too much of a handful. “The Aventador will always stick to four-wheel drive,” he says. “It’s all about safety in this case because the torque of the V-12 engine is immense and the drivability would be very tricky with only rear-wheel drive. So we will definitely stick to four wheel drive.”
And the Huracán? Unlike its predecessor, it was designed with a rear-driven variant in mind from the very beginning—the two-wheel-drive Gallardo (and Gallardo Spyder) was not much more sophisticated than a standard car with its front driveshafts removed. The Huracan LP580-2 loses the electrically operated clutch pack on the LP610-2 as well as its propshaft and related front-drive hardware. Losing them saves 72 pounds in weight, a relatively modest amount, but enough to make the rear-drive Huracán the obvious base for any future Superleggera version.
“The Huracán was always designed to be either four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive,” says Winkelmann. “The Murciélago and Gallardo were already on the market when we decided to do two-wheel-drive versions. With the Huracán we did it early in the development, it was an integral part of our plan for the car. That obviously gives more time to develop things that we did not do with the Gallardo, I can say that. We will see, but there are lots of ideas.”
Lamborghini’s R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani was on hand to drop some hints as well: “I would love to do a faster version [of the LP580-2], but there are so many ideas and that is just one of them.” So not quite a yes, but definitely not a no. Having driven the LP580-2 and found it to be considerably more exciting than its four-wheel-drive sister, we reckon more rear-drive variations are worth lobbying for.
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