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Lamborghini walks us through improvements it made to the Huracan

LE CASTELLET, France — Lamborghini's updated Huracan EVO2 will make its competition debut during the 2022 season of the Super Trofeo one-make series. Visually, it gains a new-look design that blazes the path future models — including production cars — will follow in the coming years. There's more to it than a face-lift, and we sat down with Leonardo Galante, the man in charge of technical development for Lamborghini's racing arm, to get the full scoop on the changes made. "It's a big step from EVO to EVO2, and we focused on three main pillars," Galante told us at the Paul Ricard track. Design is the first; aerodynamics is the second, and it's closely linked to design; braking performance is the third. Customers and enthusiasts will notice design before any of the mechanical changes, so Galante's team worked directly with Centro Stile, the company's in-house design department, to update the Huracan. The lights are thinner on both ends, and the rear units are embedded in a housing that echoes the Countach's back end. Air curtains are now positioned on either side of the front fascia, while a redesigned diffuser dominates the Huracan's rear end. Centro Stile and Squadra Corse had an equal influence on these updates. "We learned a lot in terms of shapes, about how to make a car look beautiful, and designers learned a lot about the principles of aerodynamics," Galante explained. "We worked together to define the best shapes to generate an efficient aerodynamic profile. We want to generate as much downforce as possible while creating as little drag as possible." Sculpting a car's aerodynamic profile isn't as straightforward as merely adding wings, spoilers, vents, and ducts to keep it glued to the ground around a turn. Galante stressed the quality of the downforce generated by the various add-ons is just as important as headline-grabbing figures. His aim was to keep the car as stable and predictable as possible, even when the weight balance shifts under heavy braking from triple-digit speeds. Feedback provided by Super Trofeo competitors since the beginning of the series helped his team dial in the right amount of downforce. Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo 2 View 11 Photos "With my group, I design the car, but I'm also here on the race track listening to the teams. When something is very good, or when something is very bad, I get immediate feedback. This is a very good part of my job," he said. Braking was one of the areas he wanted to improve.

Five different Huracans? Lamborghini's thinking about it

Lamborghini will make sure there's a Huracan for every potential (supercar) customer by offering at least five versions over the model's lifetime, including one with even more performance. Company boss Stephan Winkelmann might be on the way out at Lambo, but he opened up to Autocar about the future. Winkelmann confirms that Lamborghini has a more hardcore Huracan under development. "For sure there will be a car that is going in the direction of lighter and faster," he said. Spy shots from earlier this year possibly show the model testing with tweaks to the rear end and camouflage that suggests relocated exhaust pipes. The company also could offer a droptop version of the incredible LP580-2 (pictured above), which we recently drove. The current boss didn't detail other specific versions of the Huracan, but suggested that more variants might be possible. "It could be more than five derivatives over the life cycle. We have a lot of ideas that are already planned, but the more we think, the more things are coming up," he said. Adding more versions of the already popular Huracan could help Lamborghini boost volume further before the release of the Urus around 2018. The company had a sales record in 2014 and was on track for an even better result this year. Related Video:

Hybrid Sian Roadster becomes Lamborghini's most powerful convertible

Lamborghini chopped off the Sian's top to create its most powerful convertible model to date. The limited-edition Sian Roadster features an innovative hybrid powertrain and a wide panoply of customization options. Viewed from the front, the Roadster is nearly identical to the Sian coupe introduced at the 2019 edition of the Frankfurt auto show. Its long, low nose wears a carbon fiber splitter and Y-shaped LED headlights. It's the same story out back, where the shape of the lights again draws a subtle parallel between the Sian and the Countach built between 1974 and 1990. The engine remains visible through a horizontal wings made with carbon fiber, but they're flanked by deep scoops that start right behind the occupants and flow into a set of air vents. Surprisingly, the Roadster is just as aerodynamic as the coupe. Autoblog learned it will not come with any kind of roof. Technology reigns supreme in the cabin. The driver sits in front of a digital, configurable instrument cluster, and a touchscreen integrated into the slanted center stack displays the infotainment system Lamborghini designed in-house. The air vents are 3D-printed, and buyers can customize them by adding their initials. Nearly every part of the interior can be personalized, including the upholstery and the type of the materials used to make trim pieces. Mitja Borkert, the head of Lamborghini's design department, previously promised no two examples of the Sian coupe will be identical. It's reasonable to assume that every Roadster will be equally unique. The Sian lost its top without losing any of its mechanical panache. The Roadster is identical to the coupe, meaning it's equipped with Lamborghini's first production-bound hybrid system. The powertrain consists of a mid-mounted, naturally-aspirated V12 engine and an electric motor integrated into the transmission. It draws electricity from a supercapacitor to inject 34 horses into the driveline, bringing the setup's total output to 819 horsepower. Lamborghini quotes a 2.9-second sprint from zero to 62 mph, and a 217-mph top speed. Using a supercapacitor instead of a lithium-ion battery pack is not the easiest or cheapest way to build a hybrid, but engineers claim it's the best solution. It's three times more powerful than a battery with a comparable weight; put another way, it's three times lighter than one with a similar power output.