2005 Lamborghini Murcielago 5k Miles - Coupe - Absolutely Pristine! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

Volkswagen Group's Vision 2030 strategy could bring revolution to the brands

One would expect a corporate plan called "Vision 2030," looking 11 years ahead through wildly tumultuous times, to involve great change and numerous forks in numerous roads. According to Automobile's breakdown of Volkswagen's path forward, though, the plans contain some lurid potential surprises. The ultimate aim is return on investment, and that means ruthless reorganization of a conglomerate with eight primary car brands, two car sub-brands, and Ducati motorcycles. The first two Vision 2030 cornerstones Automobile mentions are near boilerplate: Production network restructuring, and "streamlining of key technologies." The latter two are the ones that could upend what we know as the Volkswagen Group: focusing on the Group's core brands — meaning Audi, Porsche, and VW — and transitioning to EVs, autonomy, and other mobility solutions. Based on the report, a quote from Audi's CTO referring to the Audi brand could cover how the Group plans to handle all of its brands: "We need to find a sustainable solution for the indefinite transition period until EVs eventually take over." The boutique divisions adjacent to carmaking, Ducati and Italdesign, look likely to be spun off. For the halo car brands — Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini — apparently shareholders want double-digit returns on investment, and the trio doesn't have long to hit the target. One eyebrow raiser is when the report states, "Bugatti is tipped to be gifted to [ex-VW Group Chairman] Ferdinand Piech." Piech fathered the Veyron during his tenure at VW, and it was thought he commissioned the La Voiture Noire, but he's lately stepped so far back from VW that he sold all his shares in the Group. Automobile quoted a senior strategist as saying of money-losing Bentley, "Why invest on a backward-looking enterprise when you can support a trendsetter? A proud history and excellent craftmanship alone don't cut it anymore." We guess no one at Ferrari, McLaren, or even Porsche got that memo. Bentley is reportedly close to being put in time out, and if brand CEO Adrian Hallmark can't right the Crewe ship, the hush-hush Plan B is to prop the Flying B up enough to lure a buyer. As for Lamborghini, caught between two masters at Audi and Porsche, even record-breaking numbers at the Italian supercar maker barely staved off sacrilege. It's said that VW brand CEO Herbert Diess considered putting a 5.0-liter Porsche V8 into the Aventador successor.

New Lamborghini Urus variant shown racing up Pikes Peak

Lamborghini set an all-time sales record in 2021 thanks in part to the Urus. The super-SUV has predictably been a hit, and it's getting an update in the near future to remain competitive. Footage published on social media gives us a preview of what to expect from the model. Posted on Instagram, the short video shows a camouflaged Urus prototype racing up Pikes Peak in Colorado. "When you're going that fast anything can happen," the narrator warns, but the preview stops short of revealing exactly what we're looking at. The footage of the SUV isn't much help, either: the Urus moves fast and is rarely in focus. Earlier spy shots may provide better insight into what's coming, however. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Images of a pre-production prototype testing in the snow published in January 2022 suggest that the visual changes made to the Urus will be relatively minor. They include additional vents integrated into the front bumper and a redesigned rear bumper. We're also expecting that the interior will receive new tech features, and it's not too far-fetched to speculate that a handful of mechanical changes will be found under the sheet metal. And, unverified rumors claim that a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain will be made available in the coming years. Lamborghini will release additional details about its new Urus flavor in the not-too-distant future. That's also when we'll find out more about the Pikes Peak connection. Is the Italian firm planning to dethrone sister company Bentley and set a new SUV record? Stay tuned. For context, the current record holder is a Bentayga that raced up the 156-corner mountain in 10 minutes and 49.9 seconds in June 2018. The updated Urus isn't the only new Lamborghini model in the pipeline. The final evolution of the Huracan will make its debut before the end of 2022 and it will be worth waiting for: it will be a production-bound version of the off-road-ready Sterrato concept unveiled in June 2019. Lamborghini SUV Luxury Performance