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2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 Spyder First Drive

Convertibles get a bad rap when it comes to performance cars. Once, a lack of a roof meant extra performance. Now it means added weight and loss of structural rigidity. This stigma even applies to supercars, maybe more so. In the case of Lamborghini, the Huracan LP 610-4 Spyder is the "lifestyle" version. Which is silly, but doesn't diminish the appeal. Essentially, the Spyder is a Huracan with a fabric roof. Same 602-horsepower V10 inches behind the cabin, same hybrid aluminum-and-carbon-fiber construction, and same all-wheel-drive (though updated across the line for 2016). The performance compromise is a mere one mile per hour drop in top speed, and two-tenths of a second slower claimed 0-62 mph time of 3.4 seconds. (We suspect this is generously slow, to protect the egos of coupe owners). All told, the Spyder adds about 220 pounds in curb weight versus the coupe (Italian "dry" weight numbers are notoriously optimistic, so take the 3,650-pound Spyder claim with a grain of salt). The aerodynamic management on the Spyder is so good that the 201-mph top speed is valid with both the top up and retracted. In detail, the conversion in making the Huracan convertible is extensive. The roof itself is three layers of fabric, with a middle rubberized ply to cut down on interior noise. The design brief was to maintain the Huracan's hexagons-gone-wild theme with the top up and down. Spend 17 seconds waiting for the fully automatic top to lower, and the shape retains the coupe's motif. Part of the top's electronic ballet is a pair of flaps that extend out to preserve the shape of the B-pillar. Those flaps also feature narrow slits that smooth the wind along the side of the car, reducing turbulence near the driver's and passenger's ears. Additional side deflectors keep more wind away from your head. And with the top down the rear window's maximum height is restricted to prevent it from catching air. The aerodynamic management on the Spyder is so good that the 201-mph top speed is valid with both the top up and retracted. Suck on that, coupe aficionados. The Huracan's performance is so ridiculous that few can explore the margin between the two bodystyles. In any case, we didn't get much chance to stretch the Huracan's legs on our press drive in Miami, due a torrential downpour and the fact that South Florida is a terrible place for driving. Maybe that's where the "lifestyle" portion comes in, because Miami is a fantastic town for flaunting wealth.

Lamborghini Pregunta Paris concept offered at $2.1M [w/video]

When the Lamborghini Veneno was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, there were those who connected dots from it to the Lamborghini Pregunta concept from 1998, and also to the Pagani Zonda that arrived one year later. Near the end of the turmoil that was Lamborghini's ownership through the mid-nineties, an order was placed with the French Carrosserie Heuliez for a one-off concept car that was "new, original and impossible to confuse with any other car's shapes," that would be built on a Diablo chassis. The result was the Pregunta.
It was an aerospace-influenced supercar with carbon fiber bodywork, a 530-horsepower V12 and a claimed 207-mile-per-hour top speed. It employed rear-wheel drive instead of the Diablo's all-wheel drive, was coated in the same paint used on the French military's Dassault Rafale fighter jet and had fiber optic lighting, rear-view cameras and a GPS system. It was shown to the world at the 1998 Paris Motor Show, and again at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show.
Thought to be the last concept built on a Lamborghini body before Audi bought the company in 1998, AutoDrome, a French specialist in vintage exotics, has the Pregunta for sale for 1.6 million euros ($2.1M US). You can watch it hit the runway with a Rafale in the video below, then give AutoDrome a call if you're interested.

2018 Lamborghini Huracan Performante First Drive | The Banshee of Sant'Agata

Lamborghini didn't need to build the Huracan Performante. The folks in Sant'Agata could have just rolled out another special-edition Huracan - Superleggera, Tricolore, probably even Mostaccholi - and sold every one. Instead, they gave the junior Lamborghini a trick active aerodynamics system and updated everything enabled by new levels of downforce and more grip from the latest-generation of tires. And then just to prove it's not messing around, Lamborghini went out and set at new production-car Nurburgring Lap Record. The Huracan Performante is a statement. This is Lamborghini's way of saying that its future will not just be high-tech, but the kind that brings world-class performance. And it will be loud. Very loud. Sound is the most defining characteristic of this car. In the era of turbocharging, everything else is too quiet. Quiet is not a problem in the Performante. In track-ready Corsa mode (one of three settings), the exhaust drowns out everything, even your internal monologue. And it's not just loud, it sounds like an honest-to-god racecar. Making a V10 sound not just decent, but back-of-the-neck-hair thrilling, would have been enough. But as we've hinted, there's more to the Huracan Performante. So how did we get here? Lamborghini rolled out the Performante title to define all-encompassing performance. So the all-wheel-drive system stays, the engine gets tweaked, some weight goes out, and Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva (ALA, or Lamborghini Active Aerodynamics) comes in. Fun fact: Ala means "wing" in Italian. We've covered most of the details in earlier posts, but to quickly review: ALA uses internal flaps at the front splitter and on the rear wing to alter airflow, either running for maximum downforce or creating a stall effect that lowers drag. At the rear, the system channels air through the wing struts, and using each side independently aids the handling. The increased downforce, plus sticky new Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, necessitated a retuning of the suspension. Through new springs and anti-roll bars, vertical stiffness is up 10 percent, and roll stiffness increases 15 points. The engine gets a new intake and exhaust, plus titanium intake valves that allow more lift. The improved breathing is good for 630 horsepower, 28 more than before, with 443 pound-feet of torque. And to tie it all together, the integrated chassis control system (Lamborghini calls it ANIMA) was recalibrated.