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2021 Lamborghini Huracan Evo RWD First Drive | One smart, well-groomed bull

LE CASTELLET, France — Growing up in the 1990s, the Italian supercars I read about sounded like the automotive equivalent of kayaking over a waterfall — thrilling, unforgettable, and potentially very hazardous. The industry's elites were often described as cramped, unpredictable, and generally finicky but extremely rewarding for the few skilled enough to tame them. It's a stigma that still hovers above the supercar segment like a dark cloud in 2021, yet with a handful of notable exceptions, it hasn't been accurate in many years. It takes little more than a lively jaunt in a 2021 Lamborghini Huracan Evo RWD to spot how Italy's unique breed of road weapon has evolved over the past few decades. Autoblog has spent time in the Huracan Evo before, but it was in an all-wheel-drive model that we put through its paces on the Willow Springs track in Southern California. Fast-forward to 2021, and I'm in a rear-wheel-drive coupe on the picturesque winding roads surrounding the Paul Ricard circuit in Southern France. I couldn't sneak my way onto the track for a few laps because Super Trofeo and GT3-spec variants of the Huracan hogged it all weekend. Several carmakers positioned all over the automotive spectrum have used the Evo designation. In Lamborghini-speak, it denotes not a rally-bred sports sedan but an evolution of the Huracan with subtle design tweaks that add downforce and increase the amount of cooling air channeled to the engine bay. It still looks like a Huracan, but you don't need a magnifying glass to tell the updated model apart from its predecessor, especially from the back. Lamborghini saves scissor doors for its V12-powered models, like the Aventador S, so the Huracan's swing out like in a normal car's. Once inside, the first thing you notice is that it feels like a proper luxury car. The cabin is dominated by Alcantara, leather, and a type of carbon fiber called Forged Composites (which was developed in-house by the brand). It's all very well put together; the fit and finish is excellent. In the driver's seat, you face a digital instrument cluster whose layout changes depending on the driving mode selected (they're called Strada, Sport, and Corsa, respectively) and a three-spoke steering wheel with a switch that lets you select the three aforementioned profiles. Even a supercar needs technology in 2021. Stuffing a mammoth engine in a lightweight chassis hidden under an attention-grabbing body is no longer enough to lure enthusiasts.

Lamborghini chief stands by V12s

Despite the push for fuel efficiency and low carbon emissions, the V12 is still a staple of high performance. Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, and yes, Lamborghini maintain fleets of these monstrous dinosaur engines. And for the final entry on that list, that's not going to change. Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali sat down with Autocar and explained in no uncertain terms that his company will continue to offer V12s for the time being. "Our major customers and dealers around the world say: 'Please do not touch the V12'," Domenicali told Autocar. "So we will continue to work in that direction." But there's more than just customer demand driving Lambo's V12 loyalty. According to Domenicali, the company's niche is small enough to weather V12-ruining storms. "In the short term, there is still a lot of development potential in the V12," Domenicali told Autocar. "Of course, we need to understand what the market is doing in terms of emissions and legislation, but I don't see that will be a problem. We are always very open to how the market might evolve." That evolution, lately, has tended toward electrification. The flagship of Lambo's arch-nemesis Ferrari pairs a 12-cylinder engine with a hybrid system for blistering performance. Then there's the stuff happening with the V8-powered Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1. These three hybrids are in an entirely different and more potent performance (and price) class than Lamborghini's hottest model, the Aventador LP750-4 SV. Hybrids are the future of performance, for Lamborghini included... Eventually. "We cannot be disconnected to the world of the future but we want to be balanced," Domenicali said. "We need to make sure that as soon as the technology of electrification is relevant to our car at a cost level, and will add value, we are flexible to shift in that direction." Finally, Domenicali addressed advanced connectivity systems while parrying Autocar's question about autonomous vehicles. "If you own a Lamborghini, you want to have the passion of driving it and we need to keep that. But new technology could have some relevance to the driver. For example, if you are on a race track, you could have a head-up display which shows you how to maximize your performance [around a corner], using the telemetry we have now," Domenicali told AC. "That's an approach where I see that technology could be very useful for our customer." Related Video:

Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT a real-life hypercar waiting to happen

During the World Finals of the 2019 FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships held over the weekend in Monaco, Mazda showed a sketch of the RX-Vision GT3 concept coming to Gran Turismo Sport next year. Lamborghini went further, not only revealing artwork of its future playable concept, the Lambo V12 Vision GT, but also parking a full-scale model of the concept on the gaming floor. Yes, Lamborghini Lambo V12 is a quixotic kind of name that takes us back to Ferrari LaFerrari, however, everything else about the jet-fighter-inspired single-seater has us looking to the future. Instead of the Roboracer, Formula E should put together a one-make series with these.   Designed by Lamborghini Centro Stile, the Lambo V12 is a cockpit with outrigger wheels, every one of the minimal surfaces designed to purposefully shunt air around the car to the Y-shaped rear wing. The hexagonal windows extending below the shoulder line are inspired by Marcello Gandini's 1968 Marzal concept. The shoulder defines the base of a rear-hinged canopy that extends to the Lambo V12's leading edge; according to the sketch, when the canopy is raised, even the pedal box is visible as it sits above the beltline. The primary controls are on the steering wheel, all information projected in the heads-up display. Behind the pilot, the 808-horsepoewer hybrid V12 powertrain from the limited-edition Sian FKP 37. Chief designer Mitja Borkert told Top Gear the math shows the Lambo V12 weighs 819 kilograms, which would rather nicely deliver a one-to-one power-to-weight ratio — in metric horsepower and pixels, at least. Even better for gamers, the car will apparently provide "intelligent, context-sensitive advice from one of the factory drivers." Even better for those driving on real roads — and who can afford such things — Borkert said he could see the holographic display a real-world item within the next decade. The Lambo V12 will appear in-game come spring 2020 after the design team makes its final revisions. We hope there are night races so the streaker can show off its light signatures. And we hope Lamborghini makes a run of 63 track-only examples, because they'll sell at any price.