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Lamborghini explains the challenges of putting Alexa in a 640-hp coupe

LAS VEGAS — Lamborghini and Amazon will continue their collaboration in a bid to bring an ever-greater degree of connectivity to the supercar segment, the Italian firm told Autoblog on the sidelines of CES 2020. Now that Alexa technology is available in the Huracan Evo, making it available across the rest of the range is relatively straightforward. Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's research and development boss, explained adding voice recognition technology to a car like the 640-horsepower Huracan was easier said than done. "We had to split voice from the engine's sound, especially when the car is in Corsa [mode]. Alexa's engineering team spent a long time in Sant'Agata," he explained. Making the engine quieter so owners can pre-heat their oven while driving wasn't an option. The Huracan Evo released in 2019 is equipped with a relatively new, touchscreen-based infotainment system developed entirely in-house, so it was the ideal starting point. It was also one of the most challenging use cases for the engineering team, and not just because its two-seater cabin is small and noisy in the best possible way. "The V10's frequency is unique. If you take the V12 [in the Aventador S], it's much more regular. The V10's high frequency is one of the most difficult sources of sound to manage," Reggiani said. He stopped short of confirming when Lamborghini's other models will receive Amazon Alexa, though we wouldn't wait for the option to appear on the Aventador S because the model is at the end of its career, and its replacement — which will receive hybrid power — is right around the corner. Reggiani assured us adding Alexa to the Urus would be "much, much, much simpler," partly because its cabin is far quieter than the Huracan's. Why bother with technology when Lamborghini built its reputation mega horsepower? The answer is simple: Buyer demand. "We need to speak the same language as our new, younger customers," Reggiani said. "They want to ask, and to have. The car must be able to satisfy this kind of request." 

2012 Pebble Beach Concept Car Lawn offers a tutorial in cars to come

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is a showcase for some of the world's most exquisite vintage vehicles, but if newer metal is more your speed, the Concept Car Lawn is the place to be.
This year saw models from Bugatti, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley as well as SRT, Hennessey, Infiniti and Lexus among others. The ultimate sampler platter of exotic and concept vehicles saw the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse mingle with the Lamborghini Urus Concept and the mighty Hennessey Venom GT, though we found ourselves particularly smitten with the BMW Zagato Roadster and the Aston Martin Vanquish.
Not that we could go wrong anywhere we looked. The 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed seemed perfectly content parked on the manicured putting green, as did the McLaren MP4-12C Spider. Get cozy with the full gallery below to see the smattering of metal on the lawn.

2020 Lamborghini Urus Road Test | How many bags of steer manure can it haul?

The question posed in the headline probably got your attention, as a headline should. You might also be wondering how many wet, muddy golden retrievers the 2020 Lamborghini Urus can carry home from a swim. Or how many seat-kicking Girl Scouts will drop their ice cream cones as you fling them around in your Urus on their way to a field trip. Or how many board-feet you can load while on a Lamborghini lumber run to Home Depot. And the answer to all of the above is: Beats me. If you think I tried any of that in a car with a $200,000 base price — $270,000 as tested — then youÂ’d be almost as nuts as me if I had. Most of those activities were probably specifically forbidden in the fine print of the 18-page loan agreement anyway. Yes, the Lamborghini Urus is an SUV. (ItÂ’s pronounced “Ooh-rous,” by the way.) No, it is not that kind of SUV, the kind that has “utility” as its middle name. Nobody who buys this is going to get it anywhere close to fertilizer, mud, ice cream or splinters. Nobody is cross-shopping the Urus against a Highlander or Explorer. It is, instead, an extreme expression of the quest for more power, more luxury, and the craze for crossovers. Auto brands, as they are wont to do, are building the high-riding vehicles that people want, which happen to be vastly profitable. Ne plus ultra brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Lamborghini are not immune to that lure, and so they are now offering SUVs with arch luxury, uber performance and the most hoity brand cachet. Just wait until the Ferrari Purosangue hits the streets. And sure enough, the SUV formula works for the high rollers, too. Lamborghini sold more than 8,200 vehicles worldwide last year, an annual increase of 43%. And thatÂ’s because 5,000 of them were the Urus. The window sticker says 70% of the carÂ’s content is from Germany — put another way, itÂ’s mostly an Audi. But the 30% that is Lamborghini is what makes its base price nearly three times the $68,200 base price of the mechanically related Audi Q8.  When the opportunity arose to drive a Urus for a weekend, I puzzled over what exactly to do with it. With more lowly SUVs or trucks in the press fleet, auto writers typically load and haul their families and stuff to see how well the utility vehicle in question does its job in everyday life. But thatÂ’s not possible with the Urus. You canÂ’t in good conscience get the thing dirty, or risk a scuff or scratch.