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Lamborghini Huracan Evo Rear-Wheel Drive promises lots of oversteer

The debut of the Lamborghini Huracan EVO Rear-Wheel Drive can be seen as a propitious start to the Gregorian New Year, or a starburst finale for the Chinese Year of the Rat – either take works. Coming 12 months after the reveal of its all-wheel-drive sibling, and true to its label, the Huracan EVO RWD sends all of its firepower to the rear wheels. That means 610 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, spun from a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, turning a set of 19-inch Kari wheels on Pirelli P Zeros. Lamborghini says putting the front axle on vacation lets the coupe "deliver the most emotive, fun-to-drive experience in both dry and wet conditions, and even snow." If our last experience with an RWD Huracan holds true, the driving experience – albeit a touch slower at the limit than the four-wheel version – is more fluid in every phase of handling that involves a crook in the road. Jettisoning mechanicals to drive the front wheels saves 73 pounds, the Huracan EVO RWD coming in at 3,062 pounds dry. The dash to 62 miles per hour takes 3.3 seconds, 0.4 seconds adrift of the EVO AWD, but the top speed holds steady at 203 mph. Engineers reprogrammed the Performance Traction Control System (P-TCS) for the new power delivery in all three driving modes; "Strada" minimizes slippage for everyday piloting, "Sport" opens up slip angles and drifting potential, "Corsa" balances slip and traction for ideal, kerb-kissing corner exits. When the driver's right foot demands more performance than the tires can provide, the P-TCS is calibrated for smooth cuts to and restoration of torque delivery  Designers differentiated the rear-driver from the all-wheel driver with a new, more conservative front fascia with three polygonal intakes above a new front splitter. In back, there's a new diffuser design under the high-gloss black bumper.    Deliveries begin in spring this year, the starting price in the U.S. $208,571, compared to $261,274 for the all-wheel drive coupe. Related Video:

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:

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: