Leaked all over t'internet it may have been, but the official unveiling of any new Lamborghini is big, big news and none more so than this. When Lamborghini revealed the original Gallardo, a full decade ago, it was the first Lamborghini to have been fully designed, engineered and built under Volkswagen Group ownership and the car's consistently strong sales (aided by a constant string of occasionally spurious special edition models) have propelled Lambo from one-time basket-case to serious supercar maker.
Now, it's time for the difficult second album, and with rivals such as the all-conquering Ferrari 458 Italia, the ballistic McLaren 12C and the giant-slaying Porsche 911 Turbo standing in its way, the new Huracán has to be right first time.
Exterior
While there's an obvious allegory to be drawn between the explosive power of a Lamborghini and nature's most powerful storms, the Huracán is once again named after a famous Spanish fighting bull, one that became famous in Alicante in 1879. There's no bull (aye thangew) about the styling though - this is modern Lamborghini design at its best, featuring obvious cues from the bigger Aventador (the lights, the taut cut lines) but in a more restrained, more pleasing package. There is room for some excitement though; check out that dramatic line where the door sweeps up into the air intake, while the cabin of the car appears to have been vacuum-sucked in from the sides.
Interior
Lamborghini is claiming a big increase in cabin quality over the outgoing Gallardo (which was hardly a slouch in that department) and such things as leather and Alcantara upholstery and a 12.3-inch TFT touchscreen will be standard.
Mechanicals
Underneath, there is a chassis that mixes carbon fibre and aluminium in a package Lamborghini describes as having "race-car precision with outstanding stiffness." The fact that the structure will be shared with the more affordable next-gen Audi R8 is the reason that the Huracán doesn't have an expensive full carbon mono-cell. This would also help to explain why weight has gone up slightly from 1,410- to 1,422kg overall.
Once again, the Huracán uses Lamborghini's 5.2-litre V10 engine, this time developing a whopping 610hp that can propel it from 0-100km/h in just 3.2 seconds - half a second quicker than the old Gallardo LP 540-4. At launch, there is no manual gearbox option (Lambo isn't yet officially saying whether or not one will be offered) and power is distributed to all four wheels by an Audi-sourced seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that the Italians call Lamborghini Doppia Frizione (Why don't we let Italians give the official names for everything? That just sounds so much better than DSG...).
Anything else?
No prices yet, but we can safely expect to see Spyder and lightweight Superleggera versions within the next 12 to 24 months. And rear-wheel drive? Well, Lamborghini did a special edition rear-drive Gallardo dubbed the Balboni as a tribute to its retiring chief test driver, but the early word is that the rear-drive Huracán will be a base, entry-level model. Will it use a tweaked version of Audi's twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, from the Bentley Continental GT and the RS 6? Could do...