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ROAD TEST

The Huracan Performante puts Lamborghini back on a competitive playing field with the McLaren 720S and the Ferrari 488

It's amazing what a little bit of air can do. It has transformed Lamborghini's Huracan into the Huracan Performante and, in so doing, has turned a child's toy into a precision instrument.

The Performante is the fastest production car at the Nurburgring, Lamborghini announced, claiming it lapped the famously difficult German racetrack in 6 minutes, 52.01 seconds. It seemed implausible. Lamborghini released a video to prove it. The Performante beat Porsche's more powerful, million-dollar 918. But this was still the Huracan right, a poseur-mobile, not a track car? People on the Internet started doubting the video: the frame rates are off; the speeds don't add up. Conspiracy theories gained traction.

The doubt was fuelled by the fact the Performante didn't appear so different from the basic Huracan. The V-10 engine has been massaged for 30 more horsepower and 30 lb-ft more torque. There's a big Fast and Furious wing on the trunk. It hardly seemed like enough to turn the Huracan into a threat to the superior McLaren 720S or Ferrari 488, let alone crown the Lambo the fastest production car at the Nurburgring.

The Performante is the fastest production car at the Nurburgring, Lamborghini announced, claiming it lapped the famously difficult German racetrack in 6 minutes, 52.01 seconds.

But then I drove the Performante. It was at Imola, a legendary old Formula One circuit in Lamborghini's backyard. I became a believer. Air can be powerful.

The Performante screamed to 260 km/h while rounding a kink towards the end of the main straight. A "kink" at this speed is no small matter. But downforce – the flip-side of the same aerodynamic phenomenon that keeps planes in the air – pinned the Performante to the ground like the invisible hand of Sir Isaac Newton.

A look at the Perfomante's wheels.

The Performante has more than seven times the downforce of the Huracan, said Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's head of research and development. He was visibly proud of his creation. He smiled as he told me the Performante can pull an incredible 1.2Gs (G-force) of lateral acceleration, or a painfully neck-straining 1.4Gs on bespoke Pirelli Trofeo R tires.

There's more than just downforce at work here. Reggiani and the engineers at Lamborghini have harnessed air in a new way.

They call it "aero vectoring" and it's what makes the Performante so special, and so unbelievably fast around a racetrack.

"We are the first," Reggiani said. "We patented it."

Flaps hidden inside the front splitter and at the base of the rear wing can open or close to increase downforce (during braking, high-speed turns) or reduce it (accelerating flat-out in a straight line). The aero vectoring happens when flaps on only one side of the car actuate to increase downforce on the inside wheels going through a turn, helping the car rotate. Imagine coasting in a canoe and sticking a paddle into the water on only one side. The canoe will rotate around the dragging paddle.

Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini’s head of research and development.

Aero vectoring is clever, but can you feel it? Does it make a difference?

Without vectoring – in sport mode – through Imola's fast and famous corners, like the long left at Tamburello and the sweeping downhill at Piratella, I found the car going wide as it struggled to turn, needing more steering angle to avoid ending up in the dirt. It felt skittish, with a tendency to understeer. With vectoring – in Corsa mode – the Performante would simply go where it was pointed like a laser-guided missile. It could carry ridiculous speed into Tamburello and accelerate harder on the way out. The tiniest bit of steering would have the car carving a perfect line. It's a car you can get into and go fast immediately.

Improvements to the steering feel give you the confidence to exploit all that aerodynamic trickery. The Performante feels more alert. Reggiani said it doesn't have that "chewing gum" feeling. There's no vagueness or spongy feel because they stiffened bushings in the suspension and re-tuned the dynamic ratio steering for more predictable response.

The interior of the Lamborghini Huracan Performante.

It's clear now how the Huracan Performante, with "only" 640 horsepower, could beat everything else around the Nurburgring. It may not be fastest in a straight line, but in the corners, nothing this side of a race car can touch it. Lamborghini has released the data from that record-breaking lap to silence the doubters.

The Performante puts Lamborghini back on a competitive playing field with the McLaren 720S and the Ferrari 488. The McLaren is a pure driver's car; the Ferrari, flamboyant and dramatic.

The Performante is captivating, rapid and forgiving. It offers staggering performance that's easy to exploit. Reggiani has every reason to be proud. It's Lamborghini's best car yet. All it took was air.

Tech Specs

Base Price: $302,565

Engine: 5.2-litre V-10

Transmission/Drive: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic/All-wheel Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 19.6 city, 10.3 highway (EU figures)

Alternatives: McLaren 720S, Ferrari 488 GTB, Porsche GT3 RS

Ratings

Looks: You won't mistake it for anything other than a Lamborghini. Lightweight forged carbon parts – front and rear wings, engine cover, rear bumper and diffuser – reduce overall weight by 40 kilograms. The new exhaust system has high-mounted pipes which you can hear from a mile away. Stripes down the side in colours of the Italian flag add flair. The bronze manifold cover on the engine is a surprisingly tasteful touch.

Interior: The optional one-piece carbon-fibre bucket seats are too upright, but otherwise comfortable, and give the driver more feel for what the rear tires are doing. Great on a racetrack. For daily use, the regular seats will be easier to live with.

Performance: Who cares how fast it actually is when you've got that naturally-aspirated V-10 sound? No turbocharged motor could sound this good. It's addictive. Zero-100 km/h takes 2.9 seconds, while 0-200 happens in 8.9.

Technology: If you don't have a racetrack handy, you're unlikely to feel much, if any, of the aero-vectoring magic. But the Performante has other things to keep drivers amused. Namely, good steering and the best-sounding engine available in any supercar. It sounds like an old F1 car an octave lower, or 1,000 trumpets all playing a complex vibrato harmony right at your face.

Cargo: You weren't expecting much, were you? There's space for two pieces of carry-on luggage in the front trunk but that's it. Did I mention how good the engine sounds?

Verdict

9.0

The best Lamborghini on sale today, a contender for best supercar. If you like supercars loud, really loud, this one's for you.

The writer was a guest of the auto maker. Content was not subject to approval.

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