Lamborgini Huracan Evo: PH Trade-off!
The new Evo is quite possibly the best iteration of Huracan. But there's an awful lot of choice for half the money...
You don't need me to tell you that putting £100,000 into the PH classified search filter and scrolling down for an all-make rummage is a peerless way of burning through daylight. For sheer absentminded moreishness, it makes an open bag of M&Ms seem easy to put down. But that's the big ticket leeway the new Lamborghini Huracan Evo offers us now its starting price has come to rest at the £206k mark.
Whether or not the latest model is worthy of that titanic sum is obviously open to question, although for what it's worth Dan P drove it last week, and liked it very much. Certainly it seems that Lamborghini has put its shoulder into the facelift effort; the Evo has gained rear-wheel steering alongside a whole boatload of other sophisticated kit, all of it aimed at making the Huracan a far more balanced, responsive prospect than it's ever been before.
Driven on the mile-wide expanse of an empty Bahrain GP circuit, the result is apparently as adjustable as an angle-poise lamp. Which is a hefty departure from the nose-led prospect the Huracan used to be, and enormously welcome. Also, the car is still powered by that 5.2-litre V10, which, no doubt about it, is as likeable an engine as is currently sold new anywhere by any manufacturer. It now outputs 640hp, which is a lot, and delivers the Evo to 62mph in 2.9 seconds, which isn't.
The latter is partly owed to the morse code like blips which are the upshifts on the seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox - but you'd be forgiven for daydreaming about what it would be like to interact with a ten-cylinder engine via a humble stick. Well, daydream no more: a decade ago the Huracan's predecessor offered just such a chance, and Gallardos now rank as one of the most 'affordable' ways into genuine supercar ownership.
We don't even have to trouble the £100,000 limit to unearth a likely candidate; this one, a limited edition SE model from 2005, is available for less than £90k, and comes with the holy trinity: V10, six-speed manual and Pearl Yellow paint.
If the whole Lamborghini thing is all a bit much (poor flower) there's always the flip side of the coin; the bigger-selling and therefore much cheaper Audi R8. For a fiver under £100k, you get an extraordinary amount of bang for your buck: this Plus version from 2017, with its own 610hp iteration of the Huracan's V10, virtually looks like it's being given away. It's only completed 9,000 miles, too, and even comes with the sensibly sized wheels which pay dividends in the ride quality department.
Too common? Well, how about a BMW M4 DTM Champion Edition? Granted, we're out of big-engine supercar territory here, but you'll be guaranteed a similarly savage sort of fun by the 500hp GTS-by-another-name, of which there are only 200 examples worldwide. This one only has 3k on the clock, and gets the same silly tyres/exhaust/water injection that helped make its sibling such a corker.
There's much more, of course. A McLaren 12C Spider perhaps? Or a Ferrari F430? Corvette Z06? Porsche 911 (991) GT3? They're all within budget, and all hugely fast, making this trade-off even more about personal preference than most.
Which brings us to the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S. No, it isn't a supercar. Nor is it as powerful or as fast or as spectacular inside as the Lamborghini (that hand-me-down steering wheel is liable to make any newcomer to the brand shudder) and, yes, the Sportshift III automated manual is to the Huracan's twin-clutch transmission what a smoothbore musket is to a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile. But none of that matters if you're getting what you really want.
And, make no mistake, the Vantage S was the dynamic swan song of last century Aston. Brass tacks: it drove like a rear-driven dream, was powered by the honeyed rumble of a 5.9-litre V12 and looked like a million sterling, easy. This one is almost exactly halfway to the Evo's cost and while you might rightly point out that you'd prefer the much rarer version with the seven-speed dogleg manual, you're still getting an immaculate version of the definitive hard-charging, soul-stirring British sports car with a trifling amount of mileage on the clock. Cheap at twice the price.
SPECIFICATION - LAMBORGHINI HURACAN EVO
Engine: 5,204cc, V10, normally-aspirated, petrol
Transmission: 7-speed twin-clutch, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 640@ 8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 443@ 6,500rpm
0-62mph: 2.9 seconds
Top speed: 202mph
Kerb weight: 1,422kg (dry)
MPG: Fuel consumption and emissions data is in the type approval stage"
CO2: N/A
Price: £206,000
SPECIFICATION - ASTON MARTIN V12 VANTAGE S
Engine: 5,935cc V12
Transmission: 7-speed automated manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 573@6,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 457@5,750rpm
0-62mph: 3.7sec
Top speed: 205mph
Weight: 1,740kg (with 75kg driver)
MPG: 19.2mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 343g/km
Price: £138,000
The engine sounds absolutely amazing too, so I do think the Huracan offers something unique now that all the rivals have gone turbocharged. Is it worth £200,000? Reading the comments from owners over on the Lamborghini forum, I would say it probably is for how It makes you feel !!
That’s used Carrera money for a 2017 R8!
I'm well aware that the R8 and Huracan are so very very similar but I can afford an R8 and just am not interested, does nothing for me whereas the Huracan is amongst my dream cars despite the slating by the you tube bods that the non-performante models just aren't that exciting to own.
How about something that is showroom new with warranty?
http://www.evo.co.uk/news/15706/ultima-evolution-u...
Ultima Evolution unveiled with 1020bhp
SAM SHEEHAN9 APR 2015
Performance figures of record-breaking sports car released
Ultima Sports has revealed its most powerful sports car to date: the Evolution. Producing as much as 1020bhp from a supercharged 6.8-litre V8, the lightweight Evolution is capable of racing from 0-60mph in just 2.3sec.
As staggering as that number is, it’s the car’s record breaking rolling performance that impresses most. 0-100mph takes just 4.9sec, while 150mph arrives only four seconds later. Ultima claims the Evolution will keep on accelerating hard beyond 240mph before it bounces off the limiter in sixth gear.
Power comes from a Chevrolet-sourced V8 LS with a supercharger, and is sent through a Porsche six-speed transaxle. A billet quick-shifter cable system enables fast gear changes – enough to record a rapid 9.2sec standing quarter-mile time.
Weighing 950kg, the new Ultima produces 1091bhp/ton; that’s 98bhp more than the Koenigsegg One:1 does. A major contributor to this slender weight is the Ultima’s hollow space-frame chassis and glassfibre-reinforced plastic body.
Ultima claims the space-frame provides ‘market leading rigidity,’ while the clear-gel-coated GRP body is moulded to generate high-speed downforce.
The car is sprung on TIG welded double wishbones and fully adjustable coil spring dampers. Forged lightweight one-piece alloy wheels 18 inches in diameter are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 2 rubber. Stopping power comes from AP Racing 12.7-inch curved vane vented discs with stainless steel hoses all round and adjustable brake bias.
Inside, leather and Alcantara stretches over sports seats and a dial-strewn dash. A leather-wrapped roll-cage confirms the car’s high-speed intentions, but the addition of air conditioning, an Alpine in-car entertainment system and optional satnav are welcome luxuries.
In short, the Evolution is a proper racer for the road and packs enough grunt to shame even the fastest of hypercars. Below the 1020bhp model will sit 14 other variants, all utilising power from the same V8 in different states of tune. The Evolution even comes available in both coupe and convertible form.
The entry level Evolution produces 350bhp and sells from £65,995, though Ultima will also sell it in kit form for £38,000. Buyers after a fully built 1020bhp model will need £95,995. That’s Porsche 911 GT3 money for McLaren P1-beating performance.
How about something that is showroom new with warranty?
The R8 is nowhere near identical to drive to the Huracan, and the Performante is like comparing a boggo 911 to a GT3 RS - nothing like each other in other words!
to add the huracan has a body height of 45.9" whilst the R8 has a body height of 48.8"
The R8 is nowhere near identical to drive to the Huracan, and the Performante is like comparing a boggo 911 to a GT3 RS - nothing like each other in other words!
I know there is a different view in every car but I’ve been in or driven many many fast cars and for 100k in 2019 I can’t recommend these cars enough.
Turbo S is probably more useable and slightly quicker but I’ve driven every generation and the sound is really uninspiring. The r8 sounds absolutely epic which is more than worth any trade offs elsewhere for me.
The only other car worth considering are the baby mclarens which are fast approaching 100k.
Obviously with a Turbo or R8 you’re a lucky man so no complaining either way but the R8 looks/feels supercar to most people. Never seen anyone dribble over a Turbo S.
to add the huracan has a body height of 45.9" whilst the R8 has a body height of 48.8"
So by your original exaggeration the R8 will only fit people 5'8 and below.
You're talking nonsense.
So by your original exaggeration the R8 will only fit people 5'8 and below.
You're talking nonsense.
Have you actually been in/driven both a gen 2 R8 and a huracan?
Thought not.
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