It’s another slow day in the crankandpiston.com oval office, and rather than doing some actual work, we’ve been touring manufacturer homepages and stumbled across THIS pretty cool online game from Lamborghini. Wouldn’t you know it, it’s brought the creativity out in us….
We didn’t realise when we attended the unveil of the new Lamborghini Hurácan in Abu Dhabi that we would get the chance to slide behind the wheel so quickly, let alone be allowed unlimited track time. It’s an offer we’re quick to accept, and so you find the crankandpiston.com team in Italy, about to take on Lamborghini’s legendary Sant’Agata Bolognese test facility in the 610hp Hurácan.
Our test model today – running the obligatory Pirelli P-Zero performance tyres, natch – sports a luminescent Verde paint finish, a colour I for one am all in favour of. Given the insanity of the brand and its progressively more ‘angry’ designs over the years, a subtle black or white just doesn’t emphasise the lunacy in the way a bold yellow or insane lime green does. Said cornea-scratching finish for this particular writer then really brings out the cavernous front air intakes, sharpened bodylines and ‘come hither’ carved headlights. It’s bold and it’s brash, but it’s certainly elegant.
Mother Nature has not been kind to us today though, and given the amount of black clouds in the area, we’re keen to get our test drive underway before rain spoils play and skip the interior altogether. Since my scissors beats Phill Tromans’ paper, I’ll be driving first.
Down the main straight, the power from Lambo’s 610hp 5.2-litre V10 is hard to ignore. I had anticipated an aggressive start certainly, but the pull from the engine is beyond belief, and whips both the bonnet and the speedometer needle up faster than I’d dared dream. Let’s not forget that the Huracan also comes with all-wheel drive and 413lb ft of earth-shifting torque, meaning we’re unlikely to be lighting up the wheels during our run.
What does catch me completely off-guard though is the steering. Manoeuvring left or right proves remarkably twitchy at first and I’m finding it difficult to keep the front end under control. Couple that with a missed braking point and I’ve already skewed wide off the road at turn one, mere metres into my run. It’s a poor start from yours truly and the lap doesn’t improve. Almost at every turn I find myself locking the brakes and struggling to keep the front end nailed to the apex, scrubbing seconds off my laptime as a result. As a result, my first attempt is a woeful 2m 35s.
I’m not about to give up just yet (the mockery from the rest of the team would be merciless) and into my second lap, I take the first corner a little steadier, throwing the anchors out earlier to make sure I’ve scrubbed enough speed before turning in. I still miss the apex, running across the grass after completely knackering my line through the turn, but at least I’m through, and at a much brisker pace.
With my game face on, the rest of the lap goes a lot smoother, albeit with a couple of stacks into the tyre barriers. I’m not sure exactly what Lamborghini has made its new baby model out of, but it seems completely impervious to damage. There’s no hint of a dent, a bump or even a scratch, and this despite my managing to put the Hurácan on its roof at one point.
Four laps in the bag and I’ve managed to net a 1m 30s. I know there’s a lot more in the Lamborghini than that but Mr Tromans is now badgering me for a go, and we swap places. His first lap out the box is a 1m 35s. His second is a 1m 09s. His third a 1m 04s.
Like I say. The mocking is merciless.
– If you fancy trying DRIVEMYHURACAN, just follow this link
