Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica Review

The best gets better – again. That is now a familiar refrain from the House of Lamborghini – especially in the context of its mid-engined V10 wonder – the Huracan. For almost a decade now, the Huracan family has grown and expanded. Today we bring you the latest and one of the fastest of this family – the Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica. The name literally translates to ‘technique' from Italian, and boy is that apt given all the technology packed into it. The Huracan Tecnica is a fine-tuning of what was already good, by taking the best of the already bonkers performance topping STO and making it dare I say, more practical! So first let me tell you, this variant now sits between the STO and the Evo RWD. I am in Valencia, Spain to test this beast – both on a very challenging circuit, and on the open road. After all, Huracan Tecnica makes the claim of being the best of both worlds.

I am in Valencia, Spain to test this beast – both on a very challenging circuit, and on the open road.

Take all your souls to drive – that is the tagline for this car. What it means is – that no matter the personality you bring on any given day, the car will match your mood and your purpose. It is a versatile supercar that will do your bidding, and be your daily driver. First up, let's highlight the changes. You may be forgiven for thinking the Tecnica is a facelift to the Huracan. Coming as it does so close to the end of the life cycle, of course that's not what this is about! That's something this model has been able to achieve phenomenally well. There've been so many editions, and so many variations of this car over the last few years – and it still has so much juice left in it!

A Y-shaped design motif has been prominently added to the bumpers – which includes the air intake and travels up the fender below the headlight, and horizontally into the bumper.

Design

What has changed visually? Enough to justify calling this a new model. The big change you notice first is new really is how you almost get a sense of an unending windscreen because there is now a black plastic element that begins where the wipers are housed and extends into the hood's metal panel, making it shorter. A Y-shaped design motif has been prominently added to the bumpers – which includes the air intake and travels up the fender below the headlight, and horizontally into the bumper. This is in line with Lamborghini's general use of the hexagon as a major design structure and gives the face a distinct look. The car's aerodynamics have been tweaked too, and you also see the hexagon in the alloy wheel pattern and in the tailpipes. The big focus really is about trying to find a good balance and yet a noticeable new identity for the Tecnica, and visually it speaks that language for sure.

The big focus really is about trying to find a good balance and yet a noticeable new identity for the Tecnica, and visually it speaks that language for sure.

Engine and Performance

I am at the fabulous Ricardo Tormo Circuit de Valencia, a highly technical track with tight corners and a total length of just over 4 km. It's a sunny day and the conditions are dry. We have track focussed tyres on the car, dressed in a stunning green, that they call Verde Selvans. It also has the Bridgestone Potenza Race tyres – that is track specific. Okay, let's go! We fire things up with a slower lap, with the instructor in front of me in a Huracan STO. Once I get a feel for things, we do four fast laps in each session. Instantly you know the car is different. Having driven the Huracan Performante before at the Imola circuit, I could see the difference the RWD (rear-wheel drive) and extra power are bringing. The engine is the 5.2-litre powerplant first seen on that variant I just mentioned. But it is the latest iteration, tuned to STO specs. So you get 30 horses more than the Evo RWD, and as I said the engine is a straight carryover from the stonking STO. The big takeaway is that since the engine uses direct port injection (and not petrol particulate filters), it sounds loud – yes, very loud!

You get 30 horses more than the Evo RWD, and the engine is a straight carryover from the stonking STO.

Just as every Lamborghini should be – well at least while they are still naturally aspirated combustion engine bearing cars! Yes, the Lamborghini range begins its electrification journey from next year, and barring one more edition of the Huracan that we should get by December, this is the last pure ICE Lamborghini ever. Buy one of these today, and it will probably sell for four or five times the price in a few years! Not just coz it is the last, but more so coz it is brilliantly engineered too. The Tecnica is an RWD and has rear-wheel steering. It has a sharp pointy front end and takes corners very precisely. You have the Strada (street), Sport, and Corsa (track) drive modes that you can toggle by using the button on the steering.

Leather and Alcantara abound, and you can get special metal, smoked wood, carbon fibre, and many other textures around the car's interior.

Like all Lambos off-late, all buttons are on the steering – including turn indicators. The almost hexagonal steering wheel is finished in Alcantara. There's more response from the steering that has a nice weighted feel. And then the fact that the electronics now do not seem as intrusive and more intuitive than before. The car is fast and gets to speeds close to 300 kmph without batting an eyelid. And it will not spin out on you even if you come into a corner too tight. The rear-wheel steering gives you very tight cornering – which is what I am loving most about this drive.

The Verde Selvans theme continues inside the car with me – with matching green inserts in the seats, green stitching, and the option to customise the plastics in that same shade too!

In a nutshell, the Huracan Tecnica is right up there with the STO in terms of performance but has two major differences. The first is that it is a lot heavier since it does not have any carbon composite body panels as the STO does. And the second is that its LDVI (Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integra or the car's integrated vehicle dynamics system) is the car's brain, and it is calibrated differently on the Tecnica. The LDVI controls the car's active suspension and adaptive dampers, rear-wheel steering, traction control, and ESC, and adjusts them in real-time depending on inputs from the road surface. It has been calibrated as less extreme than in the STO, but I have to say it stays way ahead of the Evo RWD for sure. And in case you're wondering – no it is not meant to be halfway between the two models – it is very clearly closer to the STO, by design. To me, that is genius! 

Out on the open road is where you appreciate Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres.

After having multiple sessions – yes more than my fair share, I am exiting the track to grab a quick lunch. After lunch, it is off into the Valencian countryside. I am staying with a green Huracan Tecnica, and out on the open road is where you appreciate Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres. On the road, is where I am appreciating the LDVI even more. It keeps step with not just the road surface and speed, but also your inputs – from steering, to throttle, to braking. On the road I am staying in Strada or Sport mode – occasionally playing with the Corsa mode on the higher-speed Autovia (Spanish highways). You do need to get used to the very quick response from the carbon ceramic brakes – even the slightest press on the pedal gives you savagely fast results. So once you get a hang of it, this is actually an asset. The Huracan family is now very refined – including the 7-Speed dual-clutch transmission. The Tecnica does 0-100 kmph in 3.2 seconds, and 0-200 in just 9.1 seconds! Its top speed has been limited to 325 kmph.

The road manners are very comfortable in traffic, and the hybrid aluminum/ carbon-fibre chassis is a dream – contributing beautifully to the car's taut handling.

The road manners are very comfortable in traffic, and the hybrid aluminum/ carbon-fibre chassis is a dream – contributing beautifully to the car's taut handling. Yet you can make a lot of noise if you want to – the gearbox switches down nice and quick – giving you lots of pops and crackles! I managed to get a lot of attention – and a lot of camera phones came out! In fact, everywhere I drove, people asked if they could take pictures, and some even requested me to rev the engine for their listening pleasure! Can this be a daily driver? Yes – if you drive route has good roads, and you have hassle-free parking at both ends.

Cabin and Tech

The cabin is superbly finished, and you can get all the customisation in the world! Leather and Alcantara abound, and you can get special metal, smoked wood, carbon fibre, and many other textures around the car's interior. The large vertical touchscreen layout is new and fairly intuitive. You get the expected connectivity and smartphone options. But there isn't a great place to store your phone! The virtual cluster is very cool – with the graphics changing colour scheme depending on the mode you are in – and in traditional Lamborghini colours too I might add. It is very fun to redline the rev counter, and you get large readouts when you change gears using the large paddles. There are six airbags, and a 100-litre boot for some basic luggage. The Verde Selvans theme continues inside the car with me – with matching green inserts in the seats, green stitching, and the option to customise the plastics in that same shade too! Of course with any Lamborghini, even the sky is not the limit when it comes to customisation. 

On the road I am staying in Strada or Sport mode – occasionally playing with the Corsa mode on the higher-speed Autovia (Spanish highways).

Tecnica's arrival in India is expected in early September 2022. It will have a limited allocation like all the other supercars from the Raging Bull. Expect prices in the Rs. 3.5- 4.5 crore range, depending on options and specs chosen.