Road test: 2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP 580-2

We get sideways in the best-buy Lambo currently available.

Lamborghini’s Huracán LP 580-2 can compete with its bigger brother, the LP 610-4, despite wielding less power. Courtesy Lamborghini

If at all there’s a chink in the armour of Lamborghini’s ­Huracán LP 610-4, it’s that the V10 supercar is simply too vice-free and easy to drive, even as you approach its limits. That might seem an odd criticism, especially when it pumps out 610hp, has a top speed of 324kmh, and eats twisty back roads as though they were strands of spaghetti.

Yet, it’s true. The Huracán LP 610-4 is safe, cosseting (by Lambo standards) and lightning fast, yet it doesn’t titillate in the same way as its Gallardo predecessor – especially the first Superleggera variant – did.

With a propensity for safety-­first understeer and generally softer riding characteristics than the norm for a raging bull, the LP 610-4 has been tailored to appeal to a more diversified audience than before. As a result, it’s attracting many new buyers to the brand, but possibly at the expense of alienating a few hard-core purists.

But here’s something that might put “spirited” pilots in a better disposition. We’re at ­Qatar’s Losail International ­Circuit, and the pit lane is populated with a rainbow-hued assortment of Huracáns, each of the brand-new LP 580-2 variant. The key point to note is that the newbie is rear-wheel-drive, which separates it from the rest of the Lamborghini line-up – the remainder send their power to the tarmac via all four wheels.

As reflected by the LP 580-2 nomenclature, the rear-drive car has 30 less horses (580hp) than the LP 610-4, but it’s also carting around 33 kilograms less, so the power-to-weight ratio isn’t notably altered. It rockets to 100kmh in 3.4 seconds, and hits 320kph flat out, so its performance gives away little to its stablemate.

However, the real clincher is the LP 580-2’s propensity for power-sliding hooliganism for drivers who relish the challenge of having to feed in throttle inputs in carefully metered doses when launching out of corners, applying just the right degree of steering correction to yield a satisfying drift.

This is something that’s beyond the realms of the LP 610-4, in which you can simply stomp on the gas the instant you clip a corner’s apex, with all four wheels hooking up to the tarmac and propelling it forward with zero drama or tyre slip. Well, there’s a bit of tyre scrub at the front, but that’s not much fun.

Another of the LP 580-2’s selling propositions is it will lower the cost of entry to the Huracán club to Dh772,800 (compared to Dh938,400 for the LP 610-4) when it lands here in the first quarter of this year. That puts it in the same ballpark as the McLaren 570S and Porsche 911 Turbo S.

The format for my maiden drive of the LP 580-2 is a series of high-speed paced laps around the 5.4km Losail circuit, which serves up 16 corners – some fast and flowing; others tighter and requiring more patience with the throttle.

As with its all-wheel-drive sibling, the LP 580-2 has three driving modes (“Strada”, “Sport” and “Corsa”), accessible via the “Anima” switch on the steering wheel. “Strada” is ideal for trundling around town and relaxed cruising; “Sport” and “Corsa” are best suited for trackwork.

“Sport” mode offers the most scope for sideways antics, while “Corsa” sharpens up the throttle, transmission, stability control and dampers to their optimum settings for fast laps. Immediately evident is that throttle response is crisp and instant, with the free-spinning V10 eager to pile on the revs and momentum from the get-go (not having turbos helps).

It only takes a minute or two on the circuit to glean that the LP 580-2 is more eager to dart towards corner apexes than its all-paw brother, which is nowhere near as “pointy”. Apart from the fact that drive is channelled solely to the rear axle, the LP 580-2 also carries less weight over the front wheels, which makes for greater agility.

Turns 6 and 16 at Losail prove ideal spots to explore the LP 580-2’s drift-worthiness, and first impressions are of a car that’s playful and eager to wag its tail, yet without being menacing in the vein of the brutal Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce, which feels like it will bite your head off if you don’t have your wits about you.

Visual differentiators between the newbie and its all-wheel-drive brother are subtle, but Lambo-philes will spot revised front air intakes and subtly modified rear fascia. The entry-­level LP 580-2 makes do with 19-inch rims and steel brakes, whereas the LP 610-4 gets 20-inch hoops and carbon-ceramic stoppers as standard.

All told, the latest Huracán variant is a tasty proposition. It’s more entertaining and challenging to punt hard than the LP 610-4, and despite 30 fewer horses at its disposal, gives away little outright pace. Factor in the Dh773,000 entry price, and what you have on your hands is the best buy in the Lambo range.

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