If you are a purveyor of high-performance cars, there is nowadays a single figure you can trumpet to give your latest offering instant credibility: said vehicle's lap time around the Nürburgring Nordschleife – a snaking 20.8-kilometre loop of tarmac that three-time F1 world champ Jackie Stewart famously referred to as the "Green Hell". It is nestled within the lush Eifel forest in the western part of Germany.
This year, Lamborghini’s Huracán Performante blitzed all comers with a scorching 6-minute, 52.01-second marker that set a new record for production cars.
How could a 640hp coupé weighing about 1,500 kilograms in road trim (1,382kg dry weight) be a massive five seconds faster around the ’Ring than the ballistic motorsport-derived Porsche 918 Spyder? I must admit, I had my own doubts.
But what better way to dispel any misgivings than being given the opportunity to drive the Performante at the fast and challenging Imola race circuit, as well as across some spaghetti-like (and very bumpy in parts) Italian back roads?
The Performante’s upgrades include a subtle massaging of that melodious, free-spinning V10, which gains lightweight titanium valves and a low-backpressure exhaust system. These tweaks yield an extra 30hp and 40Nm over the Huracán LP610-4 for maximum outputs of 640hp and 600Nm.
Other go-faster upgrades include firmed-up suspension and a weight-loss programme, as part of which the Performante gains psychedelic-looking “Forged Composite” (chopped carbon fibres in a resin) elements that include the front and rear spoiler, engine cover, rear bumper and diffuser, resulting in it tipping the scales 40kg lighter than the standard LP610-4.
Blasting out of pit lane, my eardrums (as well as the rest of my body) reverberate to the raucous, hard-edged soundtrack of the Performante, which spits burnt gases out of a pair of gaping exhausts that protrude like grenade launchers from the Lamborghini’s rump. By comparison, the LP610-4 sounds like a pussycat.
The Performante is right up there with its V12-powered Aventador S big brother in terms of straight-line grunt. Its 8.9-second sprint from 0 to 200kph reflects this – the latter is only a tenth quicker to this mark.
Everything about the Performante feels scalpel-sharp. Where the LP610-4 was a discernibly softer animal than its Gallardo predecessor when it launched three years ago (in a quest to make it a friendlier everyday car), that has been comprehensively redressed in the new performance spearhead. The amount of speed it can carry into, through and out of corners is simply staggering.
Part of the Performante’s exceptional composure is down to its more hard-core suspension settings, but the real key to its rampaging racetrack pace is down to a new “ALA” (Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva) active-aero system featuring front and rear ducts, within which sit electrically actuated flaps that open and close to either stall (cancel out) the front spoiler and massive rear wing, or enable them to generate maximum downforce (750 per cent more than a standard Huracán).
This means there is less speed-sapping drag on the straights, but full downforce when cornering. In addition, the rear wing’s inner air channel is split right and left, allowing “aero vectoring” for high-speed cornering. Depending on the direction of the turn, the ALA system activates either the right or left side of the spoiler, increasing downforce and traction on the inner wheel and cancelling it out on the outer wheel. It basically works along the same lines as the ailerons on an aircraft’s wings.
What it all adds up to is not only a hugely rapid track car, but also a very forgiving one, so you can recover without cardiac-arrest moments even if you dive into a corner too hot or are a tad too brutal with your steering or throttle inputs.
Importantly, the Performante isn’t a one-dimensional brute that batters your spine into a pulp in real-world conditions. Proof of this is provided by the subsequent road loop, which includes some remarkably poor sections of tarmac – lumpy in parts and sharply corrugated in others. On the whole, the Lamborghini shows surprising compliance. Ride quality is acceptable even in Sport mode, and only the sharpest of undulations cause any level of discomfort.
As for the Performante’s over-the-top looks, you can make up your own minds. Personally, I prefer the visual purity of the Huracán. When it comes to the driving, though, it is a no-brainer. Performante, any day of the week.
motoring@thenational.ae