Lamborghini doesn’t do subtle, and neither would fans of the brand want it to. So, when the time came to replace the Huracán that had been in production since 2013, did the Italians use the opportunity to create a full-electric, almost-silent speed machine? Heck no.
Say hello to the Temerario, a high-revving twin-turbo hybrid monster about to terrorize racetracks and city centers around the world.
Introduced at this year’s Monterey Car Week, the Temerario is the latest addition to Lamborghini’s High-Performance Electrified Vehicle (HPEV) lineup.
At its heart sits an entirely new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 paired with three electric motors, delivering a face-deforming total output of 920hp. The “hot V8” engine features a flat-plane crankshaft and can rev up to 10,000rpm, which Lambo claims is a first for a production supercar engine.
The whole setup is enough to fling the latest bull from zero to 100km/h in a mere 2.7 seconds and past a top speed of 340km/h. The eight-banger alone delivers 800 horses from 9,000rpm to 9,750rpm, and 730Nm of torque between 4,000rpm and 7,000rpm.
Three oil-cooled, axial-flux electric motors—one at the rear and two at the front—deliver the rest and give the car all-wheel drive. Technically, you can drive the latest car from Sant’Agata Bolognese in full electric mode using the two front motors, but we doubt many owners will ever do that.
After all, engineers gave the car a sound system specially designed to enhance the noise of the V8 and bestow it with a proper Lamborghini soundtrack. A soundtrack that will no doubt soon reverberate through the streets of many big cities and other locations popular with Lambo owners, where they will demonstrate the ability to move their right foot up and down while racing from red light to red light. An eight-speed dual-clutch auto box helps to get traction down in urban or racetrack settings.
On the outside, the Temerario looks almost tame by recent Lambo standards, but still follows the unmistakable current design language of the brand. The shark nose is still there, as is the hexagonal light signature at the front and the back.
Developers have spent a lot of time integrating clever aerodynamics into the car, with the bodywork and the underbody designed to maximize downforce, especially at higher speeds. The result of these efforts is a vehicle that looks sleek and can do without huge wings and spoilers.
The cabin has been designed to be roomy, and offers more space than any other car in the segment, according to the firm. A mixture of digital and analog controls promises the best of both worlds, with the driver getting a newly developed steering wheel and the passenger a separate screen on his/her side.
The whole place is supposed to make drivers feel like pilots, according to the PR department, and those pilots can choose from 13 different driving modes. Those include one for city driving, a race mode, and a drift mode that sends most of the power to the rear wheels and tells the front electric motors to tone things down for a while.
Next to the usual multimedia features, there’s also a new Lamborghini Vision Unit onboard that lets drivers relive and share their experiences. Other noteworthy features on this latest bull include massive carbon-ceramic brakes with 410mm by 38mm discs at the front, and 390mm by 32mm ones at the rear—as well as 20-inch front and 21-inch rear alloys clad in 255mm- and 325mm-wide Bridgestone Potenza Sport rubber.
No official word on price yet, but expect it to sit below the bigger beasts from the same factory and probably hover around the €250,000 to €300,000 (P15,700,000 to P18,800,000) mark.
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