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Dad 3D-printed a Lamborghini because his son liked one in Forza

Sterling Backus's son only had one question after he drove a Lamborghini Aventador in the XBOX video game Forza: Can we build one? Most dads would respond with a chuckle and some quip about winning the lottery. But not Backus, whose day job is laser physicist. Backus responded, "Sure," and he meant it. As of this week, the replica is capable of driving under its own power. Backus, the chief scientific officer at KMLabs in Boulder, Colorado, and his 11-year-old son dubbed the project "Interceptor," and the build has a budget of about $20,000. Backus hand-built the steel chassis and pulled an LS1 V8 from a Corvette for power. He found the panel layouts through online design community GrabCAD, and then he modified them for 3D printing.  But he ran into a problem: The 3D-printed plastic would melt in the sun. So, he decided to incorporate carbon-fiber encapsulation (shown below), in which he wraps the parts and covers them in epoxy. Piece by piece, he assembled the shape of the supercar using a Creality CR-10 105 desktop 3D printer that he got for about $900 from Amazon. The front brake air intake alone is said to have taken 52 hours to complete. Additional cool features include a gated shifter, functioning lights, and scissor doors.  One of the fun aspects of the whole story is that Backus admits he had some learning to do when it came to the art form of additive engineering. So, he turned to the same place everybody else goes these days: YouTube. The physicist joked that he went to YouTube University and learned by watching videos.  With the end of the project in sight, Backus says he wants the final product to serve as an educational tool for Science Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) programs.  "The intent is to take the car to local schools to show kids how cool technology can be," the project's Facebook page says.  In the words of Jesse Pinkman, "YEAH SCIENCE!"  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fourth Lamborghini model could be an all-electric 2+2 GT

It was almost a year ago that Automotive News spoke to Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali about the carmaker potentially adding a fourth model to the lineup. Asked about the potential of a new 2+2 GT model picking up where the Espada left off in 1978, Domenicali demurred on the matter of a bodystyle. Instead, the CEO said the brand is "working hard to combine high performance with interior space and driving comfort in a package that, designwise, should be striking as well as highly efficient in terms of aerodynamics." A year on, Autocar spoke to Lamborghini R&D head Maurizio Reggiani, who hinted at how ideas have coalesced since. Autocar says a 2+2 GT "is due to be given the green light to arrive by 2025," and there's a chance the model could be all-electric. Last we heard, Domenicali was explaining to AN that buyers weren't asking for a battery-electric vehicle. With a five- to seven-year horizon for the introduction of a fourth car, however, the CEO allowed that customers could be ready for one by 2027, so Lamborghini should be ready, too; nevertheless, he hedged the battery-only offering by saying it would come "together with a high-performance plug-in hybrid." According to Autocar's story, the brand's got more bullish on batteries in the interim. Reggiani said, "If you look at the timing for a fourth model line, there is the potential that this will be the right time for a full-electric vehicle" that can do at least 350 miles on a charge. Not only could such a car make sense by 2025, Lamborghini could likely find some way to fit the model into the Volkswagen Group's scheme for EV domination. There are two electric platforms floating around the high-performance divisions that could get the nod; the J1 architecture under the Porsche Taycan and coming Audi E-Tron GT that will evolve into the J1 II come 2023, or the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture that will support a range of models and is already rumored for an all-electric Bentley.    In terms of styling, Autocar repeatedly mentions cues coming from the 2008 Estoque concept (above). The four-door GT unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show has been in limbo since then, the heart of rumors ranging from an Estoque range of everyday supercars to becoming a Lamborghini twin for an Audi A9.

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato off-roader is a heavy-metal swan song

Lamborghini's Huracan has almost reached retirement age, and it's going out with one hell of a bang. The model's last evolution may be the wildest yet: called Sterrato, it's an off-roading supercar with a rugged-looking design, a big V10, and a desert-ready suspension system. If the design looks familiar, it's likely because Lamborghini previewed the Sterrato by unveiling a close-to-production concept in June 2019. Some of the finer design details have evolved over the past three years, but the basic idea hasn't: The Sterrato remains recognizable as a member of the Huracan range, but it's characterized by styling cues you'd expect to find on an off-roader such as flared wheel arches, an additional pair of lights on the front end (they will be covered on American-spec cars because they can't be homologated), and roof rails. The coupe sits higher than the regular Huracan and rides on 19-inch wheels. Check out the roof-mounted scoop; it's not there for show. "In the STO, the scoop is functional but it's there to help with cooling; the air intakes are on the sides [of the car]. In this car, the air scoop is the air intake, and we have completely revised the intake system because during testing we realized that if you drive very fast off-road, with a lot of direction changes, for a long time then dust blocks the air filters too fast. We decided to close the side entries and added the air scoop to catch the cleanest possible air, and we optimized the air filter itself. This is the reason why the Sterrato has "only" 610 horsepower. It's the same engine as the STO, complete with titanium valves, but the reduction of power is due to the fact that the redesigned air intake system has a bigger air pressure drop," Rouven Mohr, the head of Lamborghini's research and development department, told Autoblog. Speaking of the engine, power for the Sterrato comes from a naturally-aspirated, 5.2-liter V10 tuned to develop 610 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 417 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm. Mid-mounted, it spins the four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and a mechanical locking rear differential. Lamborghini quotes a 0-to-62 mph time of 3.4 seconds and a 162-mph top speed. For context, the aforementioned STO takes 3 seconds flat to reach 62 mph and tops out at 193 mph — it can't go very far off the pavement, though. Building a Huracan capable of sprinting across the desert required making significant changes to the suspension system.