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Lamborghini exploring more elegant designs

Ferrari's front-engined V12s and mid-engined V8s have taken turns monopolizing the brand's perception; the 550 Maranello was probably the last front-engined V12 to be first-to-mind, now the 458 Italia leads the family. Not so at Lamborghini, where a mid-engined V12 has been the go-to and centerpiece since the extraterrestrial Countach landed, and it still is no matter how much the Huracan outsells the Aventador. That shape, those doors, that engine – they're the franchise. That doesn't mean Lamborghini isn't trying new things. The Asterion LPI 910-4 concept from last year's Paris Motor Show was more than the marque's first draft of a hybrid, it was an exploration of a different avenue in design. According to design chief Filippo Perini, "We need to understand if we can open another window in our future to be not so extreme but also a little bit more politically correct and elegant." The Asterion points at elegance and "a daily use of the car" with more room inside, a slimmer rocker panel and sill for easier entry, and a raised hip point in the seats for a higher driving position. Perini said that from the driver's seat, "You can see the color of the car. That is something unknown in our very extreme designs." Extreme Lamborghinis aren't going away, however – note that Perini spoke of opening "another window" of design. The goal, he said, "is to understand if [its] design language will be appreciated by a different kind of customer." We can't imagine why not, and we hope we get more news about the "hyper cruiser" GT outside of magazine articles and auto show grandstanding. If it were up to us, Lamborghini would open that window all the way.

Lamborghini files for trademark on Egoista name

Lamborghini has reportedly filed to register a trademark for the name Egoista. The name was previously used on an outrageous one-off, single-seater concept revealed in 2013. While the trademark application doesn't necessarily mean the concept will be put into production, it certainly bodes well. Fans of the marque will recall that the Lamborghini Egoista surfaced in May 2013 as a birthday present from the automaker to itself on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The radical design penned by Walter De Silva was inspired by helicopter gunships and featured a single solitary seat under a canopy, giving the one-of-a-kind creation its "selfish" name. Motivation (were it ever let out onto the street) came from a 5.2-liter V10 like the one in the Gallardo and Huracan, optimized to the tune of 600 horsepower. The Egoista was never displayed at any auto shows, going straight to the museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese at the entrance to the company's factory and headquarters. At the time of its creation, Lamborghini said that "the Egoista is pure emotion, Never Never Land, which no one can ever possess, and which will always remain a dream, for everyone." The reported filing of the trademark application would ostensibly suggest a change of heart on Lambo's part, or at least that it could be entertaining the use of the name for some application beyond the concept that's now two and a half years old. One can dream, at any rate. Related Video:

Lamborghini's Huracan quicker than its costlier Aventador?

Car and Driver threw a leg over the Lamborghini Huracán and rode it hard all around the 16-turn Circuito Internationale Nardò, next to the banked oval that's brought us many a top-speed video. On the way to discovering the bull calf sweetly eclipses the Gallardo it replaces, CD also discovered that - comparing their own tests - it is faster from zero to 60 miles per hour than its paterfamilias, the Aventador.
Now, we should all know that 0-60 tests are an imprecise discipline, but CD's Eric Tingwall torched the sprint in the Huracán in 2.5 seconds - yes, faster than a whole lot of other very expensive super-coupes. In the magazine's last instrumented test of the Aventador Aaron Robinson ran 3.0 seconds, and for more Aventador perspective we can compare Motor Trend's 2.8 seconds, also scored at Nardo, Road & Track at 2.7 seconds and Lamborghini's estimated 0-62 mph time of 2.9 seconds. Any way you chop that up, 2.5 seconds beats it. A bit of a shock, then: Lamborghini lists the Huracán's 0-62 mph time as 3.2 seconds.
We'll get a more precise idea of the discrepancy when more tests come online, but for the moment - and in this one respect - we've got the $241,945, 602-horsepower Huracán showing its angry backside to the $397,500, 691-hp Aventador. Even if it remains true, though, we're not sure it matters; in a figurative case of Predator versus Alien, it's arguable that the only way to be wrong is not to own one.