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The Huracan Performante is still a supercar steal, regardless of 'Ring time validity

When Lamborghini released video of its new Huracan Performante lapping the Nurburgring in a stunning 6:52, not everyone was convinced the record was honest. As a result, Lamborghini's director of research and development provided some data to Roadshow to shore up the lap time claim. He addressed the tire issue by telling Roadshow that the car used the optional Pirelli Trofeo Rs. And he noted that it was quicker than its more powerful brother, the Aventador SV, because it cornered and accelerated faster. He even provided VBox data of the lap. The thing is, none of this really matters in the end, particularly for the Huracan. Let us explain. For one thing, if you're going to question the Performante's time, you should question all of the times. All of these records are presented by the manufacturers, so there isn't a truly impartial party measuring the results and inspecting cars. Even with a company presenting plenty of data and explanations, it's hard to be 100 percent sure everything is on the level without an unbiased third party inspecting the cars before and after the lap, and keeping timing. But besides the issue of impartiality, the times themselves aren't really important. As interesting and fun as it is to compare lap times at the Nurburgring, they're really only relevant for rich owners and car companies to brag, and for less-rich fans to bench race. That's not a bad thing, but to look at the lap time of one single track doesn't really give a full picture of a car's performance. A car that's fast at the Nurburgring could be really slow on a tight course like Streets of Willow Springs. There's also the issue of who's driving the car. The manufacturers put their top drivers out on the 'Ring to set times. If you're not a factory test driver, you'll probably never go that fast even if you did get your car to the track. It's all a bit like the silly "blind" or two-wheeled car records. They don't actually provide much info on what the car is really like, or how you could drive it. Even if you're not on board with this explanation, and trust all the 'Ring records except this Lamborghini, we still have a reason why it doesn't matter. You see, even if you're convinced that there's no way the Huracan could best the Porsche 918 Spyder and the Aventador around the Nordschleife, it's still a screaming supercar bargain. The Porsche is a million-dollar car, and the Aventador, just the base model, is $125,000 more than the Huracan Performante.

The best cars we drove this year

Six hundred and fifty. That's roughly how many cars pass through the hands of Autoblog editors every year, from the vehicles we test here at home, to the cars we drive on new product launches, testing roundups, long-term cars, and so on. Of course, our individual numbers vary due to several reasons, but at the end of the day, our team's repertoire of automotive experience is indeed vast. But let's be honest, some cars certainly stand out more than others. So as the year's about to turn, and as we're readying brand-new daily cat calendars for our cubicles, our editors are all taking time to reflect on the machinery that made this year so special, with one simple, open-ended question as the guide – a question that we're asked quite frequently, from friends, family, colleagues, and more. "What's the best car you drove this year?" Lamborghini Huracan When I review the list of everything I drove in 2014, picking an absolute favorite becomes almost impossible. I mean, how does one delineate between the joy offered by cars as different as the Alfa Romeo 4C, Volkswagen Golf R, Mercedes-AMG GT S and even the humble-yet-wonderful Chevy Colorado? Okay fine, I'll just pick the Lamborghini. I drove the Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 on a racetrack, in the mountains, and along southern coast of Spain. It felt like the king of the car jungle in all of those places, sucking the eyeballs of observers nearly out of their heads as it drove by, and almost melting my brain with its cocktail of speed and grip and intense communication. It feels a little easy to say that the one new supercar I drove this year was also my favorite, but the fact is that the Huracan is one of the finest cars I've driven during my career, let alone 2014. Judge me if you must. – Seyth Miersma Senior Editor Rolls-Royce Wraith There are a couple of ways to look at the question, "What's the best car you drove this year?" In terms of what was so good I'd go out and buy one tomorrow, that'd be my all-time sweetheart, the Volkswagen GTI. Or if I'm just talking about sheer cool-factor, maybe something like the Galpin GTR1, BMW i8, or Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG. But instead, I'm going to write about the sheer opulence of being the best of the best. The hand-crafted, holier-than-thou, shut-your-mouth-when-I'm-talking-to-you supremacy. I'm picking the Rolls-Royce Wraith. I drove the Wraith for a week in April, and was really, really impressed. This car does everything, perfectly.

Party sponsored by Lamborghini tried to airlift yacht into Austin lake for F1 race

This was the kind of understatement we didn't expect to encounter in the Lone Star State: on our way into Austin to attend the Grand Prix of the Americas, the man sitting next to us on the plane - an Austinite born and raised - said, "There's gonna be a lot of wealthy people here." You know, as if Texas didn't have its fair share already.
Wealthy people need wealthy things to do and not-as-wealthy people to arrange such things for them. Case in point is My Yacht Club, which follows the Formula 1 parade and other rah-rah events around the globe, hosting guests and parties on yachts. In Austin the event group has had to change its schtick; there's no way to navigate one 150-foot motor yacht into Austin's Lady Bird Lake. MYC principal Nicholas Frankl told KUT News, "We spoke to the Army Air Corps. They couldn't lift it." We believe he meant the Army Corps of Engineers, but no matter, they couldn't lift it either.
So MYC has switched to a land-lubbers venue, The Long Center where Ballet Austin, the opera and the symphony perform. In case you readers are worried about how guests will manage without chiseled Italian deckhands in epaulets, not only has Frankl promised that "the elements of decadence and luxury and coolness and exclusivity are all there," guests will get to guzzle 24-karat gold-infused champagne. Because the stars at night just aren't as big and bright without it, obviously.