Lamborghini may offer rear-drive Huracan

Wed, 20 Aug 2014

Lamborghini may not offer a manual-transmission option on the new Huracán – so few customers were asking for it on the preceding Gallardo as it was – but don't think that it won't pursue ever more hardcore variants. And that will reportedly include a rear-drive version.

Speaking with journalists at the Pebble Beach unveiling of the new Huracán Super Trofeo, Lamborghini CEO Stefan Winkelmann is reported to have said, "We did it with the Gallardo so it might be an option. We are a four-wheel-drive super-sports car [manufacturer] but why should we not do a rear-drive option?"

The rear-drive Huracán would naturally shed a few pounds off the all-wheel-drive version's curb weight, but the question is just how much. There is said to have only been so much of the AWD system that Sant'Agata was able to strip out of the Gallardo to make the rear-drive Balboni edition after the fact, but if the Huracán was engineered from the get-go for both drivetrains, the rear-drive version could prove that much more thrilling to drive.

In Lamborghini's alphanumeric nomenclature, the LP indicates a longitudinal aft engine placement, the next three letters for the metric output and the -2 or -4 indicating the number of driven wheels. The Balboni and subsequent, more mainstream rear-drive coupe and convertible versions of the Gallardo wore the characters LP 550-2 because they dropped ten horses together with the front driven wheels. The rear-drive Huracán, by extension, would likely be labeled as the LP 600-2.

Of course that won't be the only Huracán derivative the Raging Bull marque might offer. "We need lots of derivatives," said Winkelmann. "Customers expect it and we always need something new to talk about." Look for the Spyder version to arrive first, with a successor to the Superleggera and Super Trofeo Stradale to follow sometime thereafter.

By Noah Joseph