Review: 2020 Lamborghini Huracán EVO

If Ferruccio Lamborghini was alive today he would be approaching his 104th birthday and would be witness to the consistent and healthy growth of the supercar brand that features his name and the symbol of his Taurus zodiac sign – the bull.

In the past 5 years Lamborghini sales globally have risen 153% and judging by the quality and variety of the range on display at their Sydney showroom, I see no reason why one of the world’s greatest supercar makers should not continue to prosper.

I was here to sample the Huracán EVO – a 640 horsepower, V10 naturally aspirated, all-wheel drive, 325km/h weapon finished in a stunning white exterior colour called Bianco Icarus combined with a black Sportivo Alcantara interior enhanced with orange Arancio Leonis stitching and trim highlights in the seats and even in the Lamborghini logo in the headrests.

The Huracán range now consists of only three models. The EVO, the EVO RWD, and the EVO Spyder.

The car was mine for a few hours to sample on Sydney’s roads on a very warm day in late January. So many options. So little time.

Highlights

Interior

The first thing that strikes you about the interior of the EVO is how it does feel somewhat claustrophobic whilst at the same time providing a very comfortable driving position and visibility – two things I was pondering before I drove the car.

Sliding behind the wheel, I was immediately impressed with how comfortable the EVO Trim seats are and how much leg-room I had for my 6 foot frame. The left foot-rest for example was positioned perfectly so the drive was very comfortable. The brake and accelerator are finished in aluminium and are perfectly positioned in terms of height and depth.

The attention to detail on the EVO is incredible and has to be one of the key factors in the resurgence of the brand on a global scale. Everything you touch, press and grip in the EVO is extremely well made and exudes a sense of luxury, lightness and purpose.

The new touch-screen in the centre console called the HMI (Human-Machine Interface) is very well laid out and presents an almost unlimited array of detail and information about the car. The inclusion of Apple Car Play is a welcome sign that the EVO is built for speed and comfort.

The HMI allows information such as the vehicle dynamics and power delivery to each wheel to be presented on the 21cm display. All interior comforts such as air-conditioning, navigation, and media/radio are controlled via the HMI screen which is very easy to read in any lighting conditions.

In LDVI mode, sensors display steering angle for all four wheels as well as the power delivery to each wheel – which is especially impressive on tight corners where torque vectoring keeps the car flat with maximum possible power delivery to each wheel.

Above the HMI is a lovely set of switches like you might find on a fighter jet or in the cockpit of a 747. These contain the two window switches, the hazard lights, the button to raise and lower the nose of the EVO, the parking sensors, the (very annoying) engine auto stop/start, and the traction control.

The steering wheel is the other highlight of the interior of the Huracán EVO. Also adorned with Arancio Leonis (orange) stitching on this version, all the theatre of the experience is harnessed in your hands. Almost perfect in diameter and width the wheel feels light to touch and provides all the necessary feedback that you expect. At the base of the flat bottomed wheel is the drive mode selector similar to the ANIMA system on the Lamborghini Urus. There are three modes; STRADA, SPORT, and CORSA. 

Introductions over it’s time to close the door, put your seat belt on, lift the red ignition button gate and press the START/STOP button and listen as the beast awakens with a wonderful multi-stage starter motor process.

Exterior

From the outside there is not as much madness or theatre in the design as you might expect. The Huracán EVO in this stunning Bianco Icarus (white) colour with the high-gloss black style package option is a thing of utter beauty. There are no garish spoilers or inlets to ruin the airflow from front to back.

At the nose the EVO is every bit a Huracán with the subtle triangular lights and the other styling cues that hark back to the original Aventador – the Ypsilon shape that has been part of the Lamborghini design DNA for many years now.

Ground clearance at the front is slightly cumbersome on city streets. A nose lift switch on the dash takes care of this by lifting the nose by 40mm quickly and quietly. As you exceed 70km/h the nose will return to its normal position approximately 135mm from the road.

Slightly off-centre side-on is in my opinion the best angle of the EVO. The sloping, low nose rising to the height of the cabin and then sloping back across the clear glass engine bay cover to the lip above the huge twin exhausts at the back.

Other stunning features from the outside include the 20 inch Aesir Graphite Grey cast alloy wheels which do a brilliant job of showing off the carbon ceramic brakes and the orange callipers. Wide exterior mirrors feel excessive from behind the wheel, but as you will notice from the outside, they are mounted in-board of the lateral edge of the car so blend into the overall design which ensures visibility for the driver is excellent and the lines of the EVO are not impacted.

At the rear the two huge exhaust pipes exit the body perfectly parallel to the road and are shrouded in what appears to be squashed black honeycomb that permits glimpses into the engine bay where the 5.2 litre V10 resides with its 7 speed dual clutch gearbox neighbour that connects perfectly to the four wheels. The mid-rear position of the engine and the raised lip of the rear of the EVO visually support the 43% / 57% front to back weight distribution. Below the exhaust pipes is a colour matched diffuser which gives a sense of depth to the back of the EVO.

Another perfectly Lamborghini touch at the rear is a small plaque showing the firing order of the V10 engine.

On the Road

Sydney’s roads aren’t know for their velvety texture and even in STRADA mode the EVO and the driver feel almost every crease and imperfection. I immediately head for the new M4 tunnel to get me out to the western outskirts of Sydney where we can admire the EVO even more.

In auto mode a simple pull of the right-hand gear selector behind the wheel and you’re in first and the EVO is as easy to drive as a Golf. The basic controls for the indicators and wipers are on the left and right of the steering wheel just under your thumbs. The really nice feature in the EVO is that the indicators are very much like those on a motorcycle where you use your thumb to move the toggle to the left or right to engage and then press in the centre to cancel. As a motorcyclist, this took me 5 minutes to get comfortable with. Midway between the indicators and wipers are the controls to cycle through tyre pressures, engine temps, and trip computer information. There is also a stopwatch feature for those timed laps of your favourite piece of tarmac. On the right are the controls to engage the cruise-control. I might need those as we approach the 110km/h section of the motorway heading west.

As we enter the tunnel I pull down on the drive mode selector on the steering wheel and engage SPORT. A yellow treatment appears on the dash and immediately the sounds from the exhaust change. The gear changes are now manual and are clearly more snappy. Pressing the accelerator into the lovely carpet and the engine bay comes alive with a combination of noise and driving forces. A lane change from a truck up ahead means I have to down-shift. Another wonderful array of bangs and pops come from behind my head.

Once out of the western end of the tunnel the traffic starts to lighten and speeds increase. The road and wind noise from the EVO are slightly more elevated than on your average motorcar. The wide and very low profile 305/30 tyres at the rear and 245/30 tyres at the front ensure perfect communication from the road surface to the wheel. The amount of turn required to move from lane to lane is reduced by the minor steering movements that the rear wheels make as speed increases thanks to the Lamborghini All-Wheel Steering (LAWS) and Lamborghini Dynamic Steering (LDS) that is standard on the EVO.

As we approach the location to photograph the EVO I engage CORSA mode and the instrument panel completely changes to a wonderful arc dial of the rev counter from 0 to 10,000 RPM – the red-line kicking in at 8,500 RPM! V10 engines are just magnificent pieces of engineering.

The sounds that come from the back of the EVO are a continuous cacophony of noises that are a joy to the ear.

A few spirited (and legal) runs in each driving mode remind you why Lamborghini, with the might of the Volkswagen Group behind it, is right up there in terms of engineering, build quality and innovation. Is it any wonder that the current boss of Lamborghini, Stefano Domenicali used to run the Formula 1 team at Ferrari.

Here’s a little taster in 360 VR thanks to our great friends at GoPro

For & Against

✅ It’s a Lamborghini!

✅ There is no other vehicle on the road today where the visual impact and the drive experience both exceed the wildest expectations.

✅ Very, very comfortable and I’m sure a wonderful experience on a long drive.

❌ Not that you would care, but it’s quite expensive.

❌ Road noise at speed.

❌ It’s not very easy to get in and out of.

Who Will Love This Car?

There is a gentleman who I see occasionally driving an original Huracán around where I live and before driving the EVO I used to be quite envious of him. I’m still very envious, and to that envy I’ve included admiration. With its various and very attractive quirks, the EVO is a perfect car for the right bit of road on the right occasion. It’s not a daily driver for the risk of someone else’s carelessness ruining your day and your almost perfect car.

Pricing

As we tested the car it was $520,461 plus on-road costs. Worth every cent.

To give you a sense of some of the options here are some highlights: the transparent engine cover will set you back $10,810, the stunning EVO Trim with the orange stitching is $4,800, and the phone interface and Apple Car Play is $6,480!