The Grand Tour co-host Jeremy Clarkson has had a hard time resisting the Lamborghini Huracan Performante, which is why he announced it as his 2018 Car of the Year.
The award was presented to Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini’s Board Director for R&D, at a special event in New Corp’s London headquarters a few days ago. This is also where The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers handed out their motoring awards.
“This is about the car that appealed more than anything. You get into it and you don’t know what it is that’s tingling the back of your head, but you think ‘this thing’s good’”, said Clarkson, who also writes motoring features for The Sunday Times. “There’s something about it: it’s not the speed, it’s not the looks. There’s only really been one car in the last twelve months where I’ve had that feeling, and that’s the Lamborghini Huracan Performante.”
Unveiled at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in March, the Lamborghini Huracan Performante Coupe was followed by the Spyder derivative one year later. Both of them benefit from active aerodynamics, called Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva or simply ALA in Lambo slang, have permanent four-wheel drive, recalibrated ESC, enhanced suspension and steering, and other upgrades.
Right behind the passenger compartment, sits a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 engine, which is good for 640 PS (631 hp / 471 kW) and 600 Nm (443 lb-ft) of torque. The Coupe goes to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds, while the Spyder is 0.2 seconds slower. Both versions of the supercar max out at 325 km/h (202 mph).
The fixed-roof model was also the fastest production car on the Nurburgring, until it was dethroned by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which, in turn, lost its crown to the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.