Simply Abu Dhabi XXII

2 9 3 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I S IMPLY CARS ByDamienReid W eight is the enemy of performance, and the simplest way to make a car go faster is to remove any unnecessary kilos. So while Lamborghini has distinguished itself from rivals Ferrari and McLaren by being the all-wheel drive supercar company, the price of having additional grip from the extra driving wheels is weight – which has been seen by a few purists as dulling the overall sensation. Though you could never accuse the likes of the Huracan and Aventador models of being even remotely dull, the temptation to shave off an easy few kilograms was thankfully too much for the revheads at Sant’agata, and so we now have the lightweight Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2. The last number stands for two-wheel drive, meaning all the power now goes through the rear wheels only. And with 33kg saved from not having a centre and front diff or a front driveshaft, as well as being mid-engined, this is the closest car Lambo has built to a Ferrari in decades, in terms of the spec sheet and construction layout. Power has dropped slightly from 602bhp to 572bhp, while the nose and springs have been fettled to provide extra downforce and adjust to the revised weight distribution, but otherwise not much else has changed. On paper it all looks similar, being just 0.2 seconds to 100kmh behind the all-wheel drive Huracan at 3.4 seconds with a 320kmh top end, but it’s the buzz through the fingertips that gets you.