The Lamborghini Huracan Evo is more than an Audi R8 in disguise

Unless you’ve had the extreme privilege of driving (or even sitting) in a Lamborghini Huracan, it can be easy to dismiss the striking supercar as simply an Audi R8 in disguise.

While the two share their basic underpinnings, and both of their respective 5.2-litre V10s are produced at Audi’s engine plant in Győr, Hungary, stepping into the Huracan Evo at PCOTY felt vastly removed from the Type 4S Audi R8 V10 I had been driving some weeks prior.

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Even before the wheels start turning, this much is clear from the driver’s seat.

One of the R8’s greatest virtues is the familiarity of its controls belying its otherwise exotic silhouette. Without directly comparing the two, you’d struggle to discern between the cabin of Audi’s midship supercar and the more pedestrian TT coupe.

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The ergonomics of the Huracan, however, are unlike anything else.

From the flip-up ignition sequence, shift paddle engaging first gear, steering-wheel mounted wipers and indicators to the high and centrally-mounted window controls – nothing in the Lamborghini is ‘where Audi left it’.

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The Huracan’s Evo upgrades gain different cylinder heads and exhaust, lifting outputs to a Performante-matching 470kW while the Audi has to make do with ‘just’ 449kW. Those 21 extra kilowatts translate to a .25-second improvement to 0-100km/h (2.93sec v 3.18sec), and a 400m dash .36-seconds quicker than the Audi with a terminal speed ten-clicks higher.

You won’t necessarily feel those metric advantages by the seat of the pants, but the overall experience and character between the two supercars are drastically divergent in the delivery of their performance. It’s the details that make the difference. Recalibrated throttle mapping and shorter gearing in the Lamborghini lead to a far more explosive power delivery than the silky smooth R8.

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A quicker steering ratio also makes the Italian feel far more urgent and eager upon corner entry and, even in its quietest Strada mode, the extroverted Lamborghini sounds louder than the R8 in its most aggressive setting.

On paper, the two may present themselves as mechanical twins. In practice however, even we were shocked out how vastly distinct the two midship stalwarts feel in practice.

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