Page 76 - Motor Trend (February 2020)
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TRACK DRIVE


                  allelunga, Italy, just north of Rome.
                  The Autodromo Vallelunga is a
                  2.5-mile wriggle of a racetrack.
                  There’s the snarl of a race-tuned
           V V-10 as a winged, wedge-shaped
            blur flashes past pit lane. Brap, brap,
            braaaaap. That’s fourth, fifth, sixth gear,
            just before the daunting Curva Grande, a
            fast right-hander with a big compression      heavily based on the road-going Huracán,     cautious through the sixth-gear rush of
            on the apex and a left-hand kink on the       sharing about 70 percent of its parts,       Curva Grande, but I feel confident I could
            exit. The quick guys barely lift, threading   including engine and suspension. The rest  soon work on a respectable lap time.
            the needle at 145 mph.                        is race car hardware, including a six-speed     Level, set. Now for the GT3.
              The garage buzzes with activity, a racing  Xtrac transmission, downforce-inducing           With about 500 hp—the V-10’s output
            hive-mind in black and gray, trimmed          aerodynamic bodywork, center-lock            can be tweaked depending on the regula-
            with acid green. The chatter of rattle guns   wheels, and safety equipment.                tions under which the car is racing—the
            announces a set of freshly warmed slicks        Clutch in, left thumb on the neutral       GT3 has less power than the Super Trofeo.
            for the 620-hp Lamborghini Super Trofeo       button on the steering wheel boss, click     But it has 50 percent more downforce,
            Evo race car in front of me.                  back the right paddle. Thunk! First gear.    bigger and stickier tires, proper race car
              Super Trofeo is a Pro-Am series aimed       The low-slung Lambo stutters down pit        suspension, a different transmission, and
            at enthusiasts with the money to consider     lane on the speed limiter. Pit exit, cancel   Bosch Motorsport MS6.4 electronics that
            the hobby of racing Lamborghinis on           the limiter, and it leaps forward. Second    allow much more fine-tuning of every-
            iconic tracks. The Evo, a 2018 upgrade of     gear slams home like an anvil dropped in     thing from engine mapping to traction
            the Super Trofeo introduced in 2015, is       a dumpster. Third, fourth, and fifth arrive   control and ABS. The $309,000 Super
                                                          with only marginally more subtlety.          Trofeo is the ultimate track day special.
                                                            I’ve driven the Super Trofeo Evo before,  The $525,000 GT3 is a real racing car.
                                                          and it feels familiar as I take it out on       As part of the Evo upgrade, the GT3
                                                          a warm-up lap: the booming surge of          has new suspension parts made from
                                                          acceleration, the weapons-grade braking,     machined aluminum; they’re 40 percent
                                                          the mild understeer on corner entry, and     less expensive than the previous welded
                                                          oversteer on corner exit if you’re too ambi- steel tube items. A new aero package
                                                          tious on the throttle all seem benign and    increases downforce 20 percent with a
                                                          predictable despite the ferocious bellow of  minimal increase in drag and shifts the
                                                          the 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V-10. I’m   car’s aero balance toward the front axle,











                         TRACK DRIVE:



                         LAMBORGHINI

              HURACÁN
















                                                            GT3 EVO


              WORDS ANGUS MACKENZIE














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