Skip to main content

2018 Lamborghini Huracán Performante first drive

To stick to the road, Lamborghini's Huracan Performante transforms in seconds

2018 lamborghini huracn performante review huracan 23
Miles Branman/Digital Trends
“Lamborghini’s latest doesn’t just knock around the world’s fastest cars; it puts on a show while doing it.”
Pros
  • GT3-inspired exhaust note
  • Innovative aerodynamics
  • Sensational grip
  • Communicative steering
Cons
  • No such thing as a comfortable ride mode

“Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.“

For the last 54 years, Lamborghini has produced emotional energy in automotive form. Whether your heart races or your brow furrows at the sight of these Italian-built supercars is not of consequence; the point is that you react, you feel – something. Screaming exhaust notes, dramatic designs, and towering top speeds are all part of Lamborghini’s specialized toolkit. No automaker uses them better.

Recommended Videos

Until now, the raging bull badge has represented right brain engineering, but the Huracán Performante is altering the cognitive code. The most extreme Huracán isn’t simply a leaner, more powerful version of the standard car – it introduces technologies never before seen on a production vehicle. The Performante is born of the same passion as every Lamborghini before it, but with a new strain of sophistication.

What’s new

The 2018 Lamborghini Huracán Performante is an all-new model based on the Huracán LP610-4. Compared to the standard car, the Performante is stiffer, more powerful, more responsive, and lighter. Lamborghini’s ALA (Aerodynamica Lamborghini Attiva) adaptive aerodynamics system drastically improves the Performante’s handling. As a result of these tweaks, the Huracán Performante is (presently) the fastest production car to lap the Nurburgring, besting the $850K Porsche 918 Spyder.

Trim levels & features

To the untrained eye, the Performante looks like a Huracán with a massive spoiler affixed to its rear – just another tuner special, perhaps. In reality, nothing about the supercar’s exterior is merely aesthetic; every detail is part of a greater directive: to manipulate the forces of nature. Lamborghini says the Huracán Performante has been sculpted by the wind, but between the two, it’s really the supercar that’s in control.

Until now, the raging bull badge has represented right brain engineering, but the Huracán Performante is altering the cognitive code.

ALA is Lamborghini’s innovative (and patented) method of dictating how and when air passes through or around the car. Four active valves – two integrated within the front splitter and two within the rear engine cover – open and close to trap or channel airflow. When the flaps close, the trapped air adds downforce to the front and rear end, while the fixed rear wing contributes 750 percent more downforce than the standard LP610-4. When the flaps open (via throttle input), air travels freely through the channels to minimize drag. Notably, the rear channel funnels air underneath the spoiler to, in effect, cancel its natural pull.

At this point, you might be wondering how this system compares to the active aero components seen on cars like the McLaren 650S and Ferrari 488 GTB. Surely a pivoting wing or front lip is more effective. Lamborghini’s head of R&D, Maurizio Reggiani says otherwise. “The Huracán Performante’s valves open and close in 0.2 seconds, which is much faster than a moving aerodynamic piece can open, tilt, or close. This means downforce can be added or taken away almost instantly.”

It gets better. Lamborghini uses its ALA system for more than just front and rear downforce. Through something the automaker calls “Aerovectoring,” the Performante opens or closes valves on the left or right side of the car to create downforce on the inner wheels while cornering. On a left-hand turn, for example, left valves will close and right valves will open, reducing required steering input, improving grip, and helping the car pivot. In this way, aerovectoring has a similar effect as torque vectoring without the heavy mechanical components.

Apart from a small handful of options like a carbon fiber racing seat and ultra-sticky Pirelli Trofeo R tires, the Performante will ship as a one-size-fits-all deal. Included in the $274,390 price of admission are several Forged Composite interior and exterior bits, an Alcantara-wrapped interior, upgraded powertrain, carbon ceramic brakes, and unique 20-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli PZero Corsa tires.

Technology overview

Complementing the Performante’s exterior technology is a passel of interior gadgets, most of which are focused on the driver. A reconfigurable 12.3-inch digital display splits real estate between navigation, telemetry, media, and radio information on the right and a tachometer/speedometer on the left. Strada and Sport drive modes maintain this setup, but Corsa mode fills the entire display with a racing-inspired tachometer.

While the big tach helps during all-out track driving, it’s a bit to low to pick up with your peripherals; a shift-indicator sequence on the steering wheel or dash would make a big difference. Another piece of performance tech is Lamborghini’s telemetry app, which can record and replay laps for you to study or show-off.

When you aren’t bending space and time on a road course, you can mate smartphone and supercar via Apple CarPlay or USB. Audio system? Sure, the Performante has one of those, but the only soundtrack you should be listening to is played with your right foot.

Interior fit & finish

Alcantara and Forged Composite compete for surface area within the Huracán Performante’s cockpit. The roof, seats, dashboard, door panels, and steering wheel are wrapped in microfiber suede. Exterior color-matched cross-stitching and seat inserts breakup the thematic gray nicely. Lamborghini’s unique carbon concoction – Forged Composite – is a fast-curing resin with embedded carbon fiber bits. The marble-like finish makes up the air vents, door handles, steering wheel paddles, and center panel.

Miles Branman/Digital Trends
Miles Branman/Digital Trends

Between the two seating options, we favor the lowered position of the carbon fiber buckets on track and the extra padding of the standard chairs on road. In terms of ride quality, even Strada mode – the softest suspension setting – means a firm on-road experience. Blame the stiffer chassis (10-percent more vertically and 15-percent more horizontally) for the added sensitivity. If comfort is what you crave, this category of extreme performance isn’t the right fit.

Driving performance & MPG

The 2018 Huracán Performante shares its 5.2-liter V10 engine, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and all-wheel drive system with the LP610-4, but select modifications boost total output. A revised intake, titanium valves, and a derestricted exhaust system produce an additional 30 horsepower and 31 pound-feet of torque for a net of 640 horses and 443 lb-ft. Lamborghini has also shaved 88 lbs from the Huracán thanks to the Forged Composite pieces.

When self-preservation might otherwise demand easing, the Performante begs to be pushed harder.

More power, less weight – you know the drill. If it was just a question of power-to-weight, we could probably evaluate the Performante’s driving dynamics (as they relate to the LP610-4) without ever getting behind the wheel. ALA changes the game, though.

As we exit the pits onto Autodromo di Imola – where Ayrton Senna’s life was cut short in 1994 – our hands tremble in anticipation. Lamborghini’s test driver leads our trio of Performantes on some orientation laps around the three-mile circuit. At this moderate pace, we explore the car’s braking force, steering effort, and chassis responsiveness. In the hard-edged Corsa drive mode, the Performante splits torque to slightly bias the rear end and chooses a shorter, fixed steering ratio to facilitate predictable handling.

The pace builds rapidly, forcing intimacy with the Performante’s mechanics sooner than we’d prefer. In any other sports car, we’d be wary of sprinting to 170 mph on the straightaway before jamming the brakes ahead of a tight left-right chicane on just the third lap. Somehow, though, we’re rotating, counter-steering, and trail-braking the Performante with unvexed confidence.

Miles Branman/Digital Trends
Miles Branman/Digital Trends

A screaming V10 and whip-cracking downshifts are at odds with the composure we feel at the limit. “Are we aware of ALA at work?” Perhaps not in the sense you might imagine. There isn’t an impression of gravitational pressure, applied or released. Rather, the Performante feels planted when you expect otherwise. Cresting a hill, taking a downhill, off-camber corner – times when self-preservation demands easing – the Performante begs to be pushed harder. Imola doesn’t stand a chance.

Safety

Neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS evaluate the Huracán (in any forms), so we can’t speak to the supercar’s safety in an incident. Apart from independent agency ratings, the Huracán Performante does have four airbags, side impact beams, traction control, stability control and ABS.

Conclusion

We’ll spare you the exhausted “race car for the road” metaphors, but it’s difficult not to compare the Huracán Performante to the immersive driving experience of a motorsports machine. Few performance vehicles, even among the supercar ilk, feel purpose-built to obliterate lap times. The Performante’s innovative aero engineering blends with traditional performance tuning for the ultimate in street-legal excitement. Lamborghini’s latest doesn’t just knock around the world’s fastest cars; it puts on a show while doing it.

Miles Branman
Miles Branman doesn't need sustenance; he needs cars. While the gearhead gene wasn't strong in his own family, Miles…
The week in EV tech: From sky-high dreams to ground-level drama
tesla robotaxi feud alef in transition flight

Welcome to Digital Trends’ weekly recap of the revolutionary technology powering, connecting, and now driving next-gen electric vehicles. 
Buckle up, folks — this week we’re taking off with a look at the futuristic dream of flying electric cars possibly gliding above U.S. roads sooner than you think. But before we get carried away, let’s bring it back down to the bumpy road of present-day realities.
Even if you’re mostly interested about the tech powering the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, it’s become increasingly hard to avoid the politics around it: You guessed it, we’re talking about this week’s public feud between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump.
What does this have to do with EV tech? Well, quite a lot actually. For starters, the technology behind Tesla’s Autopilot and Full-Self Driving (FSD) modes may return in the crosshairs of regulators: Despite the names, these are still driver-assist features that require active driver supervision, and until Trump’s election, they had been under heavy scrutiny by safety regulators for several years.
Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  (NHTSA) launched an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD. Big questions remain about the driver-assist system's performance under adverse, yet naturally-occurring conditions such as fog, sun glare, rain, and snow.
When Musk, who spent about $275 million to help elect Trump, was appointed to head a newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it raised more than a few eyebrows about his power and influence over the regulators who are supposed to oversee traffic safety, and therefore Tesla.
It didn’t help that the Trump administration followed Musk’s recommendations and relaxed crash-reporting requirements put in place since 2021, while also relaxing rules to accelerate the deployment of fully-automated robotaxis.
The Trump/Musk clash takes place just as Tesla is due to launch its robotaxi pilot progam in Texas later this month. While Trump is now threatening to pull billions of dollars in government subsidies and contracts from Musk’s companies, it’s unclear whether he might pressure the Department of Transportation to again tighten the regulatory screws on Tesla. What is clear is that Trump has never been a fan of electric vehicles and is already trying to end federal subsidies on EV purchases and leases. And while he had made a big deal about buying a bright red Tesla Model S back in March, Trump now says he wants to sell it.
Back to the tech
Meanwhile, Tesla is still required to respond to information and data requests from NHTSA regarding the safety of its robotaxis by July 1. And ultimately, it should come down to the performance of the technology.
For Autopilot and FSD, Tesla has opted for less expensive navigational tech relying on multiple onboard cameras that feed AI machine-learning models. But especially for so-called adverse driving conditions, it’s the more expensive technology relying on a blend of pre-mapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar) which has received the nod of regulators.
Waymo, the sole robotaxi service currently operating in the U.S., and Zoox, Amazon’s upcoming robotaxi service, both use that blend of navigational tech.
For its robotaxis, Tesla is said to have upped its game in terms of autonomous driving with its Hardware 4 (HW4) technology, which does include radar sensors and promises enhanced environmental perception.
Will that be enough for Tesla to convince regulators, catch up with Waymo, or compete effectively with Zoox?
We’ll have to wait and see.
Flying cars
In a recent edition, we noted that while consumer confidence about robotaxi technology is on the rise, most people also want more data before they hop into a self-driving vehicle.
What about flying taxis? According to a recent survey by Honeywell, nearly all U.S. airline fliers, or 98%, said they would consider using a so-called electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, as part of their travel journey.
But while the buzz around flying electric vehicles has mostly focused on air taxis— like Archer Aviation’s Midnight, expected to fly athletes around the 2028 LA Olympics, or Joby’s slick air taxi, backed by Toyota — one California startup is shooting for something a little more... driveable.
Meet Alef Aeronautics, a Bay Area company that wants to put the “car” back in “flying car.” This week, Alef announced it has received over 3,400 pre-orders for its electric flying vehicle, the Model A — and get this: it’s not a futuristic prototype gathering dust in a lab. Alef says production could begin by the end of 2025, or early next year.
On the ground, the Model A operates like a low-speed electric car, complete with hub motors in the wheels and—wait for it—a real steering wheel. You can legally drive it at up to 25 mph on public roads, parking it in a normal garage like any other EV. It’s refreshingly manual in an increasingly hands-free world.
But when it's time for lift off, the steering wheel takes a backseat. For vertical takeoff and flight, the Model A transforms into a drone-like aircraft. Its cabin rotates sideways to create lift, and eight electric rotors—controlled by a flight system and joysticks—take over. No pedals, no yoke, just a bit of joystick magic (or autopilot, if you prefer).
The Model A has already received the nod from regulators for test flights.
While the $300,000 price tag won’t fit everyone’s budget, the company is clearly betting on a future where you don’t have to choose between a car and a flying machine—you can have both.

Read more
8 key things you need to know from Apple’s WWDC 2025 event
From a fresh look and updated names, to new features, more intelligence and live translation
iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 shown on devices.

The WWDC 2025 keynote ran for just over an hour and a half. For those of you who don't fancy sitting through the whole presentation, we've pulled out the key things you need to know from the latest Apple event.

1. Welcome to the 26 club

Read more
Tesla’s robotaxi service is almost here, but it’s not the car you want to see
Silver Tesla Model Y Juniper side

Tesla chief Elon Musk has said that the automaker is aiming to launch its robotaxi service on June 22, in Austin, Texas.

“Tentatively, June 22,” Musk said in a post on X on Tuesday, adding: “We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift.”

Read more