Lamborghini Huracán Evo Spyder review

Less a car, more a sort of mobile shrine to V10 worship. It’s the topless version of the entry-level Lambo, now facelifted into ‘Evo’ form and available in two flavours. Choose between the Huracán RWD Spyder, which makes do with sending 602bhp to the rear wheels only, and the other Huracán Evo Spyder, which remains four-wheel drive, and now chucks out 631bhp.

Whichever version you go for, you get a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox, an electrically-folding cloth roof, a top speed north of the magic 200mph, and a noise that will wake the dead, make them grin, and shout them to death all over again.

The Huracán is by no means a young supercar – it’s been with us now since 2014. In those six years, Lamborghini has fiddled with it, so beyond the original LP610-4 model, there’s been the Spyder, then the rear-wheel drive versions, and the lighter, more powerful Huracán Performante.

Now, Lamborghini has basically ripped the Performante’s furious engine out and stuck it in a revised Huracán, which has new bumpers, new wheels, and a new cabin. All very new, for what’s basically the mid-life facelift. But when the opposition is the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren, a fresh set of floor mats isn’t really going to cut it.

Since the Spyder is designed for sunny days, we’ve concentrated most on testing the rear-wheel drive version. Hey, you’re hardly going to miss the four-wheel drive in the middle of high summer, are you? It’s the cheapest way to get a brand new Lambo cabrio into your life, with prices starting at a cheap-as-chips £188,800.

Okay, those are some pricey chips, but for the sheer amount of performance and pantomime on offer here, most people will assume you’ve parted with at least a quarter of a million quid for the privilege. And if you were worried about value for money, you’d just plump for an Audi R8 Spyder instead. Same engine, same gearbox, same chassis. But only one of those cars shares its badge with a diesel supermini…

In many ways, this latest drop-top Lambo is a very old-school Italian supercar. The driving position is against the Geneva convention, the interior makes no sense, it’s hopelessly impractical and yet, because of the looks, the noise and the character, it’s still a machine you’d strongly consider using to burn the apocryphal ‘last gallon of petrol on Earth’. That’s how life-affirming that sonorous V10 engine is, and how rich the sense of occasion is once you’re enclosed inside the Huracán’s gorgeously angular body.

If we have to come over all grown-up, we’d recommend you spend your lottery winnings on a different drop-top supercar. Or, a hard-top Huracán. It’s more tactile, more vivid in the corners, there’s more space inside and you don’t need to wear a welder’s mask to see the touchscreen on a sunny day. It’s also considerably cheaper than the soft-top, and no less striking.

But supercars defy rational explanation, don’t they? And that’s why, long after our backs have stopped aching from the hopeless seat, and our ears have ceased ringing, we’ll remember the Huracán Spyder fondly for being a poetic love letter to high-revving engines, style over seriousness, and sheer bloody entertainment.