The Lamborghini Huracan has had one hell of a hero’s journey since its introduction way back in 2014. We’ve seen it go from exclusively all-wheel drive to spawning rowdy rear-wheel drive variants. We’ve seen hardcore driver-focused Huracans like the Performante and STO come and go. Now, we’re seeing the end of that journey with this, the Huracan Tecnica.
Full Disclosure: Lamborghini wanted me to drive the Huracan Tecnica so badly, the company asked me nicely to drive the two-and-a-half hours from LA to the Thermal Club, where it gave me ice cream bars, chilled towels with eucalyptus and plentiful shade to sit in. It also let me drive a near-$300,000 supercar on a track for a whole afternoon. It was fun.
The Tecnica is likely to be the last Huracan model to feature the magical, yowling 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 that has powered it from the start. As such, it is Lamborghini’s attempt at making Goldilocks Huracan. To that end, it features a ton of bits from the maniacally hardcore Huracan STO: transmission, tires, electronics package and more. The Tecnica also brings back bits from the Huracan EVO, like rear visibility that actually lets you see behind you, and ride quality that won’t loosen your fillings.
The 631-hp Tecnica even looks like a hybrid of the STO and the EVO, with the more aggressive STO front end, but fashioned from a normal frunk rather than the STO’s one-piece clamshell. The Tecnica also gets a normal rear decklid with a low spoiler, in lieu of the outrageous spoilers found on the STO. Lamborghini claims the Tecnica has 35 percent more downforce than the EVO RWD, along with 20 percent less drag. Clearly, the spoiler is working. The Tecnica is also a claimed 22 lbs lighter than the EVO RWD thanks to a carbon fiber decklid and frunk lid.
The interior is pretty much like every other Huracan, but that’s not a bad thing. It still has the best turn signal switch in the business (which every car should have, don’t @ me), and the generally meh but functional HMI infotainment system benefits from a recent overhaul that adds over-the-air update capabilities. I didn’t spend much time playing with it, but at the end of the day, you’re not buying a Huracan for its infotainment system.
So, what is it like to drive? On the road, I couldn’t tell you, because I haven’t driven it there. Lamborghini didn’t have any on-road portion for this media drive. On the track, however, the Huracan Tecnica is as spectacular as you always believed a supercar would be when you were a kid playing Gran Turismo.
The Tecnica may look a lot less bananas than the STO, but it gives up surprisingly little performance in its journey back to sanity. Because it has the drivetrain, electronic tech and some suspension tuning from the STO, the Technica still eats hot laps for lunch ( at least, until the tires get too hot, but it’s the desert; what are you gonna do?).
The Tecnica’s acceleration off the line is understandably brisk, with a 9,000-rpm, 631-hp V10 pushing just 3,040 lbs. The excellent seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox cracks off shifts quickly, and while it will force an upshift if you bash it against the rev limiter in certain modes, a couple button pushes will do away with that safety net. The best part of the Huracan remains the absolutely bat-shit-nuts intake noise that presents itself around 4,000 rpm. As good as the car sounds outside, the sound inside the cabin is a thousand times better.
Our track for the day was the South Palm circuit at the Thermal Club, a fairly aggressive circuit with a lot of hard braking zones and a pair of decently long straights.
The first corner after the front straight is a super sharp, second-gear left-hander that forces you to stand on the brakes and shift down from fourth or fifth gear. The car turns in beautifully on the optional Bridgestone Potenza “Race” tires, and the car’s rear-wheel steering does an excellent job of keeping a tidy line through the turn.
Things can get a little hairy if you jump back on the power too soon exiting a corner, particularly if you’re in Sport mode rather than Corsa, as the rear end will kick out relatively easily. If you have the electronic stability control system turned off, you might find yourself suddenly facing the wrong way. This tail-happiness is due in part to the four-wheel steering system effectively shortening the car’s wheelbase; high track-surface temperatures also made the tires a little greasy.
Interestingly, Sport mode allows for much more slip and movement than the track-focused Corsa mode. In Corsa, with its unique stability-control tuning, the car seemed sharper and more predictable. I didn’t bother with the softest Strada mode because we were on a race track.
Provided you haven’t overcooked the first hairpin, you get to wind the Tecnica out to third gear before leaning on the car’s standard carbon ceramic brakes once again to head into South Palm’s technical inner section with a hard right-hander leading into a chicane. While the Tecnica is a softer car overall than the STO, the body motions are still well-controlled, and the car is very willing to change direction quickly, making the chicane easy to navigate. From there, it’s another hard left with a late apex and onto the back straight.
The back straight at South Palm is long enough to truly let the Huracan breathe. By the end, I found myself brushing up against the underside of 150 mph before once again putting the excellent carbon ceramic Brembos to work and dropping three gears for the final set of three corners leading to the front straight.
That back straight is one of those places where we’ll find ourselves missing this glorious NA V10 in the future. Lamborghini is likely to go with a turbocharged, hybrid-assisted engine in the Hurcacan’s replacement, but nothing feels or sounds quite like a high-revving NA motor at full song.
In all, I ran about 20 laps throughout the afternoon, and while the Tecnica isn’t really meant as a hardcore track rat, it’s pretty damned good at playing that role. Personally, I can’t say that I’d take a Tecnica over an STO. The Tecnica is likely to be the superior road car, but I’m a weirdo.
See, I’ve always liked the Lamborghinis that are sort of inconvenient. I want every Lambo to feel insane— spiteful and a with big “himbo” energy, like a Diablo or a Countach— and I want to feel like a hero while driving one. The Tecnica doesn’t really do the first two, though it does the hero driver bit very well.
The Huracan Tecnica is meant to be a greatest hits album for Lamborghini’s best model, and in this, it totally succeeds. I am looking forward to spending some time with it on the road, where I suspect it will make an even more compelling case for itself as being the Lamborghini to own if you plan on actually driving your Lambo.
The 2023 Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica is available to order now with a starting price of $239,000.