Lamborghini reveals the secrets behind Huracán Performante

Lamborghini Huracán Performante. (Automobili Lamborghini)

The fastest car ever to go around the Nurburgring made its real-world debut at the Geneva motor show on Tuesday, and, along with it, the answer to the question that's been plaguing supercar fans and the competition alike over recent days -- how did they break the record?

The days between the announcement of the Nurburgring record and the revealing of the car itself have been like those spent by people that have been to see David Copperfield or David Blaine -- talking about a magic trick and trying to work out how on earth it was achieved.

Luckily, Lamborghini, though currently king of the ring, is not a member of the magic circle and so can indeed reveal its secret.

And the short answer is a perfectly mixed cocktail of extra power, more aerodynamics and less weight. Or, as Lamborghini's Chairman and CEO Stefano Domenicali puts it: "The Huracán Performante is the convergence of technological developments to produce a car delivering perfect performance."

Based on the standard "entry-level" Lamborghini Huracán, the Performante uses the same 5.2-litre V10 engine but with the output dialed up to 640 hp and torque to 600 Nm. That makes the engine the most powerful 10-cylinder unit in the company's history and all of these performance gains have been achieved without looking to turbo- or supercharging. Instead there are bronze manifolds and titanium valves helping to optimize each driveshaft revolution.

As for weight saving, the company has turned to its own in-house developed composite material "forged composite" -- i.e., pieces of carbon fiber set in resin -- to lighten the load where aluminum and standard carbon fiber alone don't make the grade.

The aerodynamic package is of the active variety with ducts and flaps automatically opening and closing in milliseconds to change how the car cuts through the air in real time. And even the actuators and struts moving these flaps have been chosen for their lightweight construction.

The result is a car that's 40 kg lighter than a standard Huracán and with a 0-100 km/h time of 2.9 seconds, a 325 km/h+ top speed and the ability to brake from 100km/h to standstill in 31 metres. Or, to put everything in layman's terms, the ability to go around the Nurburgring in six minutes and 52.01 seconds.

"This new car represents the powerhouse of Lamborghini DNA and innovation, and a 360-degree approach to creating class-leading super sports cars. It illustrates the pinnacle of Lamborghini V10 production car performance to date, on both track and road," said Domenicali.

And the price for what is currently the fastest car in the world? It will go on sale this summer for €195,040 in Europe and US$274,390 in the U.S.