Skip to main content

Lamborghini’s latest supercar is too extreme for the road

Lamborghini is known for craziness, but with other automakers developing more extreme supercars, the raging bull risks being overshadowed. So Lamborghini is upping the ante with a hardcore, track-only supercar. Developed by the automaker’s Squadra Corse racing division, the unnamed supercar will be unveiled in 2020.

Details on the new supercar are scarce, but a Lamborghini press release said it would be powered by a version of the 6.5-liter V12 used in the Aventador and certain limited-edition models. The output will be 830 horsepower, but from the 759 hp, the V12 makes in its most potent form today. This may be one of the lats Lamborghini models to feature a pure V12 powertrain. Lambo has indicated that the Aventador’s successor, due in 2022, will have a hybrid powertrain.

Recommended Videos

The new supercar will feature a large rear wing, roof air scoop, and a racing-style hood with air intact ducts, according to Lamborghini. Under the skin, the backbone of the car will be a carbon fiber monocoque, mated to an aluminum front frame and a steel cage-like structure for the engine. The racing-style six-speed sequential Xtrac transmission will be a load-bearing part of the structure, Lamborghini said. The rear suspension will bolt directly to the transmission casing, saving weight by eliminating the need for a dedicated rear subframe.

To help put the car’s 830 hp to the ground, Lamborghini also fitted a mechanical locking rear differential, which can be adjusted by the driver to suit different conditions. Lamborghini didn’t mention all-wheel drive, so this could be the first V12 Lambo in some time with rear-wheel drive. But nothing has been confirmed yet. We’ll have to wait until closer to the car’s 2020 debut for more details. When it does launch, the new supercar will be for track use only, and won’t be road legal.

Alongside the new supercar, Lamborghini announced plans for a racing series based around its Urus SUV. The first race is scheduled for 2020 on a “special track,” according to Lamborghini, indicating that racing will take place on dirt rather than pavement. The winners of the four classes of Lamborghini’s Super Trofeo series (which uses racing versions of the Huracán) will compete against “two- and four-wheel motorsport celebrities,” according to Lamborghini. So far, nine-time motocross champion Tony Cairoli is the only confirmed “celebrity.”

Racers will use the Urus ST-X, which was first revealed as a concept in 2018. This racing version of the Urus features carbon fiber parts to save weight, and a 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 making 641 hp.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
The Lamborghini Museum houses 55 Years of technical innovation
Lamborghini-Museum

The Lamborghini story begins with a worn out clutch disc. Specifically, an old clutch disc in a Ferrari. Ferruccio Lamborghini was a wealthy industrialist in postwar Italy, who had made his fortune producing farm equipment. He had purchased a Ferrari and discovered that the clutch disc was the same part used in a Lamborghini tractor. This led to angry words with Enzo Ferrari and then to a bitter Lamborghini promising to build a better sports car.

There are few motivators more effective than wounded pride, and Lamborghini shortly produced his first car, the beautiful 350GT in 1964. An example of this car, along with other significant Lamborghini models up to the present day, is on display at the Museo Delle Tecnologie at Automobili Lamborghini headquarters in the northern Italian town of Sant'Agata Bolognese. The town and factory are located about 30 minutes outside the city of Bologna.

Read more
How do you get people to take your electric supercar seriously? Set a lap record
Aspark Owl

A Japanese electric supercar will head to the Nürburgring to attack the legendary German racetrack's lap record. The Aspark Owl will hit the track in March 2020, Aspark boss Masanori Yoshida said in an interview with Top Gear. A lap record would give newcomer Aspark some credibility, and strike another blow for electric cars against internal combustion.

Aspark didn't specify which lap record it would aim for, but it's probably safe to rule out the overall record set by the Porsche 919 Hybrid, or the electric record set by the Volkswagen ID R Those records were set by purpose-built race cars, but the Owl is a production model (albeit a very extreme one). Aspark will likely go for the production-car lap record of 6 minutes, 40.3 seconds set by a Porsche 911 GT2RS MR in 2018. The Owl wouldn't be the first car to hold that record: the Nio EP9 briefly had bragging rights before being surpassed by internal-combustion cars.

Read more
McLaren’s latest supercar has 804 horsepower and no roof
mclaren elva is an 804 horsepower 16 million supercar

Previous

Next

Read more