First Drive: 2016 Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 Spyder

— Miami, Florida

Lamborghinis are nothing if not authentic. They look fast, and they are fast. They look loud, and they are loud. Despite how Lamborghini may pitch them — in the case of the 2016 Huracán LP610-4 Spyder, as a “lifestyle” model versus the “all-around fast” LP610-4 coupe and the “fun-to-drive” LP570-2 coupe — there’s no way around the fact that each and every one is as fast, loud, and utterly extreme as it looks. What you see is what you get with Lamborghini. Thank God.

For Miami’s see-and-be-seen set, the Huracán Spyder is brilliant. 

To drive home its perfunctory lifestyle message, Lamborghini launched its sexy new Huracán Spyder in Miami, a city known for its razzle-dazzle hotels, chesty females, vibrant art scene, and spectacular displays of wealth, if not for its great roads. Sure, Homestead-Miami Speedway is nearby, Lamborghini did not take us there; rather we were simply cut loose with around this flat, slow-moving city so we could see what sort of lifestyle this sunny Lamborghini might afford its lucky driver and passenger. Read: see, and be seen.

For Miami’s see-and-be-seen set, the Huracán Spyder is brilliant. First, the “seeing” part: Lamborghini hardtops are pretty difficult to see out of, their low roofs preventing drivers from noting when the light turns green, let alone savor the art deco facades of South Beach’s famous high rise hotels. And that same roof combined with high-set windows certainly makes it difficult to be seen by onlookers, whose envious stares never get old. Ditch the roof — both problems solved!

While the Spyder features the same 602-horsepower, 5.2-liter V10, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and all-wheel drive under the skin, the skin itself has some unique elements that render it no less extreme or jaw-dropping than the coupe. From the waistline down, it is mostly identical to the hardtop, but above that, headrest fairings with gloss black front sections help retain the Huracán’s hexagonal window graphic, with the flat, louvered decklid nestled between them. To help control wind buffeting inside and to allow the car to attain a top speed 201 miles per hour (even with the top down!) Lamborghini fitted small mesh screens outboard of the headrests, and a discreet nacelle just aft of that which helps direct airflow rearward toward the car’s haunches. An adjustable, sliver-like glass rear window also serves to reduce wind buffeting at higher speeds, though as a rear vision device, it’s utterly worthless. Interestingly, when lowering the top — which can be done at up to 31 mph, the rear window also lowers just a tad, to a height Lamborghini deems optimal for aero and acoustic properties.

With the windows up, we saw about 100 mph without raising our voices.

At speed, we noticed that moving the window up did make a difference in terms of both windiness and the ability to communicate verbally. With the windows up, we saw about 100 mph without raising our voices, at least any more than one would need to in order to be heard over the divine sounds emanating from the 602-hp V10 located just over our shoulders. Meanwhile, the wind flicked our hair like an Italian lover during afterglow. Windows lowered, conversation becomes more challenging above 70 mph, and when we found enough road to touch 120 mph, we were almost yelling. We can’t imagine what the cabin would be like with speeds anywhere near its 201-mph top end, but we’re relatively sure conversation would be impossible, while the wind/hair relationship would be something akin to a drag queen snatching her nemesis’ wig. 

Not helping matters was the unpredictable Florida weather on our test day, which served up downpours ranging from light to torrential, daring us to put the top down and find out just how fast one must drive to stay dry. Naturally, we always accepted, and found that lighter precipitation could be managed at anything above, say, 65 mph, but the Spyder’s low windshield was no match for the heavier deluges, at least not without hurling ourselves into triple-digit speeds, where the car’s stability was a given (thank you all-wheel drive) but the integrity of our driver’s licenses was not. So yes, several times that day, we assumed the role of “that guy,” happily speeding past folks on a freeway, top down in the rain in a Lamborghini, just to pull over a few miles later, drenched from the chest up, loping along in the emergency lane at 30 mph, sheepishly putting the top up. And we can tell you, in a Florida downpour, the top’s 17-second raise/lower time seems like an era, if not an epoch.

There were a few drier moments, wherein we could tap the Spyder’s deep reserves of power and explosive acceleration.

Fortunately, there were a few drier moments, wherein we could tap the Spyder’s deep reserves of power and explosive acceleration, made possible even on the wet pavement thanks to the standard all-wheel drive system that comes standard with all LP610-4 models. Lamborghini claims that the Huracán Spyder has slightly softer suspension tuning and at 3,400 pounds dry, has gained about 265 pounds due to the top mechanisms and pyrotechnic roll protection that deploy from the rear cowl. And while that’s not insignificant, the topless Huracán Spyder seems no slower or more reluctant to turn than the coupe, at least in the kind of driving we could do that day. It is still ridiculously fast (Lambo claims a 3.4-second 0–62 mph time), and equipped as our tester was with carbon ceramic brakes, it still stops with eyeball-sucking force. The biggest difference is the more direct route the engine’s delicious sounds take to your eardrums with the roof lowered. With the triple-layer roof sealed in place, however, there’s almost no acoustic difference whatsoever.

The Huracán LP610-4 Spyder arrives this spring at a starting price of $267,545, and when it does, we’re relatively sure some of the first ones will find their way to Miami, where both Lamborghinis and convertibles are plentiful. Too expensive? We expect a rear-wheel-drive, LP570-2 Spyder to be introduced in relatively short order; it’s unconfirmed at this point, but if and when it does appear, expect it to weigh about 70 pounds less, produce 40 fewer horsepower, and cost something closer to $225K—$230K. Hopefully, when we drive that model, we’ll actually see the sun.