Road test: 2017 Lamborghini Huracán LP 580-2 Spyder

In the shadow of the Lamborghini Aventador S detailed above, it could be easy to downplay its more-manageable little sister, the Huracán. But as the brand’s unit-shifter, comparatively speaking, it’s as close to a daily driver that the Italian carmaker has right now – a strange thing to say about any Lamborghini, admittedly – which arguably makes it a more important proposition.

Let's take the term "daily driver" into proper context, however: with a drone of more than 3,000rpm drilling into the back of your head while cruising at the UAE speed limit, the Huracán might well catalyse occasional headaches and the onrush of tinnitus if you attempt to use it from Sunday to Thursday. The positioning of the buttons for the cruise-control (a Dh3,000 optional extra) also suggests Lambo doesn't really intend you to relegate its charge to your commuting machine. They're on the steering wheel, yes, but it requires BFG-scale digits to reach down to them without removing your hands from the recommended 9-and-3-o'clock driving position. Getting accustomed with the fiddly on-wheel indicator switches (rather than stalks) takes a short spell, as well.

The boon of a two-day Huracán road trip from the rocky landscape of Jabal Akhdar in Oman to Dubai is a first chance to drive the LP 580-2 Spyder, the drop-top version of the lower-horsepower variant, which was revealed late last year. Its potency is down a barely perceptible amount on the coupé: 0-to-100kph is 3.6 seconds as opposed to 3.4 seconds; the top speed drops 1kph to 319kph. Stats aside, it’s enjoyment squared, basically, with the advantage of rear-wheel drive coupled with wind-in-your-follicles thrills.

Strangely, the Spyder feels like a finer fit for regular use than the coupé. That aforementioned constant engine chatter at cruising velocities seems to be better deadened with the top up – and lost in wind noise with it down.

While the wilder Aventador has never been afforded a rear-wheel-drive option for fear of a rash of ditch/wall/cliff-based interfaces, the Huracán’s non-all-wheel experience has scarcely a sniff of imminent danger, even when planting it round mountain passes – with the electronic stability control switched on, at least. It’s a tame beast and no mistake, albeit a mite more excitable than its full-fat, all-wheel-drive sister, which I also sample, alongside the LP 580-2 coupé, by way of comparison. A sandstorm closes in around our Lambo convoy as we near the UAE border, but aside from having to pull over to put up the roof, even such adverse conditions don’t make piloting such a powerful car feel like an unduly hazardous pursuit.

In much kinder weather the previous afternoon, in the sticks of the Hajar Mountains, Omani children whoop and point as I pass through small villages on an unscheduled drive and photo opportunity. It’s a timely reminder that in most places other than the supercar-overstocked UAE, the Huracán still looks like an angry spaceship has landed. Even more so than the exterior styling, the interior is so angular that you feel like you might cut yourself on it, or at least sustain a nasty dented graze.

It might not make a lot of sense on paper, but for both practicality and driving thrills, a soft-top with 30hp less than its range-topper could very well be the best proposition of the entire Huracán line-up. It might also be about as close to environmentally friendly as Lamborghini is ever likely to get.

aworkman@thenational.ae

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