2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica
TECNICAly The Best Huracan Yet
While we’d all like to see a Lamborghini Huracán STO sitting in our garage, it’s one car that truly does belong on a racetrack. Now, if there was only a way to get the STO’s performance in a street-friendly ride that’s as easy to drive as it is easy on the eyes. Well, Lamborghini has granted our wishes with the Huracán Tecnica!
Unless you spend a lot of time following all the goings-on in the exotic performance car world, you might find it hard to keep up with Lamborghini. Since they established a whole new level of supercar accessibility with the entry-level Huracán for 2015, they’ve been constantly evolving it, even adding Evo to the name of its current base model to drive the point home.
Their latest wind of change is this 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica which takes most of what makes the top STO great, including its engine, and puts it in a something a little more street-able; essentially creating an additional tweener model between mild and wild. Regardless, it’s a Lamborghini, so we couldn’t wait to get on the track at Savannah, Georgia’s Roebling Road Raceway.
With all of its performance potential, it’s clear right away that the friendly Huracán nature remains fully intact. Your senses tell you to take it easy the first few laps, but you soon find yourself pushing harder and harder.
Much of the STO’s outlandish aero treatments are gone, that means a smaller wing and fewer air intakes. But the car’s shape itself still creates an amazing amount of downforce, providing grip aplenty for the tires; which are 245/30 Bridgestone Potenza Sports in front, 305/30 in rear; all mounted on diamond-cut 20-inch wheels. The front splitter is unique, as is the rear fascia, along with a subtle reshaping of the panel at the base of the windshield.
Lamborghini’s LDVI integrated driving dynamics control works through Strada, Sport, and Corsa drive modes, staying mostly behind the scenes enhancing your abilities, not holding back the car’s. For track use, Corsa puts you mostly in total control, though there always seems to be a safety net in place.
The Tecnica is rear-wheel drive only, so the front end feels lighter than AWD variants, and more willing to turn in; aided by good steering feel for precise inputs, as well as standard rear-wheel steer. Carbon-ceramic brakes are included, giving great feel and consistent results throughout our track days. It absolutely wails going around the track thanks to the free-flowing exhaust of that glorious mid-ship mounted V10 engine.
This 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 was an outlier when it first arrived; no turbos, superchargers, or battery assist. It’s even more so now, and we love hearing every one of its 631-horsepower and 417 lb-ft. of torque being made. It still works through the same 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Put to the straight-line test, despite being rear-drive only, there was no lack of grip off the line. Just immense power flowing non-stop. We hit 60 in only 2.9-seconds and finished the ¼ in 10.7-seconds at 134 miles-per-hour.
Lamborghini has already said that they’ll be winding down Huracán production soon; so, were not sure whether to be sad about that, or excited for what’s next. At its base level, the Tecnica is more luxurious and less purposeful than the STO, but with the full cannon of Lamborghini customizations available, buyers can basically add in as many of the STO’s goodies as they want, including lots of carbon fiber.
Driven on the street, it’s not quite like a Camry, but it is comfortable and surprisingly easy to drive; though thankfully you can still hear plenty of mechanical noises, and you’re obviously well conscious of your investment.
While performance-wise the Tecnica is situated in between the base Huracán Evo and top STO, Lamborghini no longer offers a rear-wheel drive base Huracán, so the Tecnica actually starts a few thousand less, at $244,795. Meaning, unless you absolutely need all-wheel drive, you can get the best of both Huracán worlds, and still pay a tad less for it.
So, while most people in our world today tend to look at compromise as a dirty word, it’s the very thing that made the Huracán a true game changer when it arrived, and what has continued to make it a longtime success story. The 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica takes that theme to the extreme; though engineered for the street, it feels equally at home on the track, making it “TECNICAly”, the best Huracán yet.
Specifications
- Engine: 5.2L V10
- Horsepower: 631
- Torque: 417 lb-ft
- 0-60 mph: 2.9 seconds
- 1/4 Mile: 10.7 seconds at 134 mph
2025 Infiniti QX80
Infiniti’s Flagship SUV Sets A Course For Extravagance
This full-size Infiniti QX80 started out as the QX56, a hastily rebadged version of Nissan’s truck-based Armada full-size utility. That was in the early 2000s when the luxury SUV craze was exploding. It wasn’t as much as a game-changer, as it was “try to keep upper”. Now, this new QX80, Infiniti is promising to “Reimagine the luxury SUV”. Let’s see if Infiniti has turned their imaginations into reality.
Well, if over the top is what Infiniti was shooting for in the all-new 2025 QX80, mission accomplished. There’s an overall feeling of extravagance here that we haven’t experienced from Infiniti in quite some time.
It’s not just the open pore ash wood trim with aluminum inlays, 24-speaker audio, and plush quilted leather seating; there’s also nicely integrated ambient lighting, a massive glass roof, plenty of tech, lots of active driving assistance, and even chilled center console storage. Forward of that is a dual touchscreen setup; the top 14.3-inch touchscreen for infotainment sits next to the digital gauge display in a single housing; while just below, there’s a 9-inch one for climate controls.
You are reminded this is still a body-on-frame utility the moment you have to climb up into the cockpit, but there’s also the commanding view of the road that comes with that. Captain’s chairs are standard for the second row, but a three-place bench is optional with all trims except for top Autograph which comes exclusively with these climate-controlled massaging chairs, along with a touchscreen control panel. The third-row experience is great, too, with heated leather seating, and adult size room for three.
Now, there is a whole new experience coming from under the hood. The last gen’s V8 has been replaced with a new twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 rated at 450 horsepower, 50 over the V8. More notably, torque is up by more than 100 lb-ft to 516. Transmission is a nine-speed automatic, two more gears than last year, with rear-wheel drive standard, four-wheel drive an option. Max tow rating is 8,500-lbs.
And at the test track, it did pull strongly off the line, getting up to speed in a hurry with the 0-60 sprint taking just 6.3 seconds. There is roughly 3 tons of weight to push through the quarter-mile, but that twin-turbo does it well, finishing in 14.7 seconds at 95 mph. Gear changes are incredibly smooth, while not hindering acceleration in any way.
It's an impressive looking utility from any angle.
In panic braking runs, there was some fade and a considerable amount of nosedive, but our average stopping distance of 115 feet is not bad for a vehicle as big and heavy as the QX80. Last gen, the QX80 moved from the Titan truck platform to the global Patrol SUV chassis, which shifted the vibe from budget Escalade to Lexus LX fighter. The attending improvement in ride and handling was the real bonus, and that largely continues for this gen with air suspension and Dynamic Digital Dampers on all but base QX80s. While we could certainly feel all that weight through our cone course, body roll was well-controlled and without significant oversteer or understeer.
It’s an impressive looking utility from any angle, starting right up front with the big “bamboo forest” grille. The overall shape is boxy, but all body panels are smooth; and for better or worse, Infiniti joins the flush door handle fad. Look for its “Artistry In Motion” design theme to work its way down through the rest of the Infiniti lineup. All QX80s ride on 22-inch wheels except for base Pure trim which makes do with 20s.
A full power play includes standard motion-activated rear liftgate and power operation of both second and third row seats, expanding cargo capacity from 22 cu-ft behind the third row to 59 behind the second, and a max of 101.0 cu-ft with both rows folded.
Government Fuel Economy Ratings with four-wheel-drive are not great: 16 city, 19 highway and 17 combined. We averaged 18.6 mpg of premium. That’s a much worse than average Energy Impact Score, using 17.5 barrels of oil annually, with 8.6 tons of CO2 emissions.
Driving such a PUREly LUXEurious SENSORY overload, you’ll probably be expecting people to want your AUTOGRAPH, which we’re guessing is how Infiniti came up with their grade structure; pricing starts with Pure at $84,445 and climbs to $112,590 for Autograph.
The 2025 Infiniti QX80 is a massive SUV that delivers massive amounts of power and luxury. They aimed for the moon here and have clearly blasted themselves into a much more competitive orbit in the big buck, big hauler, sport-utility galaxy.
Specifications
As Tested
- Engine: 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6
- Transmission: 9-speed automatic
- Horsepower: 450
- Torque: 516 lb-ft.
- EPA: 16 City | 19 Highway | 17 Combined
- 0-60 mph: 6.3 seconds
- 1/4 Mile: 14.7 seconds at 95 mph
- Braking, 60-0 (avg.): 115 feet
- MW Fuel Economy: 18.6 mpg (Premium)
