Mercedes-Benz G500 4x4²

For many years, killing off the Mercedes-Benz G-class was a recurring topic at Daimler board meetings. The boxy off-roader, an offspring of a vehicle developed for military applications, simply came from another era. Weren't there better, modern SUVs in the lineup?

More recently, the topic has disappeared from agendas. As luxury customers seek vehicles that are both distinctive and which exhibit some actual authenticity, G-wagen sales are better than ever. Indeed, with 14,000 units sold last year and some hefty profit margins built in, Daimler has started having fun with the G—so much fun, in fact, that it has authorized a considerable budget for low-volume derivatives.

Two years ago, the world was flabbergasted by the G63 AMG 6x6, a non-U.S.-market variation based on a project for the Australian armed forces. There was one problem: Impressing folks with the 6x6 may be a breeze in the deserts of the Middle East, but not so much in European inner cities. It takes considerable skill to direct that three-axle behemoth with anything resembling grace.

It will be far easier to pose and maneuver in the G500 4x4², a prototype of which we just drove. Daimler won't yet officially confirm series production, but with more than 100 units of the hyper-expensive 6x6 having been sold—far beyond expectations—before production ended, the potential for this similar new model is considerable.

The exclusive, common denominator between the G63 AMG 6x6 and the G500 4x4² is the portal axles, which use gears in the hubs to allow the axle to sit higher than the wheel centers in the name of increased ground clearance. The result is a vehicle that can clear 17.7-inch-high obstacles, versus the 8.3 inches of a stock G, as well as ford water up to 39.4 inches deep. The front and rear tracks are also wider by 11.8 inches, and while the standard G-wagen is relatively narrow, this variant comes in at 82.7 inches wide—still not so much that urban driving becomes a chore. On the other hand, its height of 88.6 inches will render many parking structures forbidden territory.

The regular G-wagen seems hard to beat off the road, but thanks to the portal axles, the 4x4² pushes the boundaries of capability to new extremes. We tested the prototype in a half-dry riverbed and on steep, rocky slopes that forced the regular model to throw in the towel—the mega ground clearance and the massively superior approach, departure, and breakover angles of the 4x4² allow for scrambling over even the gnarliest terrain. And thanks to the wide track, it feels stable and planted, with a tip-over point virtually unchanged from the basic G. Helpfully, you can opt for off-road-sized 37-by-12.5-inch mud-terrain tires on 18-inch beadlock wheels; these can be swapped out for 325/55 rubber on 22-inch wheels for on-road pursuits.

These side pipes merely accentuate the ultra-aggressive styling, which comes as a welcome result of the jacked-up, wide-track suspension. The wheel arches are made of carbon-fiber composite, and the front fascia is taken directly from the G63 AMG and the G65 AMG. Pricing, by the way, will be somewhere between these two models—if the board decides to move forward on building the thing. We would be very surprised if they don’t—it’s too impressive and bad-ass not to.On pavement, of course, the G500 4x4² can't perform miracles. Its electronically controlled dampers can be switched between Comfort and Sport settings, and doing so makes a discernible difference in ride and handling, but the steering remains as vague and imprecise as in any other G-wagen. In a straight line, however, the thing moves out with alacrity, thanks in large part to the brand-new, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8, which is derived from AMG's M178 engine. It will show up in many Mercedes-Benz cars in the future, and launching it in a G-class prototype speaks volumes to the importance of this SUV model. Rated here at 416 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, the new V-8 is likely to yank the 4x4² to 60 mph in less than six seconds, while top speed is rated at 130 mph (Daimler advises that you keep it under 100 mph with the off-road tires fitted). The near-explosive power is underscored by a soundtrack worthy of an AMG, which is trumpeted by dual side pipes that exit ahead of the rear wheels on both flanks.

2016 Porsche Cayman GT4

The Cayman GT4 manages the neat trick of being both reassuringly familiar and radically different. Nobody with prior experience of any GT-badged 911 is going to be either offended or surprised by the way the über-ized Caymandrives, or the clinical competence with which it deals with the all-important business of being thrashed around a racetrack. Yet, within the rarefied world of Porsche’s GT division, the very fact that the Cayman doesn’t have its engine hung behind its rear axle is a ground-shaking departure from the norm. Then there’s its price tag: $85,595. That might seem like ludicrous money for a Cayman, but this is the cheapest GT-badged Porsche ever sold in America.

A PARTS-BIN SPECIAL

The GT4 development team made one critical decision—to give the car an engine from the mainstream side of the Porsche business. In this case, the 3.8-liter flat-six from the 911 Carrera S. Doing this enabled money to be spent on other areas, including giving the Cayman many of the same suspension components as the current 991 GT3. But it does mean an engine that, on paper, lacks some of the high-revving Götterdämmerung we’ve come to expect from a GT-level Porsche.

Just getting the engine into the Cayman required some engineering gymnastics, including turning it 180 degrees so it sits on the other side of the rear axle. Exhaust and intake systems are necessarily new, but the internals are unchanged, and the only other alteration is a lighter flywheel. Officially the GT4 has 385 horsepower—45 more than the Cayman GTS but 15 fewer than the same engine in the 911. But we’ve been assured that output figure represents the very least number of horses any GT4 will ever deliver, likely while climbing a mountain on a hot day.

HARDER EDGEYou’d struggle to improve on the rest of the mechanical specification. The really good news is the presence of a six-speed manual gearbox, proof that the GT3’s PDK didn’t find universal favor. Beyond that there’s a limited-slip differential, Porsche’s torque-vectoring system, and the firm’s active transmission mounts. The front suspension has been pretty much taken straight from the GT3, with the two cars sharing hub carriers, shim-adjustable control arms, and the same steering rack. The rear suspension is similarly beefed up, with ball-jointed links and “helper springs” to pre-tension the main springs. The GT4 sits on track-biased Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, and the aerodynamic kit—which replaces the standard Cayman’s pop-up spoiler with a carbon-reinforced polymer wing that looks like it could shave a whale—develops actual downforce. The GT4 is a parts-bin special at heart, but what a bin.

Porsche took us to Portugal to drive the GT4, being keen for us to experience the car (and its aggressive tires) in warm, dry conditions. The company had also booked exclusive use of the very impressive, if little used, Autódromo Internacional Algarve in Portimão. Before that, however, there was the chance to drive the ultra-Cayman on some of the twisting inland roads that give the Algarve region much of its touristic charm, as well as an alarming percentage of its accident statistics.

The GT4 starts off doing a remarkable impression of the 991 GT3. Given the price disparity between the two cars (the GT3 starts at $131,395), this is a good thing. Yes, the mid-engine Cayman’s mass sits much farther forward than that of the 911, but at road speeds it generates so much mechanical grip that you don’t feel much difference beyond the fact that the GT4 is smaller and lighter, making it easier to place on the tight-fitting roads and giving it a greater enthusiasm for obeying directional inputs. The steering feels pretty much identical to the GT3’s—not too heavy, with a strong caster feel and delivering far more information than Porsche allows to pass through the electrical assistance of its regular cars.

The sweet-shifting manual gearbox delivers plenty of compensation. The engineering team acknowledges it’s not as quick as the PDK would have been, but we’d say that it’s at least 400 percent more involving, although—as in all Porsches—the gearing is still toweringly tall (second runs out at 81 mph). Sport mode also brings a rev-matching function if you’re not willing or able to do your own heel-and-toe downshifts.Against that, the engine is a slight disappointment. And we stress slight—the GT4 pulls harder than any other Cayman, sounds great while doing so, and delivers the sort of perfectly proportional throttle response that vindicates the decision to stand against the turbocharge-everything orthodoxy that’s sweeping the industry. But while it has plenty of midrange punch, it can’t come close to matching the GT3’s enthusiasm for revs. The Cayman’s fuel cut arrives at 7800 rpm—impressive by modern standards but pretty much exactly where the GT3’s engine starts to do its best work.

Predictably, the rest of the GT4 is far harder edged than even the Cayman GTS. The car we drove had optional fixed-back carbon-fiber bucket seats, which would probably start to bite hard after a couple of hours at the wheel, and the suspension never feels anything other than very firm (even with the switchable dampers in their default, softer setting). The upside is mighty body control even over broken road surfaces. And let’s be honest—if you’re looking for ride comfort, this probably isn’t the car for you.

NOT LIKE A PENDULUM

The track at Portimão has been cleverly designed to deliver big surprises. Although none as large as that handed to the taxpayers who helped fund the building of this vast elefante branco, which hosts little more than a round of the MotoGP championship when not being used by manufacturers or for track days. The course features a tough combination of corners and crests, several of which leave you facing an empty horizon and the knuckle-whitening hope that you’re going to find the apex where you expect it. That said, it’s also immediately clear that the GT4 is in its natural environment.

But the higher loads of track use also brought out a different side to the GT4’s character—it starts to feel mid-engined, in the same way you only really realize how much mass the GT3 carries at the back under really hard driving. The GT4 turns in more keenly than the 911, and feels more stable under hard braking, but it lacks the corner-exiting traction its big-assed sister can generate. Nor does it have the sensation of trying to steer a pendulum that the 911 delivers on the limit. It’s a less demanding car to drive hard, but it’s not less of a car for it. Even in very close proximity to its limits, the GT4 stays predictable and even playful; we ignored the official instruction to leave the stability control switched on and discovered that the Cayman is profoundly unscary even with it fully defeated. Grip fades progressively and slides are easily corrected or extended, according to individual preference.Most of what we learned on the road is true here, as well. The Cayman’s steering remains wonderfully accurate, its resistance to understeer near total. Even Portimão’s longer straights don’t make the car feel in any way slow, and the gearbox seems to work even better under the increased pressure of track use. We drove cars fitted with both steel and the optional carbon-ceramic brakes, with neither system showing any signs of wilting under the sort of use that would boil the brake fluid in most sports cars.

It’s tempting to see the GT4 as a little brother, yet in many ways it’s not. Its official Nürburgring Nordschleife time is 7:40, a respectful 15 seconds behind the 991 GT3’s. However, Porsche told us at that car’s launch that the 911 GT3’s active rear steering and PDK gearbox (neither of which is present here) together shaved more than 15 seconds off of its ’Ring time, meaning the GT4 is closer than you’d think.ENTER THE GATEWAY

The bigger mystery is why Porsche’s GT division—which has long proved capable of selling every car it makes and which has very limited production capacity—should have gone to the trouble to develop something cheaper rather than one of the familiar 911 variants, which would have had lines forming around the block. The answer, of course, is that the Cayman GT4 is a gateway drug, designed to introduce a whole new generation of potential addicts to one of the most expensive, and exciting, automotive addictions there is.

2015 Mercedes-Benz S550 4MATIC Coupe

As the technological leader of the Mercedes-Benz brand, the big coupes have sent us searching for superlatives for decades. The new S-class coupe is awesomer than ever. See? We’re still searching.

Built on a shortened version of the all-singing, self-driving S550’s bones, the S550 coupe is a stunner in person. There’s real presence here, from the lack of a B-pillar, to the chrome ring around the greenhouse, to the small chrome dots on the grille that look like the knobs on a dresser drawer. The S-class-based coupes have always drawn envious stares from men old enough to remember when personal luxury denoted two-doors with names like Toronado and Eldorado, but this Benz’s new styling had strangers of all ages eyeing it.

Personal luxury is just that—it’s personal. And, to that end, the S550 is a sublime car for the solo pilot. The structure is made up of welded stampings, just like other cars’, but the silence and solidity suggests forging. Not much disturbs the cabin. Wind noise is eerily absent. A slight hum from the wide tires is the only audible indication of motion. Only under extreme use does the 4.7-liter twin-turbo V-8 raise its voice. Even then, it emits only a 79-decibel snarl.

We couldn’t stop staring at the leather-lined interior. Most cabin pieces are shared with the S-class sedan, but the coupe receives a unique upper instrument panel. It’s a more playful design, as if Italians had been asked to redo the S-class’s interior. Our test car arrived with the optional Designo package ($3250) that wraps even more surfaces in leather. Add the Premium package’s massaging front seats and the Warmth and Comfort bundle’s heated seats, steering wheel, and armrests and you won’t want to get out. You’re putty in the S550 coupe. Just sit back and melt into the heat while the $6400 Burmester audio system plays whale sounds. Driving? You should probably park if you’re that relaxed, but the $2800 Driver Assistance gadgets mean the S550 coupe can practically drive itself. Back-seat riders might want to get out, though. There’s adequate space for two adults back there, but rear legroom is limited despite a long 115.9-inch wheelbase.

Not much upsets the serenity, even if you begin treating the 4761-pound Benz like a Mazda Miata. Cornering grip is good for something this large, at 0.92 g, and the handling is secure. The steering doesn’t serve up sports-car feel, but it is accurate even at triple-digit speeds. Acceleration is strong, but there is slight delay before the wick lights the 449-hp charge. Sprints to 60 mph take 4.5 seconds, four-tenths quicker than the rear-wheel-drive S550 sedan. Standard four-wheel drive makes for repeatable runs. Top speed is governed at 130 mph for U.S. versions, despite the Y-rated Goodyear Eagle F1 tires.

Mercedes-Benz certainly charges full price for its personal-luxury experience. Prices start at $120,825, but our test car cost $149,575. We’d suggest avoiding some of the more expensive options on our example, but if you can afford this car in the first place, we wouldn’t dream of denying you of your personal luxury.

Geneva 2015: Ferrari 488 GTB Revealed

Sonny Crockett may have a new ride soon, now that the Ferrari 488 GTB has made its early debut at the 2015 Geneva Auto Show.

The 488 GTB boasts a 3.9-liter turbo-eight pushing 660 horses and 560 lb-ft of torque to the back through a seven-speed dual-clutch auto, and is able to go from nil to 124 mph in 8.3 seconds. The replacement for the 458 weights a little more than said 458, coming in at 3,000 dry.

Other features include Ferrari’s new Side Slip Angle Control, allowing one to drive in anger without fearing the wrath of oversteer, as well as a 50 percent increase in downforce over the outgoing 458.

Mitsubishi Debuting Lancer Evo ‘Final Concept’ At 2015 Tokyo Auto Salon

Above is what the final Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X will likely resemble when it hits showrooms in the coming year.

Per Indian Autos Blog, the last of the Japanese interceptors — dubbed the Lancer Evolution Final Concept — will begin life as a five-speed manual GSR before receiving upgrades through and through.

Under the bonnet, the drivetrain will gain an HKS turbocharger, new intake and exhaust plumbing, better cooling, and a high-performance ECU. The result: the Lancer’s 2-liter four will deliver a max 473 horsepower to all four corners via its five-speed manual.

Outside, HKS height-adjustable suspension, 19-inch RAYS forged aluminum wheels wearing Yokohama Advan Neovas, and matte paint all help pull the Final Concept’s look together, allowing you to admire its glory with a White Russian in your hand.

The Final Concept will turn up at the 2015 Tokyo Auto Salon in early January.

2016 Volvo XC90 T6 first drive

VOLVO'S FLAGSHIP SUV REDESIGNED WITH THE AMERICAN MARKET IN MIND

What is it?

Easily Volvo's most anticipated premiere of the last few years, the full-size XC90 SUV is headed to dealerships this May sporting an all-new platform, a new design language, a new powertrain that will also be offered in hybrid form and basically new everything else. The seven-seater SUV is the first Volvo vehicle developed independently of the engineering inherited from Volvo's past corporate parent, Ford, and it replaces a model that has been on sale since 2002.

The 2016 Volvo XC90 is first and foremost a reflection of a new design direction for Volvo, underpinned by the company'sScalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform, which will be used on a number of new vehicles. The new SUV is wider, taller and longer than the model it replaces, though it also manages to be lighter. A longer wheelbase than the old model's ensures a better ride, while the interior is more spacious and luxurious, focusing on comfort and premium materials.

At launch, the U.S. XC90 T6 will get a turbocharged and supercharged direct-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 316 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. That Drive-E engine is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission driving all four wheels. A more powerful T8 plug-in hybrid model will arrive this fall using the same engine as its gasoline powerplant. But even the T6 model, which we'll see first, will be powerful enough to get the SUV from 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds. The later T8 plug-in hybrid will produce around 400 hp and will be the cleanest and most powerful premium SUV on the market when it goes on sale, according to Volvo.

The XC90 will be offered only in AWD form in the U.S., with the chassis featuring a new double-wishbone suspension up front with an integral link rear axle. The rear axle will have a transverse leaf spring made of a lightweight material in place of coil springs, and a new electric rack-and-pinion steering system replaces the traditional hydraulic unit. An electronically adjustable air suspension will allow drivers to select from a range of settings, including comfort, eco, dynamic, off-road and individual, controlled by a cylinder-shaped wheel located just behind the console-mounted gear selector. The air suspension will automatically lower the ride height by 10mm at speeds above 62 mph and drop the SUV by 40mm for easier ingress and egress.

As this is still a Volvo, it means that an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach has been adopted when it comes to safety: The XC90 gets a vast lineup of safety systems incorporating elements that foreshadow autonomous vehicles. They include automatic braking at intersections, which will apply the brakes when making a left turn at an intersection when the vehicle detects an oncoming car, a new adaptive cruise control system with automatic steering and braking inputs, road edge detection, day-and-night pedestrian and cyclist detection and avoidance, lane-departure warning system, whiplash-protection system and run-off road protection. The latter system is aimed at keeping the XC90 from rolling over when leaving the road and heading into the ditch, using the ABS system to keep the vehicle upright. All these systems are part of Volvo's Vision 2020, an initiative to ensure that no one will be seriously injured or killed in a Volvo by the year 2020.

When it comes to infotainment, Volvo hasn't been asleep at the wheel either, as the XC90 features a new Sensus infotainment system shaped like a giant smartphone or tablet, complete with a home button at the bottom. And just like a phone or tablet, it will allow for the familiar scrolling and waving motions, in addition to pinching and stretching to navigate, even when the driver is wearing gloves. The Sensus control system will also offer a voice-control system and cloud-based applications.

The XC90 will be available in a choice of three trim levels, with the base Momentum starting at $49,895 with 19-inch wheels, leather upholstery, a 12.3-inch digital instrument display, four-zone climate control, a leather steering wheel, and aluminum sill plates and roof rails. The range then splits in two directions, both positioned as "premium": The Inscription trim level will focus on luxury features, adding items like LED headlights, illuminated sill plates and 21-inch wheels starting at $55,495. Alongside Inscription, Volvo will also offer the sportier XC90 R-Design, with 22-inch wheels and a number of items borrowed from Inscription. R-Design will start at $53,895.

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What's it like to drive?

Volvo brought us to northeastern Spain to try out the new XC90, far from the frozen wasteland of the northeastern U.S. that the SUV will traverse come next fall. The largely deserted Spanish coast was a good place to get a baseline feel for the new seven-seater without having to fill up the windshield-washer reservoir twice a day.

First, the redesigned interior is as airy as it looks in the photos -- and far softer, as well. Volvo lavished the door handles and just about every surface below the SUV's shoulderline in nicely padded leather that feels very different from the rock-hard interiors of German SUVs. The seats, which Volvo spent no less than seven years developing, are wonderfully ergonomic and work well with the interior design. Volvo prides itself on uncluttered interiors, and the positioning and framing of the touchscreen infotainment system is far less fussy than in the German competition. Buttons underneath the screen and on the steering wheel control essential functions that you might want to reach for and find without taking your eyes off the road.

At highway speeds, the XC90 stays eerily quiet, only offering up a little bit of wind noise. The transmission shifts through the eight gears almost imperceptibly, without lingering in any gear longer than needed, and it takes very little time to get the large SUV up to speed. The steering stays relatively light at high speeds, but there is a reassuring feeling of stability, with the road surface filtering through to our fingertips to a comfortable degree. The new electric power-steering system is nicely weighted, and it transfers the weight of the car around in a manner that's easy to predict.

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As Spanish roads offer up roundabouts at a rate of about one per minute, we got plenty of opportunity to test out the SUV's cornering abilities. Body roll is present, but the XC90 does not feel top-heavy, a criticism of the previous-generation model, which could feel heavy and ponderous when rounding corners. Instead, the new XC90 is reasonably quick on its feet, and it tackles the roundabouts without drama or complaint from the tires.

Volvo's new Sensus touchscreen is pleasantly easy to use, requiring no consultations with the owner's manual for the most basic functions -- it's essentially a very large iPhone. About the only ergonomic miscues we noted involve the accessibility of the third row of seats, which are still best considered an occasional accessory, and the fact that the front visors, large though they may be, do not extend out. That last detail often goes overlooked on test drives at the dealership, and it’s inexcusable in this price category. Then again, the Rolls-Royce Ghost doesn't have extendable visors, either.

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Do I want it?

The new Volvo XC90 offers the features premium SUV buyers are likely to notice, wrapped in a nicely designed and proportioned body. Volvo has stayed true to its tradition of offering interiors that are just as comfortable on 10-hour trips as they are on the daily commute, and the new four-cylinder Drive-E engine has rendered the V6 and V8 units that used to power the old XC90 obsolete.

The base Momentum trim is already well-equipped for North America -- unlike with the offerings from Germany, thousands of dollars do not have to be thrown at an XC90 just to get basic items that should have been standard. That's a welcome fact, even if the starting price is a bit steep; then again, Volvo is hoping this large premium SUV will propel it into the first tier of luxury brands. 

Its main rivals will be the BMW X5, Audi Q7, Acura MDX and Infiniti QX60. Volvo hopes its new family truckster will undercut just about all of them when it comes to the out-the-door price and features. In four years, the new XC90 will actually be the oldest vehicle in Volvo's lineup once again. Though if our time in the XC90 is any indication, it should still feel fresh.

2015 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 ice drive: Raging bull vs. frozen Swedish lake

THE ARCTIC CIRCLE IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO PONDER LAMBORGHINI PHILOSOPHY

It’s tough to think of a car less likely to see action when the snow flies than the 2015 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4. Permanent all-wheel drive and optional heated seats notwithstanding, you just don’t hear about many of these V10-powered super-sports cars doing ski chalet shuttle duty.

Yet there’s something noble about making the counterintuitive choice -- selecting, if not the wrong tool for the job, then at least the less obvious one. So it’s fortunate that, when we returned to Arjeplog, Sweden recently, there was a small fleet of 2015 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4s waiting for us. What a coincidence!

Unlike last year’s quest to a different frozen near-Arctic Swedish lake to test the Volkswagen Golf R, the weather was suboptimal this time around: Temps hovering just above freezing ensured that the super-slick lake surface was covered with ugly puddles of slush, creating a fairly reasonable facsimile of Detroit’s winter roads--though there were fewer potholes to contend with.

Lamborghini claimed it had no tricks up its sleeve. The Huracáns we were to test were retail-ready models, same as the ones produced at a rate of 12 per day at the company’s Sant’Agata Bolognese factory. (Traditional family values seem to prevail there: despite a lengthy wait list, workers take the weekend off.)

The testers came equipped with Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 tires, not the ultra-aggressive studded snows that are fun on ice but illegal on nearly all U.S. roads. Also production-spec was the alphabet soup of onboard safety and performance systems: LDS, ESC, 4WD, ABS, and something called the LPI -- more on that in a moment. It’s all there to tame what might otherwise be an unwieldy beast, and give the 602-hp bull some of the sure-footed nimbleness of, say, a mountain goat.

Not that you’d ever know it from our first moments behind the wheel. Things got off to a slow, steady and slightly sideways start on the 1,000-foot circle track, until we tried driving with traction control off. We looped the car. We tried again. We looped again. It was more humiliating than anything else; there are few consequences to wiping out on an obstacle-free frozen lake.

But our lack of confidence was a killer. One of Lamborghini’s taglines for the Huracán is “instinctive technology,” and after some time in the car it actually seems like something more than a buzzy slogan: You get the impression that it can sense fear. Or more accurately in our case, embarrassment.

Test driver Marco Passerini, a roughly 20-year Lamborghini veteran, soothed us with his calm demeanor and sage advice, building back our confidence through a slalom course. Watching pro drivers spin out on the deteriorating track helped us loosen up, too. When you calm down and begin to enjoy yourself, the car seems to respond in kind and it becomes easy and rewarding to set up for effortless oversteer. Tap the brakes ahead of the corner, turn the wheel, wait for the predictable rotation -- then firmly, confidently give it throttle, throttle and more throttle. The engine roars. It’s a good, organic sound. You’ll like it.

At these speeds -- between, say, 25 mph and 55 mph -- shifting isn't much of a consideration; you'll spend most of your time in second or third gear. You can lazily, or not-so-lazily, slide through corners sideways in “sport” mode, or switch to “corsa” if you’re gunning for maximum speed -- this track-oriented drive mode sends more torque to the front wheels to help drag you out of corners. Switch ESC off if you desire, but leave the comfortable “strada” mode for highway driving; it’s not every day that you get to slide across a frozen lake.

Differences between modes, each selectable through the Huracán’s ANIMA system (that stands for "Adaptive Network Intelligent Management"), were readily apparent in these extreme low-traction conditions. Which is better is a matter of opinion. Passerini was said to prefer the feel of the rear-biased sport; Mario Fasanetto, another driver who began his Lamborghini career as a tech in the 1990s, leaned toward Corsa. That’s the joy of selectable drive modes. You can have it your way; both are Italian-test-driver-approved.

“I am very happy for you,” Passerini said sincerely (we think), shaking our hand after a fairly solid run on a 1.4-mile circuit. “This improvement was after a short time driving. Give it one, two more hours…” If only.

As we warmed up after the drive, we sat down with vehicle dynamics engineer Lorenzo Rinaldi. He’s been at Lamborghini for going on eight years -- not bad for a first gig straight out of Polytechnic University of Turin’s automotive program. Dressed head to toe in Lamborghini gear, including a pair of 50th anniversary pants (surprisingly tasteful), he was proud of what his team accomplished with the Huracán and eager to tell us anything and everything we wanted to know about its guts in terms we could mostly understand.

Take the Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale, or inertial platform, a little aerospace-derived box containing a set of accelerometers and gyroscopes. The tech behind the LPI isn’t exactly an industry first; similar systems are used by engineers in the development phase of nearly every car on the road, and aftermarket systems are available to track day enthusiasts, explains Rinaldi. (Incidentally, Honda’s early-1980s Electro Gyrocator pre-GPS navigation system, which may or may not have been installed a couple of Accords, operated on the same principles.)

The key difference here is that Lamborghini decided to keep the inertial platform for production. It’s mounted at the Huracán’s center of gravity, tucked just behind the seats. Think of it as a sort of mechanical vestibular center tasked with measuring the Huracán’s yaw, pitch and roll in real time -- then feeding that information to the aforementioned alphabet soup of onboard performance and safety systems.

Ideally, everything works in perfect harmony to deliver maximum performance, seamlessly and under any road and climatic conditions. It’s the kind of thing that you wouldn’t notice unless it was switched off, at which point the senses and reactions of the car’s many performance and safety systems would feel somewhat dulled.

Making it all play nicely together can be tricky. “Sometimes you control a movement of the body with the [incorrect] system,” Rinaldi says. “Maybe you try to control it with the damper, but it’s better to send torque to the front wheels -- or to one wheel. It depends.” These potential conflicts are hashed out in the development process; on production cars, the complex ESC system tends to take precedence.

Lamborghini likes to think all this added complexity is worth it. On a car like the Huracán, at least -- don’t expect to find it on your next crossover. First, it costs too much for the vast majority of production cars. Second, according to Rinaldi, “You need a car that can react.” The Huracán’s carbon fiber/aluminum composite chassis is stiff enough -- 50 percent stiffer than theGallardo, in fact -- to take full advantage of the roughly 10 millisecond input/response cycle achievable with the LPI.

Lamborghini’s engineers are “really satisfied” with the results of the Huracán program, Rinaldi tells us, and we’re inclined to echo the sentiment. “You’ve driven in these conditions, in which you cannot stand, cannot walk. And you can do it at 80 kph.” Indeed. You’ll have the time of your life doing it, too. That 600-plus hp could ever be controllable, much less enjoyable on ice is something we shouldn’t take for granted.

Yet there’s this nagging feeling that reliance on an always-active digital nervous system detracts from a sports car’s purity, however unquantifiable that factor might be. It feels philosophically wrong, somehow. Rinaldi seems to sympathize: “We talk about it a lot, because some of us, probably all of us, think that passive [systems] are more ‘pure.’” The reality is that Lamborghini dealerships sells cars to normal, if well-heeled, people -- not just the one-in-a-million pro-level drivers skilled enough to drive them flat-out.

The challenge is to find some sort of balance that lets the average buyer enjoy 90 percent of what the car has to offer -- and do it safely, whether on dry tarmac or icy pavement. The Huracán is, according to Rinaldi, “in the end, not so pure like a car from the 1980s. But it gives you the chance to be faster. We can stop everything and say we’d like to have everything passive, but the world is moving on -- and when you make a mistake, the car can help you.”

We’re part of the crowd that’d be lucky to get 90 percent out of a car like the Huracán. You’re very probably right there beside us, and if you think otherwise, well, we’re always thrilled to learn that there are professional drivers in our audience. Set machismo aside for a moment and recognize that, with its combination of excellent chassis design, naturally aspirated power and technological wizardry, the Huracán is almost certainly more capable than you are. Recognize that this fact enables you to do some truly ridiculous things with it.

That, more than anything else, is what we took away from the ice drive experience. Watching the small fleet of brightly colored cars kick up powder as they slipped sideways through icy corners, falling snow muffling screaming V10s in the early Scandinavian twilight -- the whole scene was so incongruous that it somehow felt right.

If one in 100 Huracán owners takes his car to the track regularly, then perhaps one in 1,000 contemplates using it as a $250,000 winter beater. That, in our mind, makes it the ideal car for cold-weather driving. It’s certainly, if improbably, up to the task -- provided you are. The roughly nine-month wait from when you place your order to when you take delivery should give you plenty of time to find a suitable ski rack.