This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.
Key Takeaways
- The Temerario will inherit the Revuelto’s 8-speed DCT gearbox, allowing faster shifting and better weight distribution.
- The Baby Lambo is going plug-in hybrid, aiming for sustainability and potentially using a new twin-turbocharged V8 engine.
- The Temerario will employ a bespoke Lamborghini platform, distancing itself from the Audi R8 and sharing design DNA with the Revuelto.
The Lamborghini Huracán is done for, with production ending this year and a replacement on the way. The internet has been filled with rumors and reports of what’s to come in place of the V10 supercar, and in light of the recent discovery of a trademark for the name Temerario – which we strongly suspect will be the name of the Huracan replacement – we’ve separated fact from fiction to bring you all the confirmed details of the Huracan’s successor.
Though some details are still in short supply, the Temerario has been spied in action a few times, suggesting it will share design cues with its new big brother. But shared DNA is not the only thing we know about the car, though we will dive into that a bit later.
If you look at spy videos, statements made by the big wigs, and the reported market launch, there’s loads of confirmed information available. Let’s dive right in.
The Temerario Will Inherit The Revuelto’s 8-Speed DCT Gearbox
Nobody expected the Revuelto to be quite as radical as it is. Instead of building another mid-engine V12 supercar, Lambo added electrification and designed an all-new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission from scratch. The Revuelto is only the third Lamborghini in history with a rear transverse-mounted gearbox, with the other two being the Miura and the track-only Essenza SCV12. There are multiple advantages to this new gearbox. It’s lighter, smaller, has fewer parts, and will shift much faster than the outgoing seven-speed dual-clutch.
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What other Lambos featured a similar configuration? And why does it even matter?
The biggest advantage relates to the battery pack. With the gearbox mounted at the rear, there’s no need for a transmission tunnel, which provided Lamborghini’s engineers with the space required to mount the Revuelto’s 3.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack without upsetting the weight distribution and handling. Designing an entirely new gearbox is not cheap. According to the principles of economies of scale, Lamborghini will use this gearbox in every model it possibly can, which obviously includes the Temerario. This was confirmed when the Revuelto’s powertrain was detailed; when speaking of the DCT, Lamborghini stated:
“After the LB744 (the Revuelto’s codename) it will go on to equip the next generation of super sports cars from Sant’Agata Bolognese.”
Last year Lamborghini sold 10,112 cars globally and 60% of those were Uruses (Uri?). The Huracan sold nearly 4,000 units, which means these two combined make up the bulk of sales.
If Lamborghini wants to make that initial investment back, the eight-speed DCT will have to go into the Temerario. But that’s not the only evidence we have…
The Baby Lambo Is Going Plug-In Hybrid
Some elements of the Temerario’s powertrain do remain a mystery, but another aspect that has been made official is that it will officially be the second High Performance Electrified Vehicle (HPEV), or hybrid supercar. This much was officially confirmed by CEO Stephan Winkelmann and his cohorts in January when the brand presented an update on its Direzione Cor Tauri business model, which aims to increase the sustainability of the brand. In mimicking the hybridization of the Revuelto, there’s also a high likelihood we’ll see AWD return, though this time, the rear wheels will be driven by the combustion engine and the fronts by electric motors.
But what engine will it have? This is where the waters are muddied as no one from Lamborghini has officially confirmed anything. The Revuelto was able to keep a naturally-aspirated V12 thanks to the hybrid element, which gives us hope the V10 could live on, but several reports contradict this notion, suggesting a V8 will be used, and an all-new one different than the V8 found in the Urus, capable or revving to 10,000 rpm; this remains unconfirmed. Videos of the prototypes undergoing testing support at least the core philosophy of a V8, though, with the low rumble of a V8 audible, along with the uber-smooth shifts of the DCT transmission, clearly discernible in the video below.
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Rumors surrounding the Italian automaker’s Huracan replacement getting a V8 make even more sense now.
Outside of the aging 4.0-liter V8 found in the Urus, which was developed by Audi and Porsche, Lamborghini announced in 2022 it had started developing an all-new twin-turbocharged V8 for this year’s Le Mans hypercar. There’s no reason for a niche brand like Lamborghini to design an entirely new engine unless it has multiple applications. And what better way to test the durability of an engine than to enter it in the toughest endurance race of them all? Oh, and Lamborghini is entered in the LMDh class, which means this engine has to have some sort of hybridization. The suspicion is this engine may be adapted for use in the Huracan’s successor; time will tell.
The Temerario Will Use A Bespoke Lamborghini Platform
The Audi R8 is officially dead, which means its platform and V10 engine are out of the question. That’s no great loss for Lamborghini because the profits it made from Urus sales put it in such a strong financial position that it could put some money aside to develop a standalone platform.
“It’s more difficult, it requires larger investments – and this is why we’re able to do it now,” Lamborghini’s regional director of Lamborghini Asia-Pacific, Francesco Scardaoni, said, continuing to say that, “The company is setting records, quarter over quarter, year over year in terms of financials, so we are able to invest a huge amount of money in terms of research and development and to design our own platforms.”
This is the first time since the introduction of the first-generation R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo that there will be no sharing between the two brands. Lamborghini can finally get away from that “R8 in a fancy suit” argument, which means it should be able to charge a $50,000 premium over the Huracan, if not more. The likely platform will be an adaptation of the Revuelto’s carbon fiber monofuselage. When this chassis was announced, Lamborghini said the LB744 (the Revuelto’s codename prior to its unveiling) represented the acronym AIM: Automation, Integration, and Modularity. The latter is key; as a modular platform, it can be adapted to underpin more than one model. This monofuselage was one of the keys to the Revuelto’s hybridization, so it stands to reason Lamborghini would leverage this on the Huracan’s replacement.
It Will Be A Miniature Lamborghini Revuelto
Earlier, we referred to the Temerario sharing design DNA with the Revuelto. This isn’t a secret, and we’ve known it since the official unveiling of the big boy V12. Lamborghini’s head of design made it clear that the new Halo model’s design would eventually filter down to future models. “The Revuelto is adrenaline made visible,” said Mitja Borkert, Lamborghini’s head of design. “The design of the new Lamborghini Revuelto opens a fascinating door towards the future of our unique design language.”
For proof, look no further than the Lanzador EV concept, introduced a few months after the Revuelto. You can already see Revuelto design elements on the concept meant to preview the first all-electric Lamborghini, set to make its debut in 2028.
The Temerario Will Make Its Debut This Year
At a preview event for the Revuelto, Stephan Winkelmann confirmed a 2024 introduction for the Temerario. “At the end of 2024, a completely new Huracan will come to market,” Winkelmann said. His words suggest that it will go on sale at the end of the year, possibly as a 2025 model. But when will we see it for the first time? While earlier rumors suggested we’d see it at the upcoming Lamborghini event at Imola this month, Lamborghini representatives have confirmed to CarBuzz that the April reveal will be that of the Urus PHEV.
At a media event attended by Australia’s Drive, Lamborghini executives said, “From March we will have the first contents as a teaser – already technical [details]. And […] in the second half of the year is the world premiere.” Lamborghini has already missed the timeline for the teasers to begin, but there’s plenty of time between now and December for several teasers and a reveal to occur.
Temerario Highly Likely To Be The New Baby Lambo’s Name
In Lamborghini’s entire history, there are only two models not named after fighting bulls or a breed of bull. The first was the Countach, named after a word an engineer used to describe the prototype while the team was working on it (the word Countach was also used to describe a beautiful woman), and the second was the Sesto Elemento, translated as Sixth Element, so named after the primary materials used in the construction of the lightweight supercar, including carbon and carbon fiber.
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Temerario is a Spanish word, which tracks with Lamborghini’s naming structure. Directly translated, it means “reckless.” We did some digging and couldn’t find a famous bull with the same name, but the same thing happened with the Revuelto, which translates to “unruly.” It was only during the Revuelto’s launch that Lamborghini revealed that it was also a name given to a fighting bull that fought in Barcelona in August 1880. The same will likely happen here, as Lamborghini has enough money to pay a person just to research famous fighting bulls by tracking down folklore in Spain.
While we know that sometimes names are trademarked and not used, we’ve also become extremely familiar with Lamborghini’s timelines and have discovered numerous trademark filings that have become a reality. With Lamborghini having confirmed only one all-new model this year, the likelihood is high this will be its name. Still, we’ll include the disclaimer that this hasn’t been officially confirmed by Lamborghini… yet.