Why The Best Lamborghini Huracan Is The One Without A Top

Miami’s South Beach was an inspired choice to drive a Skittles-colored coterie of Lamborghini’s newest supercar, the LP610-4 Huracan Spyder. At least, it was on the day I left, all vivid and warm under the Florida sun.

The day I actually spent in the car began with pouring rain that took several hours to taper into somber clouds. On a track, the all-wheel-drive Huracan Spyder can hit 62 mph in 3.4 seconds and top out at 201 mph, roof up or down. On the wet streets of Miami, I can faithfully report that the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission will seamlessly hit top gear at about 40 mph for fuel saving, and that in a light sprinkle it’s easy enough to blow water away from the cockpit. (On the freeway, the 602-hp V-10 will shut off an entire bank for cruising. Wasting your drink is a crime, even in South Beach.)

Yet saying the $267,500 Huracan Spyder can perform misses the point, in much the same way that saying the silver ice buckets at the South Beach bottle-service bar keep the Tito’s chilled with superb thermal efficiency. They’re both there for looks, in service toward, let’s be honest, sex. If topless supercars don’t encourage copycat behavior from their passengers, what good is life?

And by fashion standards, the Huracan Spyder performs ably. Cruising the Wynwood district, among the graffiti and art-covered warehouse blocks, the Lambos looked as native as a nose ring. It’s hexagon-themed outerwear looks bold but not dated, and the 20-inch wheels in 30-aspect ratio Pirelli PZero rubber come off as the automotive world’s stilettos. Many engineering man-hours were spent quieting the interior while uncovered, through aerodynamic black magic like a pair of wind screens that reside just behind your head. When the rains come, the top can latch into place in 17 seconds, even when driving up to 31 mph.

Lamborghini’s stylists pulled many tricks to ensure the fairly large fabric top of the Huracan Spyder retained the “Egyptian eye” silhouette of the car’s side openings. And it does look like an integral part of the vehicle when up, rather than the unkempt tailoring of many previous supercar tops, while adding less weight than the aluminum folding roofs off the Ferrari 488 GTB and McLaren 650S droptops. (Lamborghini sells the tops in shades of black, tan and red, which on a white Huracan Spyder turned a comely burgundy in the rain.)

Lamborghini has thrived under chief Stephan Winkelmann because it has embraced the modern ideal of a supercar company, a blend of Italian style and German task-keeping. Lamborghinis no longer rattle in odd places or look cheap in their details; the Huracan Spyder’s interior has the same quality assembly as a top-line Audi. That buttoned-down nature carries over to the driving performance. The recklessness that used to course through every trip in a Lambo no longer exists; the stability control not only rewards basic drivers with ample speed and g-force, but protects them from errors that would have turned Gallardos into roadside origami.

And like many European mashups, Lambo’s greatest audience lives in the United States. Last year, fully one-third of its production—1,009 cars—were sold to U.S. buyers, while its home country of Italy bought just 65. Ferrari still carries the gold standard among supercars, but Lamborghinis have become just as powerful symbols in American culture for full-out performance and wealth. The trouble for American drivers with the Huracan Spyder lies not with the strength of the encounter but its brevity; by “three Mississippi” you’re at 70 mph, and holding on for a couple more Mississippis can put you up the river for real.

Not every challenge could be solved by the wizards of Sant’Agata. At six-foot-one, my clearance with the folding roof was measurable in sheets of paper. Legroom for the driver is slightly better than legroom for the passenger, where the compartment tries to bind your feet like a papoose. Rearward visibility can be best managed by the accelerator; the faster you go, the less you need worry about not seeing what’s behind you.

But those are livable flaws; what stuck with me was just how well this car fits into the Lamborghini universe. When you’re willing to spend a small fortune for a true supercar, then a closed-roof Ferrari or McLaren make for strong competitors to the regular Huracan. When you’re willing to spend a slightly larger fortune for something a little flashier, hardtop McLaren and Ferrari owners will always grumble about how a roofless car is a bad compromise in performance. Lamborghini owners tend not to have as much aspiration for track stardom as their supercar peers, and putting a folding roof on a Huracan only intensifies its sex appeal. In a world where fashion matters more than speed, the Huracan Spyder makes for one powerful come on.