Lamborghini Temerario: childhood trauma overcome
A V8 biturbo with three electric motors instead of the legendary naturally aspirated V10: can this work or does Lamborghini's Temerario super sports car now lack soul and power? Autosprint has tested it.
On a vacation trip to South Tyrol in my childhood, we drove past a red Lamborghini Countach with open gullwing doors. I was determined to stop, my parents wanted to drive on. Contrary to my parents' promises, the thunderbolt with the V12 engine was no longer there on the way back. That was the end of my day and part of my vacation. Today, in Bari, Italy, at Maldarizzi Automotive, I start to overcome my Lamborghini childhood trauma: here in Apulia, there are not only priceless customer vehicles in a wide variety of colors, but also a brand-new Lamborghini Temerario in the color Celeste Fedra, a striking light turquoise, waiting for me to test drive. With a four-liter V8 biturbo and three electric drives for a total of 677 kW/920 hp and 700 Nm as well as pure driving pleasure. For a whole day. What more could you want?
«Bella macchina e bel colore»
At the first traffic circles out of Bari towards Polignano a Mare, I realize what I want more: a normal blinker lever. Instead, there are two buttons on the left of the steering wheel and an off button in the middle. On the plus side, Italians are forgiving when you drive out of a traffic circle in a Lambo without turning. Thumbs up, cell phones at the wheel - here in the south, cars are still stars. Thanks to the Temerario, you get to know people, despite language barriers. The grandfather at the pedestrian crossing in Fasano first crosses the road hesitantly - Lamborghinis don't usually think much of him - and then enthusiastically crosses the road, shouting «Bella macchina e bel colore!» after me.
At Piazza Ciaia, where I want to pair my smartphone with the car again to navigate the test route, I am immediately surrounded by a cluster of schoolchildren. Yes, they are allowed to take selfies - I don't want to cause any childhood traumas. But I realize that the Lamborghini prefers Apple to Android. However, it's easy to get to the famous trulli, the white round houses with the conical stone roofs around Alberobello.
Hand-tamed despite giant rollers
The super sports car with its giant wheels (255/35 ZR 20 at the front and 325/30 ZR 21 at the rear), which look out cheekily from under the hexagonal rear lights and next to the huge diffuser for additional downforce, is expected to take a beating on the bad back roads of Apulia. There are two solutions for this: Either glide gently over them with the nose raised thanks to the lift function or speed over the potholes without the spaceframe all-aluminum chassis, which is another 25 kilos lighter thanks to various carbon parts, pushing the car into disaster or smashing into the front or floor panel. Or avoid the holes: Thanks to the super-precise steering, this is easily possible even at the last moment. And the 1.20 meter flat flounder also has more than enough power. It can easily go from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds, with a top speed of 343 km/h, but we don't want to be that dynamic on normal roads. We prefer to leave out the Corsa racing mode and the three drift levels for controlled oversteer, which can also be set using the rotary control on the steering wheel.
Wrestling muni instead of fighting bull
We quickly got the hang of the modes and switched from Città, in which the hybrid could travel up to five kilometers purely electrically, to Strada and Sport, in which we selected the eight gears of the dual-clutch automatic transmission ourselves. But watch out: While the Temerario is almost tame in the first two modes and the three electric motors drive out any turbo lag from the biturbo, the rear end can become a little lighter in Sport mode. It's fun, but for a car costing around 420,000 francs, it also comes with responsibilities.
On the roads around Gorgofreddo with a view of the Adriatic Sea, you can rev the V8 engine wonderfully. Between 4000 and 7000 rpm, it purrs along at 700 Nm, the full power and the right soundscape are only available from 9000 rpm - or when downshifting, because then the V8 hisses, spits and roars and lets it rip.
Completely new soundscape
The Lamborghini sounds very different from its predecessors with the legendary naturally aspirated V10 engine: instead of a wild fighting bull, it sounds more like a proud, swinging muni and no longer so brute. That's when I realize that I've been driving without a radio until now. I could still use the display integrated into the free-floating center console and search for the right sound instead of vehicle and navigation data on the hexagonal tiles, which are reminiscent of the shape of the daytime running lights. But I prefer to enjoy my time in the super-comfortable bucket seats, admire the carbon and suede details and successfully suppress my childhood trauma mile by mile.
