“The sun is really dangerous!” says Rouven Mohr as we duck into the shade behind the Lamborghini booth at The Quail. Just a few feet away, with hundreds of people watching, the company’s newly unveiled Temerario supercar, its emerald green paint glinting in the California sun. Mohr, Lamborghini’s chief technical officer since 2022, flashed an infectious smile that showed off the extra sunscreen he’d just applied.
“It’s your child and seeing it on stage for the first time is always special,” he said.
“It’s your kid and seeing it on stage for the first time is always special.”
Development of the car began four and a half years ago and went into high gear 36 months ago, with its debut last weekend. The Temerario replaces the decade-old Huracán, Lamborghini’s soon-to-be-discontinued V10 supercar. It’s been upgraded numerous times over the years, gaining power, handling and technology, but the new Temerario makes it look like a remedial step.
While the Temerario downgrades to a 4.0-liter V8, it adds a pair of turbochargers. This configuration sounds a bit like the Audi engine used in the company’s Urus SUV, but Mohr insists the two have nothing to do with it. “This is completely new,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the Urus’ V8 engine.”
Lamborghini developed this new engine with two goals in mind: it revs to 10,000 rpm and sounds amazing.
The result is a car that emits a distinct spine-tingling scream when driven hard. But the engine feels unique, too. “When you first start driving a car, you tend to upshift too early because you have so much torque. But honestly, if you accelerate it, you feel like it’s a blast because the torque is still there and the natural intake Gas engines don’t have that,” Moore said.
Adding a turbocharger might increase torque, but not necessarily fun. The engine relies on what Mohr calls a “huge” turbine. Big turbochargers can make a lot of power, but often cause lag between hitting the accelerator and the car darting forward.
This is where hybrid powertrains come in. A pair sits on the front axle, one driving each front wheel. The third is connected directly to the crankshaft of the new V8.
Total system output is 907 hp and 538 lb-ft of torque, up from the outgoing Huracán’s 631 hp and 417 lb-ft. The combined power output of the hybrid system alone is 295 hp, which is about the same as the single-motor Polestar 2.
In theory, its architecture is similar to Lamborghini’s other hybrid, the 1,001-horsepower Revuelto. In fact, Mohr says the dual-motor front axle setup is exactly the same as the Revuelto’s, as is the 3.8kWh battery.
But the different characteristics of the two cars mean there’s less software shared between them than you might think. “The basic strategy is the same, but the application is completely different because the weight distribution, wheelbase, wheelbase are all different,” he said.
Total system output is 907 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque
Still, the Temerario has many of the Revuelto’s efficiency tricks, such as using the hybrid system for traction control.
Imagine accelerating too hard coming out of a corner. When you get too excited, the rear wheels start spinning. Instead of reducing power through the traction control system to maintain grip like a regular car, Temerario increases the regeneration capacity of the rear motor. The motor then converts the extra power generated by the V8 into battery power while keeping you from falling into a ditch.
The Temerario looked beautiful sitting in the sunshine at the Lamborghini booth, but something was missing this year: the all-electric Lanzador concept that debuted last year. It’s a bit of an odd thing, a tall coupe with SUV-like proportions and an unconventional design that hearkens back to the company’s earlier four-seat coupes like the Espada from the ’60s or the Jarama from the ’70s.
Although it’s just a concept, it’s said to be a preview of an eventual production electric vehicle, and Moore says its development is still actively underway. “We are still working hard on this,” he said.
Temerario shares many of Revuelto’s high-performance skills
Lanzador is targeted for release sometime toward the end of the century, but Mohr said that time frame is more than just an engineering issue. “It also kind of depends on the market,” he said.
In other words, Lamborghini is waiting for the EV market to stabilize. Mohr said the high depreciation rates of high-end electric vehicles scare product planners. For cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, residual value is key. Unlike regular SUVs, these ultra-rare cars typically increase in value as soon as they roll off the dealership lot. Many owners do count on this.
A rapidly depreciating Lamborghini electric car is unacceptable. “In some parts of the world, people are a little scared about residual value and all the things that matter to us,” Moore said.
He noted that the Rolls-Royce Specter will be a touchstone for a new era of ultra-premium electric cars, but it’s too early to judge its long-term performance in the market.
Well-heeled buyers still have a long way to go before Lanzado’s true moment of glory arrives. Until then, they have to get comfortable with Temerario, which should be available sometime next year. Lamborghini has yet to price the car, but considering the upcoming Huracán starts at around $250,000, you can be sure the Temerario will cost significantly more to $300,000.
What about the name? Like many Lamborghinis, it was borrowed from a bull – a 1975 bull, in fact. “We chose his name because he was very brave,” Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said at the car’s unveiling.
Even for Moore, the name was not one that rolled off the tongue easily. “I don’t speak Italian either, so it’s not that easy for me,” he laughs. “At first I trained in front of a mirror. reckless. reckless…”
