Lamborghini Temerario 2025 review – 907bhp hybrid Huracán successor flat-out

This is nuts. We’ve been sitting in the new Lamborghini Temerario for barely two minutes and yet here we are, barrelling into a braking area at 190mph. It’s quite the introduction. One that highlights the raw speed of this ultra-techy 907bhp hybrid supercar, but also the absurd ease with which you can access and deploy its performance. 

We’re at Estoril in Portugal. Resolutely old-school with little in the way of run-off, this legendary circuit is a bold place to let the world’s motoring media and internet influencers loose in your brand-new bullet-fast, £260k challenger to the Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren 750S. 

Engine, gearbox and technical highlights

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The Temerario is new from nose to tail. A fresh look inside and out brings increased aero efficiency, and a new aluminium monocoque saves weight, increases rigidity and provides more occupant space. The blockbusting 10,000rpm V8 is mated to a new eight-speed DCT gearbox and electric front axle, which features a pair of electric motors for trick torque vectoring. 

There’s a third motor sandwiched between the engine and the transversely mounted gearbox (the ‘box, motors, battery and associated hybrid gubbins are all shared with the Revuelto). Just as significantly, there’s a new philosophy around the Temerario’s chassis dynamics and driving character.

Design-wise it has just the right amount of drama. Front, rear and side profiles are all head-swivellingly compelling. The extreme cutaways in the rear bodywork are fab, revealing the full width of the 325/30 ZR21 tyres. The car also has a knack of looking equally good in garish or subdued colours. With Lamborghini offering 400 hues there’s certainly no lack of choice.

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In addition to the regular Temerario coupe there’s an optional Alleggerita Package, which saves some weight and adds some downforce via an extensive suite of replacement carbon panels and a more pronounced rear ducktail. There’s also extensive use of satin finish interior carbonfibre and a pair of lightweight sports seats. Combined, these items save a little over 12.5kg. A further 12.5kg can be saved by opting for carbonfibre wheels and a titanium exhaust. 

Structurally the Temerario sticks with aluminium, finding significant improvements in weight efficiency and torsional rigidity (+20 per cent) over the previous-generation spaceframe thanks to new high-strength alloys, hydroformed extrusions and hollow castings. There’s greater cabin space, with headroom increased by 34mm and legroom by 46mm, and despite the e-axle there’s sufficient space in the frunk to take two carry-on cases, with additional luggage space behind the seats.

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Like its big brother the Revuelto, pressing the big red button on the centre tunnel doesn’t so much start the Temerario up as switch it on, with the ICE component of the powertrain remaining silent until you switch from EV-only Citta through Strada (the mildest of the hybrid modes) to Sport.

Performance, ride and handling

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Even through the muffling effects of a crash helmet it’s clear the L411 V8 makes a typical flat-plane-crank sound. All business, little musicality. The steering, gearshift and brakes have a uniform lightness of touch. It’s all very calm and entirely unintimidating. For a 900-plus bhp, 213mph Lamborghini, low-speed drama is in short supply.

The L411 V8 is a curious engine. Its character and delivery are augmented by hybrid assistance and a fiendishly complex blend of turbo boost and battery shove that sculpt power and torque delivery for effortless flex, yet it is also defined by its apparently limitless revs.

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This mash-up of small-capacity screamer and big-capacity slugger (peak torque is 538lb ft) is an intriguing contradiction. Throttle response is brilliant. Not just when you make a sustained squeeze into the gas, but also in those critical transient moments when you want to find the limit of traction and play with the balance of the car. 

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Its appetite for revs is prodigious. It pulls and pulls and pulls, rapidly in the lower gears where you get maximum assistance from the batteries. In fourth gear and beyond, the Temerario has a relentlessness that takes your breath away, with clever boost management ensuring it sustains peak power between 9000 and 9750rpm, so there’s no sense of tailing off. 

Its efficacy is impressive, but what about the emotion? The performance it unleashes certainly gets your heart pumping, but there’s not a great deal of joy to be had from the sound it makes. You certainly wouldn’t nip out to your garage and start it up for the hell of it. 

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Mounting the new DCT transversely behind the V8 creates space in the central tunnel to package the lithium-ion battery pack. Of limited capacity but quick to charge (and discharge), the battery is recharged during regenerative braking via the front axle or directly from the V8. It can also be charged from an ordinary domestic supply in as little as 30 minutes, though EV-only range is limited to 6 miles. 

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Stripped of its hybrid-related components the new eight-speed ‘box is lighter than the outgoing Huracán’s seven-speed unit. It also delivers faster shift times. In Corsa mode the shifts are clean and punchy. Not as clinical as a Porsche PDK but a little sharper-feeling than the Ferrari 296’s. It’s clear Lamborghini has worked very hard to create a distinct shift character that’s precise but with enough feeling of inertia and torque push to give you a positive sense of completing the upshift. 

Despite saving weight with the smarter next-gen alloy frame, at 1690kg dry the Temerario is 250kg heavier than the Huracán. That’s a hefty penalty, but one that’s mitigated by clever placement of the major masses and smart use of the twin-motor front e-axle, plus the third motor that joins forces with the V8 to drive the rear axle.

Much like the Revuelto, the Temerario behaves like a smaller and more wieldy car than the one it replaces. Whether it’s on standard Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres or a stickier Potenza Race, it has a neutral to oversteer balance and feels precise but playful, and far more rear-wheel drive than all-wheel drive.

The brakes are immensely impressive, with a reassuringly firm and consistent pedal, with fade non-existent despite the monster braking zone into Turn 1. Just as impressive is the way you can modulate the braking pressure. That’s far from easy when you’re balancing battery regen. Huracáns always had somewhat grabby brakes, so the Temerario’s pedal feel and response bodes well for road use. 

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There’s some very clever stuff going on with the calibration of the dynamic modes, especially when it comes to how the front torque vectoring and rear e-motor are used. In Corsa mode (with ESC on) the front axle is used earlier in the corner exit phase to maximise stability and traction for the cleanest run onto the straight. Knock it back to Sport mode and you immediately feel the Temerario become more playful. This is because the rear e-motor makes its contribution earlier in the corner and fractionally ahead of the front axle, so you get that extra rotational energy. 

You can disable the ESC by switching to Corsa Plus (ESC Off) mode, but sadly we didn’t get the opportunity to try this. However, we did try the Drift Mode. The three-stage system is a good training tool with varying degrees of safety for less experienced hands, but it requires you to drive by rote rather than instinct. If you know what you’re doing you’ll prefer to go with ESC Off so you can truly feel – and trust – the car.

The Temerario is an intriguing but also rather contradictory machine. Sharp looks and blistering performance nail the brief. Likewise, the way the hybrid technology has been applied to enhance the dynamics and expand its bandwidth. However, its lightness of touch will divide opinion. As it stands, the steering is too light and finely filtered. It’s all a bit too clean. It’s hard to imagine how engineers might introduce a bit of analogue grit into such a complex digital equation, but that’s what’s missing.

Price and rivals

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This track drive suggests the Temerario could shine on the road, but I do wonder whether the lauded 10,000rpm red line will be redundant when there’s so much low and mid-range punch. It certainly isn’t alone in this regard – a 750S or 296 GTB are also madly fast, but as the McLaren is more feelsome and the Ferrari a little more soulful, if this Lambo’s hard-won USP is hard to reach on the road, chasing such an extreme and emotive red line could be seen as a folly.  Frustratingly, we’ll have to wait until we can drive the Temerario on the road, ideally against its rivals, before we have our answer.

It certainly isn't cheap. At base the Temerario will cost £259,567 but that's before the £37,200 Alleggerita pack and before the £21k carbonfibre wheels. Most cars, with a splash of Ad Personam and a few choice options, won't reach customers for less than £300k.

Specs