2025 Lamborghini Temerario

New Lamborghinis don't come around that often, so when the clever people at Sant'Agata pull the wraps off an entirely new car (and not some reskinned special edition that will ultimately end up in a collector's garage never to be seen), we tend to perk up and listen. The Huracan was with us for almost an entire decade and it was a fine successor to the Gallardo — especially in its latter years. But the all-new Lamborghini Temerario takes things to an entirely different, completely insane level. 

First, let's start with the name. In car nerd circles, Lamborghini is known for naming its cars after famous Spanish fighting bulls — a trend that started with the Miura and continues to this day with the Revuelto. However, the Temerario is the first Lamborghini since the LM002 that eschews this tradition. Temerario translates to "fearless" in English, something that's in pretty clear reference to the Temerario's all-new powertrain. 

The Temerario's powertrain is insane, and totally Lamborghini

Gone is the 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 whose shriek was the rallying cry of small Lamborghinis before it. While there's no doubt we're going to miss that shrill 10-cylinder howl, the Temerario's new powertrain is so spicy it might just make up for it. In the V10's stead is a new twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with the turbochargers mounted between the two banks of cylinders. Even though it sounds like the 4.0-liter TT V8 we've seen in other Volkswagen-Audi group products (like the one used in the Urus, Audi RS 6 Avant and Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT), it's quite a bit different. 

Though those engines all share a displacement figure, the Temerario's V8 features a flat-plane crankshaft. Why go for this design? First, a flat-plane is designed to be lighter than traditional cross-plane cranks — an even firing order (where one piston going up is always balanced by another going down) means there's no need for heavy balance shafts in the engine block. There's also less reciprocating mass and less inertia, which in turn allows the engine to spin faster. Much faster. In fact, the Temerario's V8 redlines at a seriously unheard of 10,000 rpm. That makes it the highest-revving production V8 in history — more than the current Corvette Z06, any mid-engine Ferrari, or even the Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar. And, no, we don't count the Ariel Atom 500 because they only made 25.

But this is Lamborghini and enough is rarely ever enough. So to augment that already bananas V8, the Italians decided to throw in a hybrid system for even more oomph. There is not one, but three axial-flux type electric motors mounted throughout the Temerario, and the battery they pull from is a small 3.8-kWh unit mounted down the central spine of the car to keep the center of gravity down and weight balance more even. It's worth noting that this is not a plug-in hybrid, which means charging it up is entirely down to the midship V8 powerplant.

The first of the three e-motors is mounted between the V8 engine — integrated directly into the block itself — and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Its job is to fill torque in between shifts and when the engine isn't making peak power, and it can make its full 221 lb-ft of torque regardless of how fast the engine is spinning. The other two are mounted on the front axle to give the Temerario an electric all-wheel-drive system. Some modern supercars take advantage of the front-mounted electric motors being able to spin both ways and get rid of the reverse gear in the transmission, but the Temerario's DCT does have a reverse.

So how much power does all this trickery make? The V8 (by itself) makes 789 horsepower — for those counting that's well more than any other small Lamborghini before it. In fact, that's more than even the most powerful versions of the V12-powered Aventador, the car that used to be the brand's flagship. But once you throw in the extra output from the three electric motors, the total combined peak output for the Temerario balloons to a stratospheric 907 horsepower. Sure, it's less than the recently unveiled Corvette ZR1, but that is still an almighty number for what is now Lamborghini's "entry-level" supercar. 

The Temerario brings improvements inside and with fresh tech

There's more to the Temerario as well. The frame is made entirely from aluminum (no carbon tub à la the McLarens of the world here), and Lamborghini says the frame is 20% torsionally stiffer than the previous iteration but needs less welding. The bodywork laid on top of that space frame was also thoroughly done over with aero in mind. There's more downforce, mostly at the rear of the car, thanks to a diffuser with 70% more surface area compared to the Huracan Evo. The hexagonal daytime running lights also act as intakes for the two side radiators at the front of the car, and little deflectors on the lower control arms feed cooling air to the brake calipers. 

No modern car is complete without a full suite of new tech duds, and the Temerario has them in spades. There are a plethora of different drive "experiences" (really, Lambo just means drive modes). The base modes are Città, Strada, Sport, Corsa, Corsa Plus (which turns off the stability control), and a launch control mode that's activated by the checkered flag button and holding it for 2 seconds. There are also three modes for the hybrid system: Recharge, Hybrid and Performance. You can mix and match the modes for the car's chassis characteristics and the hybrid system in a number of ways depending on whether you want to silently cruise through your sleepy Italian village on full electric power alone, recharge the battery on the highway, or go flat out on a racetrack. 

There are three screens inside the Temerario. The first is a driver's display that measures 12.3 inches and shows the driver relevant information like what mode they're in, the speedometer and the tach. There's also a 9.1-inch display for the front passenger and an 8.4-inch infotainment screen that rests in the dashboard between the two occupants. The center screen allows either occupant to literally swipe info from it to either the driver or passenger screen — think of it like having multiple monitors for your desktop computer as you drag and drop items from one screen to another. 

But fresh tech isn't the only improvement made to the interior. Aside from having Lamborghini's latest interior design language, there's also more room for occupants inside. There's now 1.3 inches of extra headroom and 1.8 inches of extra legroom for passengers. That might not sound like much, but in the cramped confines of a low-slug exotic it can make a big difference. There's also room behind the driver and passenger for everyday items and a front trunk with about 4 cubic feet of space — about enough for two backpacks or the weekly trip to your local Erewhon. 

Of course, this being a Lamborghini there's going to be a squillion ways to customize it and make it your own. Want metallic pink paint? Sure, why not? A mix of brown and yellow in the interior? Anything's possible with enough money.

We'll know more about Lambo's new baby in the future when, hopefully, we get behind the wheel and strap our testing gear to it. Stay tuned.