SHARP Drives: 5 Things We Learned Driving the Lamborghini Temerario
Yes, we’ve driven the all-new 2026 Lamborghini Temerario and it’s… interesting. You see, the Temerario has big shoes to fill as the replacement to the Huracan, the most successful supercar in Lamborghini’s long history. But, the Temerario got off to a rocky start when news broke that it would be ditching the Huracan’s pure V10 in favour of a twin-turbo V8 with a complicated three-motor hybrid system.
Predictably, commenters across social media have their pitchforks out and ready to skewer the Temerario.
But hang on, hold your comments please, because we’ve now had a chance to experience it ourselves. Any pitchforking is premature; put your weapons down. This 907-horsepower, all-wheel drive, turbocharged angry-looking wedge from Lamborghini is wild, even by the skewed standards of The Raging Bull.
Why All The Fuss About Turbos and Hybrids?
In case you haven’t been keeping up with what’s going on in the supercar world, let us fill you in. Things are changing, and fast. The turbo-hybrid era is upon us, and not everyone is happy about it to put it mildly. Bugatti’s boss Mate Rimac said Lamborghini dragged its feet on the transition, at least compared to rivals Ferrari and McLaren which were both early and enthusiastic adopters of turbo-hybrid tech. With the arrival of the Temerario, however, Lamborghini’s entire three-vehicle lineup consists entirely of hybrids, in some form or another.
Big changes like that are risky, but as Lamborghini CEO Stephen Winkelmann told us at the launch of the Temerario in Portugal, pre-orders for the Temerario are strong.
“For me, this is paramount: the fact that we have already one year of sales [for the Temerario] in our pockets is a sign of trust,” said Winkelmann. If Lamborghini’s discerning customers are willing to give it chance, so should you.
It Revs to 10,000 rpm
We all let out a collective gasp when Lamborghini announced its new turbo-hybrid V8 would rev to 10,000 rpm. Ensuring the engine didn’t spin itself to pieces at those speeds necessitated an exotic aluminium alloy engine block, titanium bits and a finger-follower valvetrain. It’s massively complicated, and twice as expensive to produce as the old V10, and for what?
“Emotion,” said Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini chief technical officer. An engine that revs to 10,000 rpm is just pure fun; it’s spine-tingling and thrilling and special. Of course, Lamborghini could’ve got similar power from a much cheaper, lower-revving turbo engine, he said, but they chose not to. Mohr — a gearhead with infectious enthusiasm for all kinds of cars — said the goal was to make an engine with turbocharged power that delivered it in a linear way like Lambo’s naturally-aspirated V10. He wanted the engine to pull harder and harder all the way to the redline, and, if you look at the power curve of the engine combines with the electric motors, that’s exactly what it does.
“Remember, don’t shift up early,” he said before letting us loose in the Temerario at Estoril.
$*#& It’s Fast
Oh. My. God. The Temerario launches out of corners the instant you even think about pressing the throttle. Electric power from the three motors arrive like a punch in the gut, as with an EV, but this burst of battery power is only there to cover the brief turbo lag. These two giant IHI turbos atop the V8 blend into the initial electric jolt seamlessly, and then there’s this crescendo of noise and speed and air and adrenaline.
The Lamborghini Temerario builds and builds, just as Mohr said, like a non-turbo engine. Your brain instinctively tells you to shift up around 7,000 but no, hold on, there’s 3,000 rpm left. At the 10,000 rpm redline the engine emits a hard, metallic wail that’s intoxicating (if not quite the full-body experience of the old V10). Flick the carbon paddle and the dual-clutch gearbox kicks like an MMA fighter and then the revs build all over again. The numbers on the digital display tick past 200 km/h so fast it’s a blur; 300 km/h is effortless.
Lambo quotes 0-100 km/h in 2.7 seconds. If anything, after experiencing launch control, that feels conservative. We drive a lot of fast cars here at Sharp, but 907-horsepower in a machine that weighs just under 1,700 kg dry still took some getting used to.
Lamborghini Made a Drift Mode
Rouven Mohr is an amateur drifter, with a collection of 20 or so cars to prove it. Ever since he took the reins at Lamborghini, we’ve noticed the brand’s supercars have gradually become friskier, more playful, happier at or above the limit of grip. There was the sublime Hurracan Technica, and the brilliant Sterrato, the daring Revuelto and now this.
Drift mode uses the hybrid system — two electric motors on the front axle, one bolted to the engine — and various electronics to make sliding around easier. Initially, it helps make slides more progressive and easier to catch. As the car straightens, the system tries to slow that motion, giving drivers more time to straighten the steering.
There’s a dial on the steering wheel to control the amount of slip, and it worked best on “3” the most permissive setting. The car smears sideways and feels very adjustable and sweet mid-drift, but can still be a bit twitchy (if you’re not Ken Block).
Hybrid Power Works Magic on the Temerario’s Handling
Slowing down from over 300 km/h on Estoril’s main straight, there would’ve been some swaying from the rear tires in the Huracan if you didn’t keep the car dead straight. Mid-engine supercars do this under braking; they can’t help it with all that weight slung out behind the driver. But in the Temerario, there was no sway. It felt rock solid.
On the flip side, when changing directions through Estoril’s quick S-shaped chicane, the Temerario felt completely different. Instead of stable, it became darty and agile. The speed with which it can rotate into corners takes some getting used to; it leaps toward the apex. Certainly, it feels much lighter and more chuckable than its 1,700 kg weight suggests.
Actually, none of this magic. It’s the new tri-motor hybrid system working its torque-vectoring magic, governed by a complex piece of proprietary software developed in-house that oversees the car’s many, many subsystems. But, it works so well to make this 907-horsepower Lamborghini approachable and fun to drive that, yes, it might as well be magic.
We only have a nine or so proper laps of Estoril to try the Temerario, but we came away excited about the car and the future of turbocharged engines in general. With this 10,000 rpm V8, Lamborghini has paved the way for a new breed of powertrain that combines the best bits of turbo and hybrid technology into something that drives like a naturally-aspirated engine. Does the Temerario sound as good? No. Is it more usable, more entertaining, and so much faster? Yes. No need for pitchforks. Move along folks. Lamborghini’s future is looking bright.
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