Head to Head: LAMBORGHINI HURACAN VERSUS AUDI R8 - Updated Review 2023

Sam. So we've seen this movie plenty of times already. Audi vs Lamborghini, R8 vs Huracan, Coke vs Diet Coke. It's not a new topic by any means, but for a lot of first time or maybe second time supercar buyers, I think it's a question that often crosses their minds. But I would know firsthand because I've been there with this one. So if this review were entirely up to me, we would automatically declare the Lambo the winner and then we could all go home. But sadly, it's not entirely up to me because today we're introducing a new character, and hopefully this person over here can inject a little bit of sense into the conversation. This is Gabrielle. She's an actual automotive journalist, so that means that she's probably a little bit more qualified to tell you about cars than some random Asian guy with camera skills.

Thank you for having me, Dan. And I'm gonna have to stop you right there because I think with almost a 30% price difference, that maybe the R8 is a better bang for your buck. Now, unlike you, I have no experience. I've never driven the Audi R8 or the Lamborghini Huracan. So maybe it's time for a fresh.

Take anyway, both of these cars getting a little bit more affordable again. So I figured it's time that we revisit two of the most quintessential entry level exotics that you can get for about 200 or $250,000. But this time around, I've got a specific question in mind.

Which one of these two supercars would you rather drive down here in Miami, Florida? I mean, traffic is something to keep in mind, of course, but the supercar scene is alive and well, and the luxury lifestyle isn't going anywhere. Which in my opinion, makes the R8 the obvious winner. Hmm.

I just feel like if I'm gonna get a supercar and I'm gonna spend a quarter million dollars, it's gonna be a Lamborghini.

Well, I guess we'll have to see. But before we do, here's a quick shout out to our sponsor, Motor Envy. This episode was brought to you by Motor Envy. We are here at one of Motor Envy's locations in Miami, Florida. Both the huracan and the R8 were provided by them. Motor Envy is a premium car subscription service that specializes in all sorts of high end vehicles. Whether you're looking for a simple and affordable, low commitment lease on performance cars, a hard to find luxury ac, just a great dealership to have in your back. Pocket Motore Envy is definitely the place to go. Be sure to check them out@motorenvy.com now let's get back to the review.

It's not exactly a apples to apples comparison here because that's an earlier model year LP610 Huracan, whereas that's a 2020 facelifted Audi R8 V10. And even with the $70,000 price advantage that you get with the Audi, I think it's still going to need a little bit more help to edge out the Lambo here. And that's one of the reasons why I chose to have this 2020 over an older model year R8. And they say that beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, but to me I feel like this mid cycle refresh really did wonders for Audi. I mean this front end here now is way more aggressive. It's got all these angles going on here and it seems to carry a bit of masculine attitude when you compare it to a pre facelift model like a 2017, which wasn't necessarily a bad looking car, but it felt sterile and generic. The rear end also gets beefed up a bit too. This base trim V10 model now has those big signature oval RS style exhaust tips that really give it some personality. It's always nice to see the mid engine powerplant in plain sight, but that's kind of all it is when you compare it to the Huracan, it's just a tad plain from a side angle. I feel like nothing's really changed with the profile. At least nothing of value in my opinion. The Lamborghini Huracan on the other hand, has gone through so many variants in the past eight years that I've frankly begun to lose interest. LP610, LP580 performante sto evo Technica I'm probably missing a few, but dude, where does it end? I mean the latter variants are definitely really cool and wild in their own typical Lamborghini fashion, but I feel like the original 610 still got a really attractive silhouette that's aged quite well for a car that's almost a decade old. The whole angular design thing has always been there. It's quite obnoxious, but sort of classy in the right colors like this Grigio Titan matte gray that makes you feel like Bruce Wayne. The slats over the engine bay, the slash tip quad exhaust, the compact and simplified headlights, the side air intakes, everything seems like it was designed with a purpose in mind. It just looks fast. And you know what it is even though 602 horsepower doesn't sound that impressive when you compare it to a thousand horsepower Tesla. But that's a video for another time. Surprisingly, contrary to popular belief, these two cars actually aren't identical in physical dimensions. The R8 has a wheelbase of 104.3 inches versus the 103.1 in the Lambo. But it's actually a little shorter than the Huracan by 1.2 inches. How odd. But despite all of Audi's best efforts, and even if you get the slightly souped up R8 performance model, I gotta say, Lamborghini Huracan still the better looking supercar.

Well, that might be true if you're trying to impress everyone else on the road, Dan, but let's talk about where you should be spending a majority of your time. In the driver's seat. Now, it's the interior of these cars where the brand identity for both really shines through. If you've never been inside of an R8 before, you would sit down and immediately recognize this interior as iconically Audi. You've got all of the high quality soft touch material, and in this model you have all of the nice diamond pleated seats that follows all along the headliner. But let's talk about the infotainment system, because if you look at the dashboard here, there isn't a central infotainment system. That means everything is immediately in front of the driver, making this an incredibly driver focused but very simple and very modern cockpit. Now besides that, all of the climate controls are right here, which means they're super easy to use, which is something that I personally love, and it speaks to the quiet luxury of the brand. But speaking speaking of quiet luxury, the R8 definitely hits the mark. But the Huracan is anything but quiet. Let's go check it out. Now, the Huracan on the other side is incredibly complex with its design. If you look at the center stack here, it feels like you're sitting inside of a fighter jet, which is a design we see in a lot of the previous Lamborghini models. But you'll notice something similar here where there's no center infotainment system like you have in the R8, because everything is still very driver's focused. Now one thing that I really love about this car that the R8 is lacking in is the paddle shifters. The paddle shifters in the R8 are a little weak and, and this interior just feels a little bit more like you're driving a race car. Now, appearance aside, you're going to hear these cars well before you see them. So let's figure out which one sounds better.

Both of these supercars pack the same 5.2 liter V10. That makes 562 horses in the R8, but 602 in the Huracan and the R8 performance trim. Surprisingly, they sound totally different. The R8 has a deeper, more masculine growl to it. Slightly less crackles and pops. Overall, the Huracan sounds more raw and like a race car. But it's up to you to decide what you prefer. I feel like I've driven enough of these cars to kind of come to the conclusion that the R8 is just simply a softer driving vehicle. I mean, it's probably about 5 to 10% softer than the Huracan. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, because if you live in a major metropolitan area, like, I know, New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, parts of New Jersey, it's something that you can appreciate. I don't know much about Florida. I haven't really been here long enough to really form an opinion about it. Maybe you can kind of tell me about that.

I think that traffic down here is what makes the R8 really the better option out of the two because you do spend so much time stuck in traffic. So, like, having that little bit of comfort, actually enjoying sitting in the car when you're not really driving it, I think that makes a huge difference. But there's some performance features of this car that I feel like it compromises for no reason. Like the paddle shifters, they're really wimpy. And I don't understand the paddle shifter.

I mean, for me, paddles in a car, in any sports car have to be. I don't know, they just have to match the personality of the car. Right? Like this. This feels like an A6 with a flat bottom steering wheel. And speaking of that, it actually just feels. This entire cockpit feels very TTRS esque. Not necessarily a bad thing. I really like the TTRS, but if you're paying $170,000 for a car, you want to feel a little bit more special than that.

I feel like the Audi R8 is like a po pokemon evolution of the TTRS. Like, it just makes the TTRS look a little bigger and a little fancier.

But Speaking of the TTRs, that's also one of the first cars that I drove that had a digital cluster. I know you say you really don't like digital clusters in your sports cars, but I feel like Audi does a really good job. I mean, this is like five or six years old now. At this point, and it still feels responsive. It gives you all the data you really need. It doesn't feel dated at all.

I think if I had to pick between the two and I had to have a digital gauge cluster, I definitely prefer the R8, and it doesn't have the lag that I see in a lot of other digital gauge clusters. That being said, the car does have weird lag in other way, like the shifting.

It's a real big pet peeve of mine to have a sports car that gives you a manual mode, but then it will just upshift for you whenever it feels like it.

Yeah, it's like, I don't care what you want me to do. I'm going to do what I want to do. But for people that don't have as much driving experience as you, that might be okay. And it might make them feel a little bit more confident driving. Like, say you pick up the R8 for the first time. It's your first supercar. Maybe you have some experience with sports cars. It'll really take care of you as a driver. Like, this is a far less intimidating car to drive than the Huracan.

Speaking of the Huracan, do you want to go drive it?

Yeah, I do.

All right, let's go.

The R8 is a fantastic car if you love driving. But to me, the Huracan is just. This is an enthusiast car. It's built for. For the drivers, essentially. I think it's just special.

You know, what's funny is I never really spend too much time in the passenger seat of these things, because I'm usually where you are. But if I have never been in a Lamborghini before and I got into this Huracan, I would be really impressed. But if you blindfolded me and you put me into an R8 V10, I'd probably just be like, yo, cool TTRs, bro.

Cool TTRs, bro. You have to give it a little bit more credit than that. The R8 is a capable, fun supercar. It's just not as dialed in for performance as the Huracan. I don't know. You have more motorsports history than I do. What do you think is a better car for a majority of the drivers, hands down, R8V10?

I mean, it's just the more, I guess, forgiving experience. It's not to say that the Huracan is a hard car to drive. It's actually a really easy car to drive fast. But the R8 just simplifies things. You know, you've only got two drive modes, you got comfort and you've got dynamic. And although I would say comfort's a little bit too muted, dynamic mode is actually perfect for the average driver because it does a lot of the work for you versus the Huracan. Corsa mode makes you make all your own decisions.

I guess you could make the argument that both cars are good depending on your personal driving style, but it's more than the driving experience that's going to make you buy a supercar.

Yeah, you're right. I mean, 90% of people who buy these things are probably buying them the flex.

I think that the R8 personally has just as much road presence and curb appeal as the Huracan, but I could be a little biased at this point. Point. So I think we should take both cars out and see what people have to say.

What did you have in mind?

I've always wanted to park a supercar on Brickell.

How about we park two super cars on Brickell? Both of them.

Let's go. It's clear that Dan and I are never really going to see eye to eye on which of these two cars is better. So tonight we're out in Brickell to see what people in one of the most popular places in Miami have to say about the cars between the two cars behind us. The Lamborghini Huracan or the Audi R8. Which one would you rather drive?

Me, personally, I'd take the R8.

Choice R8 for sure. R8 for sure.

I took the R8.

That one. These are not paid actors. We're team R8 over here. Thank you, guys. Lamborghini or R8?

Lamborghini.

But if you. If you had to pick one, like you have a one car garage and no parking outside, probably.

Give me the Lambo. I gotta get the Lambo.

That's two more for dad.

I like the ra. I respect it. But I gotta go with the Lambo. The Lambo just sounds better.

But we were so close.

Lambo, too.

Two more for Dan.

The Lamborghini, obviously, you know, because it's been my parents since my childhood, and I would love to drive it one day soon.

I love that. What about you?

Ferrari is one of them.

But between these two cars, which one do you like better? Ferrari is still a good answer. Okay, two. Two for Lamborghini. And I think I'll go with this one. Three more for Lamborghini. Thank you guys so much. I would much rather own the RA. Why? It's classy and beautiful, and it has a V10 Lamborghini engine, and it's more classy than the Lamborghini. I agree completely. I feel like the R8 is more the underrated elegance, and this is a little bit flashier, so thank you. Two cars behind me, the Lamborghini or the R8, which one would you rather drive? Probably the Lamborghini. All right, how about if you were going out with a guy and he said, I'm gonna take you in one of my cars, which car would you rather go on a date in? Lamborghini.

I've been to Lamborghini before.

It's not that lit.

The RA is better.

Well, surprisingly, that turned out to be a pretty even split. So it looks like both cars are a great option if you live here in Miami, but it's really up to you. Let me know in the comment section down below which of these two cars you would rather drive in. I gotta give it to Dan. It seems like he was right. The arcade might just eek out a little bit more popular. So I guess we still haven't really answered the question, but when you were buying your first supercar and you personally had to choose between the Gallardo and the R8, what inevitably made you pick the Gallardo?

Well, at the time, the R8 V8 had just come out, and it was a really hot car, but they didn't have a V10 variant yet. And me as a performance guy, I needed to have that V10. It was a no brainer. But at the same time, the other big factor was, would I rather go home in an Audi or would I rather go home in a Lamborghini?

I think those are both valid reasons. And when it comes down to it, the Gallardo and the R8 really set the stage for this rivalry of what makes the cars different. But when we switch over to the second generation of the R8 and move from the Gallardo over to the Huracan, it's really clear that they developed their own personalities, their own driving styles, and they're very different cars. They're different beasts. So which one is better?

It's really hard to say, but I think we can kind of break down the buyer's experience to five different categories that most people would agree is what you look for in a car. Right. So the first one is it's pretty objective bang for buck. All right, Comfort and drivability. How about performance? I mean, I know some R8 guys out there will be like, well, my. My Huracan, my R8 beats Huracans all day long. But in all of my testing, it's always been The Lamborghini.

Yeah, definitely the Lamborghini. I hate to say it.

How about status symbol? I mean, that's kind of important when you're spending this much money on anything, right?

So easy.

Lamborghini. Yeah. I think excitement factor is probably the most subjective. What that really means is which one of these cars will kind of get your blood flowing in the morning. Which one of these cars do you really just get excited about driving any day of the week? For me, it's a Lamborghini, no questions asked.

I don't find that answer very surprising. But honestly, I love driving the R8. I think that the R8 is a great car. I understand why it's got such a fan following. I understand why people, people buy it. But the entire time that I was driving the Huracan, I couldn't stop smiling. And I think for me that's that excitement factor. So I hate to say it, but I'm going to give this one to the Lamborghini too.

Sounds like we've got a clear winner here. Lamborghini Huracan is the better supercar. But hey, gotta knew that going in from the beginning, right?

You could say that. But I guess that's the cool thing about the supercar community is really everyone has their own preferences. So. So let us know in the comments section down below whether you would rather own the Lamborghini Huracan or the Audi R8. And of course, hit that subscribe button.

Special thanks to Motor Envy for hooking us up with these two awesome supercars for the weekend. That's going to do it for us on this episode. As always, we'll catch you on the next one. I hope you guys enjoyed this video as much as I did making it. If so, hit that like button and share the video with your friends. I can't cover everything I want to in the short amount of time that I have, so if I missed something, let me know in the comments below. If this is your first time here, don't forget to check out some more videos on the channel. We produce all sorts of cinematic car content, so if you like what you see, smash that subscribe button for new episodes whenever they come out. Thanks for watching.