With emission laws tightening up and fuel efficiency being one of the main concerns, a lot of manufacturers are putting a lot of effort in downsizing their engines and at the same time exploring new alternatives to make their cars go further without using a lot of fuel. But one manufacturer that seems unfazed in this whole movement is the bad boys supercar maker, Lamborghini.
Featuring massive V10s and V12s in their line-up, emissions and efficiency seems to be the least of their concerns when making their flamboyant road missiles. But there are news that such days might be coming to an end for Lamborghini.
In a report by Car and Driver, the Lamborghini Huracan and Audi R8 (which both features a 5.2-liter V10 engine) might just get a 5-cylinder 2.5-liter turbocharged and supercharged engine somewhere in the future. This move is motivated by the big engine taxes in Asian market in which has prompted Volkswagen Group to consider the possibility of offering a smaller turbocharged unit for cars like the Huracan and R8 in China.
Currently powered by a naturally-aspirated V10 for the moment, both cars might feature the 2.5-liter TFSI engine previewed in the Audi TT Clubsport Turbo concept which benefits from an electric turbo and generates 600PS and 479 lb-ft of torque.
“Electric boosting would be necessary for any smaller motor, even if it’s turbocharged,” said Peter Hollerweger, head of Quattro GmbH. “The problem with electric boosting is that this type of battery is much heavier and the weight disadvantage of the battery has to be countered by the performance gain,” he added.
While it may sound feasible to some, we just do not see Lamborghini agreeing to such motion. And not to forget, Audi is not fond of smaller engines either as the weak demand for the V8 engine for the previous version is the reason why you do not see a V8 offered on the new R8.
