The Lamborghini Huracán Evo is actually proof of intelligent design

• Even supercars get midlife refreshes. This is the $261,000 Lamborghini Huracán Evo. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but automakers usually reserve the "evo" badge for cars that are a little bit special. Already-fast race cars like the Peugeot 905 and Porsche 919 Hybrid turned into Evos that went even faster. The BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz 190E Evos brought some of the German touring car paddock to parking lots at law firms and trading desks at the end of the 1980s. Mitsubishi had an entire series of Evos, more famous now from starring in Gran Turismo than for years of rallying success. And this sentiment more than likely holds true of the Huracán Evo, the latest iteration of Lamborghini's V10 supercar.

I'll need more time behind the wheel to be more definitive, for this analysis is based on just a few laps at Willow Springs, a high-speed, old school race track not too far from Edwards Air Force Base. But if my first impression is correct, the Huracán Evo is one of those cars that flatters the person behind the wheel regardless of their talent. It is, however, completely misnamed.

Evo is short for evolution, obviously. But this supercar didn't evolve; it's proof of intelligent design. For one thing, a naturally aspirated V10 engine is becoming less and less fit for surviving CO₂ per mile regulations, at least without some kind of hybridization. For another, there was intent behind the changes it sports over previous Huracáns. This is not the product of a random and uncaring universe, it's a tool for those with means to use it for a specific end. In this case, a machine you step out of with a bigger grin and more effervescence than you had when you got in.