In what might be the most gloriously unnecessary driving experience since someone decided to race camels in Dubai, Lamborghini has launched something called "Esperienza Neve" in Inner Mongolia. That's Italian for "experience snow," though "experience terror while sideways in an extremely expensive car" might be more accurate. The location? Yunlong Lake in Yakeshi, where the temperature drops to -20 degrees Celsius, which is the sort of weather that makes penguins reach for their thermal underwear. And what has Lamborghini decided to do in these Arctic conditions? Why, bring their entire range of supercars and teach people how to drive them on ice, of course. The star of the show is their new Revuelto, which combines a naturally aspirated V12 with three electric motors because apparently, one form of propulsion just isn't enough anymore. It's Lamborghini's first High-Performance Electrified Vehicle, or HPEV, which sounds like something you'd catch from not wearing enough layers in Mongolia. But they haven't just brought the hybrid flagship. Oh no. Guests can also experience the Huracán Sterrato (their rally-raid supercar, which is a bit like putting climbing boots on a ballet dancer), the track-focused Huracán Tecnica, and both versions of their Urus super-SUV - the Performante and S models. The whole thing is supervised by professional Lamborghini instructors, who I imagine spend most of their time trying not to wince as million-dollar supercars perform graceful pirouettes on the frozen lake. The press release says that they had set up many "driving exercises". I take that to mean "Class 101: How not to crash at once" and "advanced techniques in explaining to your insurance company why you were driving a Lamborghini on a frozen lake in the first place." And because this is Lamborghini, they've made sure the whole experience is properly luxurious. There's gourmet dining, cultural experiences, and something called "trackside action," which I assume means watching other people discover that 700 horsepower and ice don't always mix well. They've even brought along their partner brands. There's Dinamica, who make fancy suede for the interiors, and Sonus faber, who handle the audio systems. Because apparently, when you're sliding sideways in a V12 supercar on a frozen lake in Mongolia, what you really need is high-end Italian speakers to provide the soundtrack. The whole thing is delightfully, wonderfully mad. It's exactly the sort of event that could only come from a company that thinks putting rally suspension on a supercar is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. It's also proof that while the rest of the automotive world is worrying about efficiency and environmental impact, Lamborghini is still out there thinking "you know what would be fun? Teaching people to drift our most powerful cars on ice." And on that note, I'm off to explain to my accountant why I need to go to Inner Mongolia in winter to drive Italian supercars on a frozen lake.
