Lamborghini Side-by-Side Shreds the Nevada Desert

The B is for Build team took one step closer to getting their Lamborghini Huracán-turned-side-by-side ready for December’s Mint 400, getting its first 100-mph runs logged last week, and finding out the hard way that suspension setup is a tricky business.

They dragged the LS-powered, tube-frame Lamborghini, dubbed the Jumpacan, out to the desert outside Las Vegas, where Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli was waiting with some pointers and a top-notch film crew.

Over the course of a 112-degree Nevada summer day, the team learned the Jumpacan is super stable at speed across smooth lake beds, but needs some tweaking to better handle the Mint 400′s signature whoops sections. But a punctured oil filter and a crushed clutch line were just the beginning of the concerns.

As things escalated over the course of the day, a series of jumps on one side of the lake bed proved irresistible. The smaller sequence went OK, but a little too much speed over the biggest obstacle showed the dangers of getting your wheels off the ground, and the limitations of the Jumpacan’s suspension. The rig stayed on its wheels, but one team member very nearly came away with a serious injury. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

The long and the short of it is that the Jumpacan will need longer, stiffer springs, revised shock mounts, more damping, and underbody protection before the race in December. When this thing is fully fledged, though, watch out. We cannot imagine how awesome it’s going to be.