Aventador [Official] Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
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The Lamborghini Aventador is a mid-engine, two-seater sports car manufactured by Lamborghini. Predecessor: Lamborghini Murciélago. Successor: Lamborghini Revuelto. Production: 2011-2022.
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Me too. It's like a Tomahawk Missile on wheels but cheaper.
bombardier01
Diesel Dynamiker
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Lamborghini Aventador getting dynamic at Vallelunga circuit [video assault]
HighestOfHigh
Cornering Kingpin
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First Drive: 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
In yet another happy chapter of our lives, we've been among the first to hop in the year's most hotly anticipated exotic, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4. After the super sport's debut at this year's Geneva Motor Show in March, plus some previous prototype drives while still in camouflage, all that remained was the tell-all day behind its wheel on a hot circuit. We survived. And the seat of our pants is permanently creased by the Aventador's electrifying, world-conquering performance.
It's about time that Lamborghini put its V12 model front-and-center again, and this is what the four-year development of the Aventador has been all about. Only at the very start of its life did the Murciélago ever garner this type of attention. Once its Gallardo V10 sibling was launched, the poor old Murc didn't take it so well and lived deep in the shadows of Lambo's popstar "people's car." We'll get some more civilian road time in the Aventador this summer, but on the aggressive track of Vallelunga outside of Rome, the 691-horsepower brute with 509 pound-feet of torque at the ready couldn't get enough of our animal instincts. It devours a track like a bull that eats red meat. It's fantastically disturbing. Most impressive right off the bat is – as we've experienced with the occasional twelve-cylinder Ferrari – exactly how malleable this track terror is on a normal day in Strada mode (i.e. Street), yet in the next instant it can hammer out a record lap in Corsa mode (Race).
Initial acceleration figures to 62 mph put the LP700-4 at 2.9 seconds.In between these two extremes, there's the Sport setup that puts the throttle, innovative seven-speed "Independent Shifting Rods" automated manual transmission, steering feel and the stability control, all in just the right mood for carving up your favorite piece of tarmac. The race-ready inboard Ohlins pushrod dampers inspired by open-wheel Formula cars are not multi-mode adaptive, but we're dealing with a full-time aggressive 217-mph car, so let's be honest: The simpler the better, and the settings Lambo has chosen feel right over most any surface. It's always healthy to keep in mind that the company wants to sell 750 of these per annum, not take on the BMW 7 Series for all-around livability and market dominance. They also want the Aventador to be race-ready for privateers who want to conquer the GT1 class at Le Mans. Initial acceleration figures to 62 mph put the LP700-4 at 2.9 seconds. That's getting a touch into Bugatti Veyron territory and matches the latest Porsche 911 Turbo S and McLaren MP4-12C. Once the twisties start, the big muzzer Lambo (which is nearly 200 pounds lighter than the Murc at 3,472 pounds dry) shows its substance, and the handling provided by the latest-generation electronically active Haldex IV all-wheel drive versus the Murc's viscous/passive system is well beyond anything the latter was ever capable of at its limits. This was made clear all day long at Vallelunga, a collection of tough corners that takes some learning.
This dynamic improvement is helped greatly by the fact that the 518-pound (down 40 pounds from its predecessor) 6.5-liter V12 engine in back – dubbed "L539" – sits some 2.9-inches lower down in the chassis than the Murcièlago's 632-hp 6.5-liter. Couple this with the pushrod suspension's stellar handling characteristics, and this big V12 stays almost as level in tight curves as the featherweight McLaren MP4-12C. The engine cradle is simply placed lower and the dry-sump pan and engine block lose much of this height. Just like the Aventador itself, the V12 engine is essentially completely new. Bore is up and stroke is down – 88mm x 89mm (3.47in x 3.50in) – which is exactly what R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani wants for all Lamborghinis. "I love the sound and, above all, the throttle and torque response that is always possible in a short-stroke engine, even in a higher gear," he tells us. "This is a 100-percent Lamborghini-developed car."But why no direct injection for added fuel economy and the well-advertised aid it gives to performance? One reason is sheer packaging. Developing Gallardo V10 FSI-style direct injection (thank you, Audi and Volkswagen Group) would have added back on engine height that the crucial Aventador packaging couldn't quite accommodate. Also, with FSI direct injection, an additional particulate filtering system is required downstream, a change that would've added back some of the weight that Lamborghini was determined to shed. As a result of the Aventador's drastic weight-loss program, fuel consumption, exhaust emissions and performance numbers are right near what they might have been had direct fuel injection been baked-in from the start.
There's also a personal aspect to Aventador development; Lamborghini wants to avoid all Gallardo-style skepticism regarding too much involvement from Ingolstadt. "This is a 100-percent Lamborghini-developed car," says president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann. Had Lamborghini done the cost-effective thing and used a latest-version dual-clutch Audi transmission and the FSI direct injection, for instance, then the entire massive wiring harness for the car's systems would have been all-Audi as well, as they are on Gallardo. Lamborghini and, after long persuasion, Audi, did not want this. We salute them both for their purity of purpose and foresight. Stopping forward thrust with the standard 15.8-inch front ceramic discs with six-piston calipers (15.0-inch with four pistons in back) is a negative-G experience that should be had by everyone at least once in their lifetime. As a sidebar to this late-braking joy, a company spokesperson admits that the standard Pirelli P Zero tires must be replaced at least once every 15,000 miles with just normal road use – about once every eighteen months for the average buyer. The P Zero Corsa tires on our track testers – 255/35 ZR19 (96Y) front, 335/30 ZR20 (104Y) rear – are optional units, wear much more quickly, and won't be available until June of 2012, around the time of the Aventador Spyder ramp-up. These stickier track tires would last maybe two days under the type of constant stress we're inflicting here. Lamborghini has brought along a yellow Pirelli tractor-trailer rig filled with P Zero Corsa sets, in fact. Yum.
The ISR seven-speed gearbox, also a Lamborghini patent and industry first, is an incredibly flexible and robust unit. It's roughly the size of a standard manual gearbox and weighs 154 pounds – half that of a dual-clutch gearbox. A fine starting point. Set in Strada or Sport, the electro-hydraulically actuated shifts up or down via four independent shift rods are smooth enough, with the behavior in Corsa practically requiring shifts at the very highest revs. At times, we found ourselves playing with short-shifts around 6,000 revs while accelerating in second or third gear, and the effect is not unlike someone punching the back of the carbon-fiber shell seat. Pretty pounding stuff, and it forces a driver to augment his own skills a bit. Do so on a closed circuit only, please. While we weren't allowed to lap the car with the electronic stability program totally switched off, the Aventador's habits in Corsa mode create a healthily rear-biased experience that can slip its tail out nicely on command. For the throughly entertaining Launch Control, however, we were allowed to nix the ESP and have at. The throttle sticks at 4,200 rpm, your left foot slips off the brake and you're gone before you take another breath. With the all-wheel traction there's definitely less drama to it than on, say, any AMG or the Ferrari 599 GTO, but the pick-up in speed is noticeably quicker as we're pressed hard into the leather seats while the tires get down to the business of hooking up. At 4,000 rpm, the exhaust bypass opens to stay for the rest of the rev range and the sound from the 15.8-inch-wide mouth is always a rush. Under these circumstances, the ISR gearing shifts itself right at the 8,250-rpm max and does so with authority via 50-millisecond shifts. (Formula One cars generally shift in 40 milliseconds.) The ISR is one tough cookie, and we like its adaptability in this Aventador-style application versus any dual-clutch 'box or the widely used single-clutch Graziano setup sans torque converter. On a lesser car, we'd have to wait and see if it would be too abrupt and authoritative, but it fits the character of the big bull.
What do you think of the very Reventón/Estoque/Sesto Elemento exterior? These aesthetic issues are so subjective, especially when we're talking about one of the world's greatest exoticar builders. When we first set eyes on this new Arancio Argos hue, we were captivated. We were also doubtful whether or not a 6.5-liter V12 could even fit amidships with this stunning profile. The front and rear looks taken alone are plenty gorgeous, too. The two moving aerodynamic parts – the automated rear upper pillar intakes for engine cooling as well as the 68-by-eight-inch automated rear wing – are incorporated much better in this new design by Filippo Perini, head of Lamborghini Centro Stile. The eye-catching 22-by-10-inch side intakes for oil and water cooling also hit us the right way the longer we look at them. Rumors tell of the entire Volkswagen Group participating in the contest for this design and, from the five submissions, this one from Sant'Agata won out. The composite plastic and aluminum panels work together seamlessly, and these were chosen over carbon fiber mainly to dramatically contain the price of the car while maintaining roughly the same weight advantages. Carbon fiber is a much more effective investment when it comes to body-in-white crash and support structures. Lamborghini's brand-new, on-site lightweight materials facility makes the Aventador's CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) passenger cells, negating the need for labor-intensive autoclaving for hours on end. This 325-pound cell is the central element to the 506-pound body-in-white, and together they make the Aventador a full 150-percent stiffer in twisting and bending resistence versus the Murciélago chassis. Both fore and aft crash structures are bolted-on aluminum frameworks, a proven lightweight and protective combo that also makes the Lambo easier to repair if it ever gets a costly boo-boo. Sit inside, and nearly every detail in the interior is in sync with the hexagon theme everywhere else. Each button has an edge to it, but oddly, the theme doesn't feel overwrought or kitschy like it can in a Mini or even a Pagani. All controls are clear and intuitively thought out, and particular joy has been taken with the fighter-jet style start-stop button living under the "Danger Red" flap. Workmanship is top-notch and it's truly fun to explore – all-in-all, the Aventador represents a major leap forward in the cabin experience for Lamborghini.
Headroom is good up to nearly 6'5" while total baggage space is a mere 3.9 cubic feet.The digital LCD instrument panel can be modified ad infinitum, but the two chief change-ables are whether to have the center dial emphasize speed over engine revs or vice versa. The feel of the 13.8-inch small-diameter steering wheel with 2.9 turns lock-to-lock is a good grip, though we do wish the height and distance adjustments happened via electrics and not a long-reach lever under the column. We're partial to the column-fixed and noticeably larger shift paddles, but they could outright copy those massive carbon-fiber paddles on the Ferrari FF or Maserati Granturismo S and we'd be much happier still. Rear visibility is – predictably – not so great and the blind spots are a thrill. Getting in or out of the Aventador is easy for anyone six-foot, two-inches or less (after the first cranium-thumping trial run) and once inside, headroom is good up to nearly six-foot, five-inches. Total baggage space is a mere 3.9 cubic feet, so squash is looking better than golf. As always, sacrifices will be made. The traditional scissor doors on the Aventador – a must – are the lightest we can ever remember on any Lambo. The lever is on the rocker panel by the driver's outside thigh, requiring just a flick of the elegant door with an inelegant elbow. We get our 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4s exactly when the rest of the world gets theirs: this September, with a base price of $390,700, which includes America's gas-guzzling wrist-slap fee. Company bosses assure us that they have sold 18 months' worth of production already, or around 1,200 cars. We asked them point-blank how many of these were actual customer cars and they piped back, "All but the one each of our 125 dealers worldwide needs to buy to have on-hand for test drives and display purposes." So, that's nearly 1,100 legitimate sales to the world's hypercar elite. What pleases most is that the Aventador strikes us as a bold and pure romagnola Lamborghini (i.e. from the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region), one that's utterly Italian and not at all a Ferrari or Porsche or Audi wannabe in any way. This was important both for Lamborghini and its customers, and Sant'Agata has hit the bull's eye.
- 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
In yet another happy chapter of our lives, we've been among the first to hop in the year's most hotly anticipated exotic, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4. After the super sport's debut at this year's Geneva Motor Show in March, plus some previous prototype drives while still in camouflage, all that remained was the tell-all day behind its wheel on a hot circuit. We survived. And the seat of our pants is permanently creased by the Aventador's electrifying, world-conquering performance.
It's about time that Lamborghini put its V12 model front-and-center again, and this is what the four-year development of the Aventador has been all about. Only at the very start of its life did the Murciélago ever garner this type of attention. Once its Gallardo V10 sibling was launched, the poor old Murc didn't take it so well and lived deep in the shadows of Lambo's popstar "people's car." We'll get some more civilian road time in the Aventador this summer, but on the aggressive track of Vallelunga outside of Rome, the 691-horsepower brute with 509 pound-feet of torque at the ready couldn't get enough of our animal instincts. It devours a track like a bull that eats red meat. It's fantastically disturbing. Most impressive right off the bat is – as we've experienced with the occasional twelve-cylinder Ferrari – exactly how malleable this track terror is on a normal day in Strada mode (i.e. Street), yet in the next instant it can hammer out a record lap in Corsa mode (Race).
Initial acceleration figures to 62 mph put the LP700-4 at 2.9 seconds.In between these two extremes, there's the Sport setup that puts the throttle, innovative seven-speed "Independent Shifting Rods" automated manual transmission, steering feel and the stability control, all in just the right mood for carving up your favorite piece of tarmac. The race-ready inboard Ohlins pushrod dampers inspired by open-wheel Formula cars are not multi-mode adaptive, but we're dealing with a full-time aggressive 217-mph car, so let's be honest: The simpler the better, and the settings Lambo has chosen feel right over most any surface. It's always healthy to keep in mind that the company wants to sell 750 of these per annum, not take on the BMW 7 Series for all-around livability and market dominance. They also want the Aventador to be race-ready for privateers who want to conquer the GT1 class at Le Mans. Initial acceleration figures to 62 mph put the LP700-4 at 2.9 seconds. That's getting a touch into Bugatti Veyron territory and matches the latest Porsche 911 Turbo S and McLaren MP4-12C. Once the twisties start, the big muzzer Lambo (which is nearly 200 pounds lighter than the Murc at 3,472 pounds dry) shows its substance, and the handling provided by the latest-generation electronically active Haldex IV all-wheel drive versus the Murc's viscous/passive system is well beyond anything the latter was ever capable of at its limits. This was made clear all day long at Vallelunga, a collection of tough corners that takes some learning.
This dynamic improvement is helped greatly by the fact that the 518-pound (down 40 pounds from its predecessor) 6.5-liter V12 engine in back – dubbed "L539" – sits some 2.9-inches lower down in the chassis than the Murcièlago's 632-hp 6.5-liter. Couple this with the pushrod suspension's stellar handling characteristics, and this big V12 stays almost as level in tight curves as the featherweight McLaren MP4-12C. The engine cradle is simply placed lower and the dry-sump pan and engine block lose much of this height. Just like the Aventador itself, the V12 engine is essentially completely new. Bore is up and stroke is down – 88mm x 89mm (3.47in x 3.50in) – which is exactly what R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani wants for all Lamborghinis. "I love the sound and, above all, the throttle and torque response that is always possible in a short-stroke engine, even in a higher gear," he tells us. "This is a 100-percent Lamborghini-developed car."But why no direct injection for added fuel economy and the well-advertised aid it gives to performance? One reason is sheer packaging. Developing Gallardo V10 FSI-style direct injection (thank you, Audi and Volkswagen Group) would have added back on engine height that the crucial Aventador packaging couldn't quite accommodate. Also, with FSI direct injection, an additional particulate filtering system is required downstream, a change that would've added back some of the weight that Lamborghini was determined to shed. As a result of the Aventador's drastic weight-loss program, fuel consumption, exhaust emissions and performance numbers are right near what they might have been had direct fuel injection been baked-in from the start.
There's also a personal aspect to Aventador development; Lamborghini wants to avoid all Gallardo-style skepticism regarding too much involvement from Ingolstadt. "This is a 100-percent Lamborghini-developed car," says president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann. Had Lamborghini done the cost-effective thing and used a latest-version dual-clutch Audi transmission and the FSI direct injection, for instance, then the entire massive wiring harness for the car's systems would have been all-Audi as well, as they are on Gallardo. Lamborghini and, after long persuasion, Audi, did not want this. We salute them both for their purity of purpose and foresight. Stopping forward thrust with the standard 15.8-inch front ceramic discs with six-piston calipers (15.0-inch with four pistons in back) is a negative-G experience that should be had by everyone at least once in their lifetime. As a sidebar to this late-braking joy, a company spokesperson admits that the standard Pirelli P Zero tires must be replaced at least once every 15,000 miles with just normal road use – about once every eighteen months for the average buyer. The P Zero Corsa tires on our track testers – 255/35 ZR19 (96Y) front, 335/30 ZR20 (104Y) rear – are optional units, wear much more quickly, and won't be available until June of 2012, around the time of the Aventador Spyder ramp-up. These stickier track tires would last maybe two days under the type of constant stress we're inflicting here. Lamborghini has brought along a yellow Pirelli tractor-trailer rig filled with P Zero Corsa sets, in fact. Yum.
The ISR seven-speed gearbox, also a Lamborghini patent and industry first, is an incredibly flexible and robust unit. It's roughly the size of a standard manual gearbox and weighs 154 pounds – half that of a dual-clutch gearbox. A fine starting point. Set in Strada or Sport, the electro-hydraulically actuated shifts up or down via four independent shift rods are smooth enough, with the behavior in Corsa practically requiring shifts at the very highest revs. At times, we found ourselves playing with short-shifts around 6,000 revs while accelerating in second or third gear, and the effect is not unlike someone punching the back of the carbon-fiber shell seat. Pretty pounding stuff, and it forces a driver to augment his own skills a bit. Do so on a closed circuit only, please. While we weren't allowed to lap the car with the electronic stability program totally switched off, the Aventador's habits in Corsa mode create a healthily rear-biased experience that can slip its tail out nicely on command. For the throughly entertaining Launch Control, however, we were allowed to nix the ESP and have at. The throttle sticks at 4,200 rpm, your left foot slips off the brake and you're gone before you take another breath. With the all-wheel traction there's definitely less drama to it than on, say, any AMG or the Ferrari 599 GTO, but the pick-up in speed is noticeably quicker as we're pressed hard into the leather seats while the tires get down to the business of hooking up. At 4,000 rpm, the exhaust bypass opens to stay for the rest of the rev range and the sound from the 15.8-inch-wide mouth is always a rush. Under these circumstances, the ISR gearing shifts itself right at the 8,250-rpm max and does so with authority via 50-millisecond shifts. (Formula One cars generally shift in 40 milliseconds.) The ISR is one tough cookie, and we like its adaptability in this Aventador-style application versus any dual-clutch 'box or the widely used single-clutch Graziano setup sans torque converter. On a lesser car, we'd have to wait and see if it would be too abrupt and authoritative, but it fits the character of the big bull.
What do you think of the very Reventón/Estoque/Sesto Elemento exterior? These aesthetic issues are so subjective, especially when we're talking about one of the world's greatest exoticar builders. When we first set eyes on this new Arancio Argos hue, we were captivated. We were also doubtful whether or not a 6.5-liter V12 could even fit amidships with this stunning profile. The front and rear looks taken alone are plenty gorgeous, too. The two moving aerodynamic parts – the automated rear upper pillar intakes for engine cooling as well as the 68-by-eight-inch automated rear wing – are incorporated much better in this new design by Filippo Perini, head of Lamborghini Centro Stile. The eye-catching 22-by-10-inch side intakes for oil and water cooling also hit us the right way the longer we look at them. Rumors tell of the entire Volkswagen Group participating in the contest for this design and, from the five submissions, this one from Sant'Agata won out. The composite plastic and aluminum panels work together seamlessly, and these were chosen over carbon fiber mainly to dramatically contain the price of the car while maintaining roughly the same weight advantages. Carbon fiber is a much more effective investment when it comes to body-in-white crash and support structures. Lamborghini's brand-new, on-site lightweight materials facility makes the Aventador's CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) passenger cells, negating the need for labor-intensive autoclaving for hours on end. This 325-pound cell is the central element to the 506-pound body-in-white, and together they make the Aventador a full 150-percent stiffer in twisting and bending resistence versus the Murciélago chassis. Both fore and aft crash structures are bolted-on aluminum frameworks, a proven lightweight and protective combo that also makes the Lambo easier to repair if it ever gets a costly boo-boo. Sit inside, and nearly every detail in the interior is in sync with the hexagon theme everywhere else. Each button has an edge to it, but oddly, the theme doesn't feel overwrought or kitschy like it can in a Mini or even a Pagani. All controls are clear and intuitively thought out, and particular joy has been taken with the fighter-jet style start-stop button living under the "Danger Red" flap. Workmanship is top-notch and it's truly fun to explore – all-in-all, the Aventador represents a major leap forward in the cabin experience for Lamborghini.
Headroom is good up to nearly 6'5" while total baggage space is a mere 3.9 cubic feet.The digital LCD instrument panel can be modified ad infinitum, but the two chief change-ables are whether to have the center dial emphasize speed over engine revs or vice versa. The feel of the 13.8-inch small-diameter steering wheel with 2.9 turns lock-to-lock is a good grip, though we do wish the height and distance adjustments happened via electrics and not a long-reach lever under the column. We're partial to the column-fixed and noticeably larger shift paddles, but they could outright copy those massive carbon-fiber paddles on the Ferrari FF or Maserati Granturismo S and we'd be much happier still. Rear visibility is – predictably – not so great and the blind spots are a thrill. Getting in or out of the Aventador is easy for anyone six-foot, two-inches or less (after the first cranium-thumping trial run) and once inside, headroom is good up to nearly six-foot, five-inches. Total baggage space is a mere 3.9 cubic feet, so squash is looking better than golf. As always, sacrifices will be made. The traditional scissor doors on the Aventador – a must – are the lightest we can ever remember on any Lambo. The lever is on the rocker panel by the driver's outside thigh, requiring just a flick of the elegant door with an inelegant elbow. We get our 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4s exactly when the rest of the world gets theirs: this September, with a base price of $390,700, which includes America's gas-guzzling wrist-slap fee. Company bosses assure us that they have sold 18 months' worth of production already, or around 1,200 cars. We asked them point-blank how many of these were actual customer cars and they piped back, "All but the one each of our 125 dealers worldwide needs to buy to have on-hand for test drives and display purposes." So, that's nearly 1,100 legitimate sales to the world's hypercar elite. What pleases most is that the Aventador strikes us as a bold and pure romagnola Lamborghini (i.e. from the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region), one that's utterly Italian and not at all a Ferrari or Porsche or Audi wannabe in any way. This was important both for Lamborghini and its customers, and Sant'Agata has hit the bull's eye.
- 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
- Messages
- 457
A little more official data :
0-100km/h - 2,9s
0-200km/h - 8,9s
0-300km/h - 24,5s
0-400m - 10,5s
0-1000m - less than 19s
100-0km/h - 30m
Allegedly these are the first magazine test data (yet to be released) for Aventador as posted by Lambopower owner :
Test data :
0-60 in 3.01
0-100 in 6.6
1/4 mile 11.2@131
These seem rather slow. Looking forward to tests being released.
0-100km/h - 2,9s
0-200km/h - 8,9s
0-300km/h - 24,5s
0-400m - 10,5s
0-1000m - less than 19s
100-0km/h - 30m
Allegedly these are the first magazine test data (yet to be released) for Aventador as posted by Lambopower owner :
Test data :
0-60 in 3.01
0-100 in 6.6
1/4 mile 11.2@131
These seem rather slow. Looking forward to tests being released.
- Messages
- 8,624
2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 First Drive
2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 First Drive
It took one full-throttle upshift into 4th gear while tracking away from an apex to remind us that the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is a monster. The gear slams home with such authority that the ass end instantly jerks sideways a couple of feet before the Aventador can scramble the appropriate countermeasures to prevent its V12's avalanche of power from having its way with the car's carbon-fiber chassis, huge tires and the surrounding countryside.
With the Aventador, Lamborghini has an all-new range-topping supercar to replace its aging Murcielago. It's big, outlandish and powerful. In other words, it's a typical Italian supercar.
There's a new wrinkle here, though — the Aventador is a pussycat. A 690-horsepower pussycat that will tear to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.9 seconds, reach 124 mph (200 km/h) 6 seconds later and rip off 10.5-second quarter-miles.
An All-New 12-Cylinder Engine
Italian supercars and V12s go together like grappa and food comas, so naturally the Aventador (say ah-vent-ah-DOR) mounts a hand-built, normally aspirated bent-12 longitudinally between the rear wheels and the cabin. That's where the Aventador get its LP (Longitudinale Posteriore) designation.
Known internally as L539, it's a clean-sheet power unit that shares nothing with the outgoing power plant beyond its 6.5-liter displacement. Variable phasing of the intake and exhaust cams facilitates a compression ratio of 11.8:1, quite high for an engine that doesn't use direct injection (DI). Engineers say DI was ruled out due to upcoming European regulations for particulate emissions, which would have required a particulate filter and an associated penalty in exhaust backpressure. Besides, the performance targets were met without DI, so why bother?
L539 is a deceptively conventional engine elsewhere, too, with forged steel connecting rods instead of the titanium that's all the rage and steel sleeves in lieu of whatever unicorn tears are sprayed onto the cylinder walls of other modern engines. However, it's hard to argue with the results.
Its numbers are staggering — peak power of 690 hp is reached at 8,250 rpm and its maximum 509 pound-feet of torque arrives at 5,500 rpm. Dry-sumped, short-stroke 12-cylinder layouts lend themselves to high revs and breathing — 48 valves provide an enormous valve curtain area, and each piston and rod can be relatively puny, reducing reciprocating forces in the bottom end.
Despite its absurd power, the engine is said to weigh just 518 pounds and stands nearly 3 inches lower than the old V12 to keep the center of gravity in check.
Sharp and tractable at low revs, yet devastatingly powerful, it's a gem of an engine. The combination of its flat, broad torque curve and terrific reach results in velocity that piles on deceptively quickly. The lazy sound of the engine, too, is tricky. Three-thousand rpm sounds like idle, and the 8,500-rpm redline — which comes up in a hurry — is devoid of aural urgency: a tenor wail with a dash of flat-6 drone. As a result you find yourself traveling much faster than you expect when it comes time to visit the carbon-ceramic brake department, which, fortunately, offers ample fade resistance.
New Seven-Speed Gearbox and AWD System
Appropriately, the new engine is mated to a new transmission and all-wheel-drive system. The transaxle houses a new single-clutch seven-speed automated manual gearbox and a Haldex IV clutch pack that replaces the viscous coupling center differential of the Murcielago.
At 265 pounds, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador's single-clutch gearbox — called ISR or Independent Shifting Rod — is said to be lighter than a twin-clutch unit while offering gearchange speeds as quick as 50 milliseconds. The upshot is that ISR can simultaneously disengage one gear while engaging the next, shaving precious time. The smaller Gallardo's e-gear transmission takes more than twice as long between shifts (120 ms).
The Haldex unit manipulates clutch pressure in order to actively adjust how much torque is sent to the front differential, which is of the brake-locking variety. Sprouting from the passenger side of the transaxle is a power takeoff that drives a mechanical rear limited-slip differential.
Carbon-Fiber Bones
The Aventador's carbon-fiber-intensive construction is far more sophisticated than the outgoing car's welded-steel chassis, and signals the path of Lamborghini's future.
Produced in Lamborghini's Sant'Agata factory, the car starts life as huge spools of carbon-fiber cloth in a temperature-controlled room. The cloth is cut into pieces by a CNC-guided ultrasonic knife and then hand-laid into carbon-fiber molds before being sent to really expensive ovens known as autoclaves for curing. All this forms the basis of the Aventador's tub and roof sections.
Other pieces are molded into place until the two halves of this clamshell are fused together, forming a single rigid central monocoque to which aluminum subframes are bolted front and rear.
The carbon-fiber monocoque imparts tremendously high rigidity to the chassis while slicing weight. The car's torsional stiffness as measured between the axles is 25,800 lb-ft per degree of twist, some 150 percent higher than the Murcielago. At 506 pounds together with subframes, the entire body in white is 30 percent lighter than the outgoing car.
On the curb, the Aventador's 3,472 pounds means it isn't quite a flyweight, but at least it bucks the usual trend of model bloat. And the masses are centrally located, so when you point the Aventador toward an apex it turns in right now, like a shark missile-locking onto a meal.
Taming the Beast
All of this newfound powertrain sophistication is intended to exploit the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador's ridiculous power in a controlled fashion. Three driving modes — Stradale, Sport and Corsa — govern just how stupid you can be, progressively loosening the leash of allowable slip angle, reducing understeer and adding heft to the steering. Likewise, gearchange firmness varies from gentle in Stradale to the where's-the-ibuprofen brutality of Corsa.
On the Vallelunga race circuit situated just outside of Rome, we stretched the Aventador's legs. Lamborghini forbade anyone from driving with the stability control switched fully off, a hedge against the expensive consequences of handing a 700-hp car to overconfident, jet-lagged journalists.
The steering is linear and weighted well, if a shade mute as if a consequence of the wizardry that's keeping this car on the straight and narrow. Exploring the Aventador's limits is a cinch, and the very wide car seems to shrink at speed, feeling sharper the faster you go. This is a beast with manners. Pour on the power at corner exit and the Aventador digs in and pins you into the seat, absolutely clawing itself out in a way that would be impossible with just two driven wheels.
Even in Corsa mode, the Aventador is foolproof. Though this mode does permit a degree or two of power oversteer, the car remains forgiving and approachable even at full whack. Its handling balance is nose-led at low speed and you can feel the brake differential and all-wheel-drive system subtly working to maintain the car's composure when you enter a turn at speed. In this regard it makes lesser drivers look like heroes, though skilled users will be looking for the "ESP Off" button for a more absorbing drive.
Damper force of the bell-crank-actuated Ohlins shocks is fixed. Apparently Lamborghini reckons there's just one level of damping required — the correct one. We didn't drive the Aventador on the street, but it absorbs the lumpy FIA curbing without flinching, yet stays flat in corners, so that bodes well. Also, the Aventadors we drove were all equipped with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, sticky street-legal R-compound jobs that will be offered as an option. Don't expect to get a lot of life out of them.
A Feast for the Eyes
The Aventador is unmistakably a Lamborghini. Its scissor doors, the massively imposing rear end and the single plane formed by the hood and windshield all point to a supercar descended from the Countach.
Brutal rather than beautiful, it nevertheless has some organic flourishes like a roof line that makes it look like a reptile emerging from a pile of jagged boulders. Two panels on either side of the engine bay pivot open at speed like the exoskeleton of a beetle, feeding air to the transmission and oil coolers. When this happens as the rear wing rises from the bodywork, the Aventador looks eerily alive.
Its cabin looks contemporary and is usefully roomy, sporting an impossibly deep cowl and minimal brightwork. Headroom is decent, though the top of the windshield is a bit low for tall drivers, who will also learn to duck lower as they swivel into the cabin to avoid a lump on the head.
An easy downward tug of the handle and the door swings shut with a whump. A manual release lets you bring the steering wheel right to your chest if you like (and we do). The seats are supportive without relying on overly intrusive bolsters. In fact, they work so well that we didn't even think about them as we blasted around the Vallelunga circuit, which tells you all you need to know.
All the bodywork's hexagons and trapezoidal elements are reprised inside, all the way down to the buttons on the center stack and the paneling of the seat cushions. It's a bit much, especially the silly swing-up cover over the engine start button, which is also hexagonal. Then again, supercars are all about theatre and occasion, and the Aventador delivers.
One neat feature is the switchable LCD display in the instrument cluster. Hold down the button on the wiper stalk for 3 seconds to switch from a giant tachometer and digital speed display to the opposite: a pie-size speedometer and numerical tach.
Still a Supercar
The 2012 Lamborghini Aventador is truly a user-friendly supercar, which some might consider an oxymoron. As long as you make sure the steering wheel is more or less pointed straight when you command an upshift, the Aventador is docile and its vast performance easily accessible. Perhaps a bit too easy, as you can give it a thrashing, reach insane speeds and then spring out of the cockpit as fresh as ever. This, then, is a new-school supercar.
Accessible performance, however, is one thing. Actually getting your hands on one is quite another. The Aventador will sticker for $379,700 including destination when it reaches U.S. shores in late summer. But even money can't buy you time, as the first 18 months of Aventador production are already spoken for.
2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 First Drive
It took one full-throttle upshift into 4th gear while tracking away from an apex to remind us that the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is a monster. The gear slams home with such authority that the ass end instantly jerks sideways a couple of feet before the Aventador can scramble the appropriate countermeasures to prevent its V12's avalanche of power from having its way with the car's carbon-fiber chassis, huge tires and the surrounding countryside.
With the Aventador, Lamborghini has an all-new range-topping supercar to replace its aging Murcielago. It's big, outlandish and powerful. In other words, it's a typical Italian supercar.
There's a new wrinkle here, though — the Aventador is a pussycat. A 690-horsepower pussycat that will tear to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.9 seconds, reach 124 mph (200 km/h) 6 seconds later and rip off 10.5-second quarter-miles.
An All-New 12-Cylinder Engine
Italian supercars and V12s go together like grappa and food comas, so naturally the Aventador (say ah-vent-ah-DOR) mounts a hand-built, normally aspirated bent-12 longitudinally between the rear wheels and the cabin. That's where the Aventador get its LP (Longitudinale Posteriore) designation.
Known internally as L539, it's a clean-sheet power unit that shares nothing with the outgoing power plant beyond its 6.5-liter displacement. Variable phasing of the intake and exhaust cams facilitates a compression ratio of 11.8:1, quite high for an engine that doesn't use direct injection (DI). Engineers say DI was ruled out due to upcoming European regulations for particulate emissions, which would have required a particulate filter and an associated penalty in exhaust backpressure. Besides, the performance targets were met without DI, so why bother?
L539 is a deceptively conventional engine elsewhere, too, with forged steel connecting rods instead of the titanium that's all the rage and steel sleeves in lieu of whatever unicorn tears are sprayed onto the cylinder walls of other modern engines. However, it's hard to argue with the results.
Its numbers are staggering — peak power of 690 hp is reached at 8,250 rpm and its maximum 509 pound-feet of torque arrives at 5,500 rpm. Dry-sumped, short-stroke 12-cylinder layouts lend themselves to high revs and breathing — 48 valves provide an enormous valve curtain area, and each piston and rod can be relatively puny, reducing reciprocating forces in the bottom end.
Despite its absurd power, the engine is said to weigh just 518 pounds and stands nearly 3 inches lower than the old V12 to keep the center of gravity in check.
Sharp and tractable at low revs, yet devastatingly powerful, it's a gem of an engine. The combination of its flat, broad torque curve and terrific reach results in velocity that piles on deceptively quickly. The lazy sound of the engine, too, is tricky. Three-thousand rpm sounds like idle, and the 8,500-rpm redline — which comes up in a hurry — is devoid of aural urgency: a tenor wail with a dash of flat-6 drone. As a result you find yourself traveling much faster than you expect when it comes time to visit the carbon-ceramic brake department, which, fortunately, offers ample fade resistance.
New Seven-Speed Gearbox and AWD System
Appropriately, the new engine is mated to a new transmission and all-wheel-drive system. The transaxle houses a new single-clutch seven-speed automated manual gearbox and a Haldex IV clutch pack that replaces the viscous coupling center differential of the Murcielago.
At 265 pounds, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador's single-clutch gearbox — called ISR or Independent Shifting Rod — is said to be lighter than a twin-clutch unit while offering gearchange speeds as quick as 50 milliseconds. The upshot is that ISR can simultaneously disengage one gear while engaging the next, shaving precious time. The smaller Gallardo's e-gear transmission takes more than twice as long between shifts (120 ms).
The Haldex unit manipulates clutch pressure in order to actively adjust how much torque is sent to the front differential, which is of the brake-locking variety. Sprouting from the passenger side of the transaxle is a power takeoff that drives a mechanical rear limited-slip differential.
Carbon-Fiber Bones
The Aventador's carbon-fiber-intensive construction is far more sophisticated than the outgoing car's welded-steel chassis, and signals the path of Lamborghini's future.
Produced in Lamborghini's Sant'Agata factory, the car starts life as huge spools of carbon-fiber cloth in a temperature-controlled room. The cloth is cut into pieces by a CNC-guided ultrasonic knife and then hand-laid into carbon-fiber molds before being sent to really expensive ovens known as autoclaves for curing. All this forms the basis of the Aventador's tub and roof sections.
Other pieces are molded into place until the two halves of this clamshell are fused together, forming a single rigid central monocoque to which aluminum subframes are bolted front and rear.
The carbon-fiber monocoque imparts tremendously high rigidity to the chassis while slicing weight. The car's torsional stiffness as measured between the axles is 25,800 lb-ft per degree of twist, some 150 percent higher than the Murcielago. At 506 pounds together with subframes, the entire body in white is 30 percent lighter than the outgoing car.
On the curb, the Aventador's 3,472 pounds means it isn't quite a flyweight, but at least it bucks the usual trend of model bloat. And the masses are centrally located, so when you point the Aventador toward an apex it turns in right now, like a shark missile-locking onto a meal.
Taming the Beast
All of this newfound powertrain sophistication is intended to exploit the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador's ridiculous power in a controlled fashion. Three driving modes — Stradale, Sport and Corsa — govern just how stupid you can be, progressively loosening the leash of allowable slip angle, reducing understeer and adding heft to the steering. Likewise, gearchange firmness varies from gentle in Stradale to the where's-the-ibuprofen brutality of Corsa.
On the Vallelunga race circuit situated just outside of Rome, we stretched the Aventador's legs. Lamborghini forbade anyone from driving with the stability control switched fully off, a hedge against the expensive consequences of handing a 700-hp car to overconfident, jet-lagged journalists.
The steering is linear and weighted well, if a shade mute as if a consequence of the wizardry that's keeping this car on the straight and narrow. Exploring the Aventador's limits is a cinch, and the very wide car seems to shrink at speed, feeling sharper the faster you go. This is a beast with manners. Pour on the power at corner exit and the Aventador digs in and pins you into the seat, absolutely clawing itself out in a way that would be impossible with just two driven wheels.
Even in Corsa mode, the Aventador is foolproof. Though this mode does permit a degree or two of power oversteer, the car remains forgiving and approachable even at full whack. Its handling balance is nose-led at low speed and you can feel the brake differential and all-wheel-drive system subtly working to maintain the car's composure when you enter a turn at speed. In this regard it makes lesser drivers look like heroes, though skilled users will be looking for the "ESP Off" button for a more absorbing drive.
Damper force of the bell-crank-actuated Ohlins shocks is fixed. Apparently Lamborghini reckons there's just one level of damping required — the correct one. We didn't drive the Aventador on the street, but it absorbs the lumpy FIA curbing without flinching, yet stays flat in corners, so that bodes well. Also, the Aventadors we drove were all equipped with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, sticky street-legal R-compound jobs that will be offered as an option. Don't expect to get a lot of life out of them.
A Feast for the Eyes
The Aventador is unmistakably a Lamborghini. Its scissor doors, the massively imposing rear end and the single plane formed by the hood and windshield all point to a supercar descended from the Countach.
Brutal rather than beautiful, it nevertheless has some organic flourishes like a roof line that makes it look like a reptile emerging from a pile of jagged boulders. Two panels on either side of the engine bay pivot open at speed like the exoskeleton of a beetle, feeding air to the transmission and oil coolers. When this happens as the rear wing rises from the bodywork, the Aventador looks eerily alive.
Its cabin looks contemporary and is usefully roomy, sporting an impossibly deep cowl and minimal brightwork. Headroom is decent, though the top of the windshield is a bit low for tall drivers, who will also learn to duck lower as they swivel into the cabin to avoid a lump on the head.
An easy downward tug of the handle and the door swings shut with a whump. A manual release lets you bring the steering wheel right to your chest if you like (and we do). The seats are supportive without relying on overly intrusive bolsters. In fact, they work so well that we didn't even think about them as we blasted around the Vallelunga circuit, which tells you all you need to know.
All the bodywork's hexagons and trapezoidal elements are reprised inside, all the way down to the buttons on the center stack and the paneling of the seat cushions. It's a bit much, especially the silly swing-up cover over the engine start button, which is also hexagonal. Then again, supercars are all about theatre and occasion, and the Aventador delivers.
One neat feature is the switchable LCD display in the instrument cluster. Hold down the button on the wiper stalk for 3 seconds to switch from a giant tachometer and digital speed display to the opposite: a pie-size speedometer and numerical tach.
Still a Supercar
The 2012 Lamborghini Aventador is truly a user-friendly supercar, which some might consider an oxymoron. As long as you make sure the steering wheel is more or less pointed straight when you command an upshift, the Aventador is docile and its vast performance easily accessible. Perhaps a bit too easy, as you can give it a thrashing, reach insane speeds and then spring out of the cockpit as fresh as ever. This, then, is a new-school supercar.
Accessible performance, however, is one thing. Actually getting your hands on one is quite another. The Aventador will sticker for $379,700 including destination when it reaches U.S. shores in late summer. But even money can't buy you time, as the first 18 months of Aventador production are already spoken for.
- Messages
- 19,817
- Name
- Martin
Gotta love Sutters. He's terrific. He and Chris Harris have to be the two best performance motoring journalists around in my opinion.
As for the Aventador - maaaan, what a sensational looking, driving and sounding car. My only disappointment is that the much-punted ISR gearbox has not lived up to the hype.
As for the Aventador - maaaan, what a sensational looking, driving and sounding car. My only disappointment is that the much-punted ISR gearbox has not lived up to the hype.
- Messages
- 8,624
2011 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 First Drive
2011 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 - First Drive Review
If you happened to be in Rome at the end of April, you might have been planning to hear Pope Benedict XVI deliver his traditional Easter blessing. Finding yourself in a parade of Italian supercars guided by mayor Gianni Alemanno might have been unexpected for foreigners, but is little surprise in Italy. Here, the people are as proud of their sports-car tradition as they are to be home to the Pope. No wonder, then, that Lamborghini chose Rome, the Holy City, as the site of the first drives of its new Aventador LP700-4.
Ducking through a scissor door and beneath the low roof—the Aventador is only 44.7 inches tall—we wedge ourselves into the narrow racing seat. It feels like we’re sitting barely one inch off the pavement as we reach up to pull the door closed. The pedals and steering wheel are perfectly positioned, without any of the uncomfortable offset of the Murciélago’s, which skewed to the right to make room for that monstrous left-front tire. The rest of the interior is a radical break with Lamborghini tradition, a mix of fighter-jet cockpit and video-game fantasy. The instrument panel is a thin-film transistor (TFT) display packed with information and offering the choice of either a speedo or tach as the main dial. We won’t complain about the limited visibility to the sides and back; this is a Lamborghini, not a VW Golf.
Lambo’s Personal-Use Volcano
Safeguarded by a red cover, the starter button awaits. With a satanic rumble, the 6.5-liter V-12 behind us erupts, seemingly with the first crank of the starter. In all it does, the Aventador’s new V-12 is a remarkably responsive engine—with just the slightest tap of the throttle, revs rise and fall with F1 quickness. Switch it off, and the suddenness of the silence is disorienting. Even if the displacement is the same, this is not the Murciélago engine. Indeed, Lamborghini increased the bore by seven millimeters while shortening stroke by 12.6, which could allow this engine to rev even higher than the 8500-rpm redline of the Murci mill. (Read our in-depth look at the Aventador’s engine here.) Peak output is 691 hp at 8250 rpm and 509 lb-ft of torque at 5500, increases of 59 hp and 22 lb-ft over the Murciélago’s V-12. Smoother, but still with plenty of bark, it’s lighter and mounted lower in an aluminum frame connected to the carbon-fiber monocoque.
Surprisingly, Lambo’s new engine is not direct injected. The Italian excuse is that it already is 20 percent more efficient than its predecessor, although we’re expecting EPA ratings of 10 mpg in the city and 14 on the highway, only 1 mpg better than the Murciélago in the city and the same for long hauls. Of course, summoning all 691 hp will push that figure deep into single-digit range.
Pulling the paddle on the right shifts the car into first. The single-clutch, seven-speed automated Graziano gearbox is lighter and more compact than a dual-clutch unit, which helped Lamborghini meet its 3472-pound (dry) weight target for the Aventador. (Sadly, there will be no manual transmission offered.) With all fluids aboard, the Aventador should come in somewhere between 3700 and 3800 pounds, a few hundred pounds lighter than the Murciélago. Like many modern sports cars, the Aventador’s top gear exists to maximize fuel economy during high-speed cruising; the car actually reaches its 217-mph top speed in sixth.
3. . . 2. . . 1. . .
You’ll want to take a moment—and a few deep breaths—before flooring the throttle. The driver hardly has time to gasp before the Aventador hits 60 mph, which we estimate will take only 2.8 seconds. The 100-mph mark should pass in around 6.5 seconds and the quarter-mile will take less than 11. The rate of acceleration hardly seems to slow below 200 mph, and thanks to the hyperquick gear changes, there is zero perceptible lull during upshifts. The Aventador is equipped with a high-end audio system, but we prefer to listen to the conversation between our right foot and the engine. The V-12 makes a powerful low-frequency roar at lower engine speeds, which becomes a thunderstorm over 3500 rpm. Stay on the throttle and, beyond 5000 rpm, the Lambo V-12 sounds like the apocalypse.
The higher the speed, the more torque the car apportions to the Haldex clutch at the front wheels. This is said to help stabilize the front end at speed. It certainly contributes to incredible stability in hard cornering. Damping and steering response can be sharpened with the (Audi-esque) “Drive Select” button on the center console, which offers three choices: Strada, Sport, and Corsa—Road, Sport (surprise!), and Track. Even with stability control on, the sharp Corsa mode allows some oversteer before intervening.
The car delivers up to 60 percent of the engine’s torque to the front end, a transition the driver will note is accompanied by the sensation of the front end getting lighter and a loss of steering feel. Compared to the Murciélago, the steering requires a little less effort, but is more precise. The driver does notice some nervous feedback through the wheel, but that’s to be expected in a car with steering this quick and tight.
Whatchoo Doin’ Tonight, Baby?
It’s a razor-sharp jet-fighter on wheels, but more important, the Lamborghini Aventador is one of very few truly raunchy automobiles. With its aggressive engine note and aerospace styling, it is completely different from the more sophisticated—and equally new—Ferrari FF. Lamborghini will build 500 units a year, and 750 have already been sold worldwide. In the U.S., it’ll take at least $381,700 to put an Aventador in your stable. That’s a small price to pay for a genuine piece of Italian national identity—Vatican pomp, eccentric politicians, and all.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
BASE PRICE: $381,700
ENGINE TYPE: 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 397 cu in, 6498 cc
Power (SAE net): 691 hp @ 8250 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 509 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 7-speed single-clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 106.3 in Length: 188.2 in
Width: 79.9 in Height: 44.7 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3750 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 2.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 6.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 10.8 sec
Top speed: 217 mph
PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 10/14 mpg
2011 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 - First Drive Review
If you happened to be in Rome at the end of April, you might have been planning to hear Pope Benedict XVI deliver his traditional Easter blessing. Finding yourself in a parade of Italian supercars guided by mayor Gianni Alemanno might have been unexpected for foreigners, but is little surprise in Italy. Here, the people are as proud of their sports-car tradition as they are to be home to the Pope. No wonder, then, that Lamborghini chose Rome, the Holy City, as the site of the first drives of its new Aventador LP700-4.
Ducking through a scissor door and beneath the low roof—the Aventador is only 44.7 inches tall—we wedge ourselves into the narrow racing seat. It feels like we’re sitting barely one inch off the pavement as we reach up to pull the door closed. The pedals and steering wheel are perfectly positioned, without any of the uncomfortable offset of the Murciélago’s, which skewed to the right to make room for that monstrous left-front tire. The rest of the interior is a radical break with Lamborghini tradition, a mix of fighter-jet cockpit and video-game fantasy. The instrument panel is a thin-film transistor (TFT) display packed with information and offering the choice of either a speedo or tach as the main dial. We won’t complain about the limited visibility to the sides and back; this is a Lamborghini, not a VW Golf.
Lambo’s Personal-Use Volcano
Safeguarded by a red cover, the starter button awaits. With a satanic rumble, the 6.5-liter V-12 behind us erupts, seemingly with the first crank of the starter. In all it does, the Aventador’s new V-12 is a remarkably responsive engine—with just the slightest tap of the throttle, revs rise and fall with F1 quickness. Switch it off, and the suddenness of the silence is disorienting. Even if the displacement is the same, this is not the Murciélago engine. Indeed, Lamborghini increased the bore by seven millimeters while shortening stroke by 12.6, which could allow this engine to rev even higher than the 8500-rpm redline of the Murci mill. (Read our in-depth look at the Aventador’s engine here.) Peak output is 691 hp at 8250 rpm and 509 lb-ft of torque at 5500, increases of 59 hp and 22 lb-ft over the Murciélago’s V-12. Smoother, but still with plenty of bark, it’s lighter and mounted lower in an aluminum frame connected to the carbon-fiber monocoque.
Surprisingly, Lambo’s new engine is not direct injected. The Italian excuse is that it already is 20 percent more efficient than its predecessor, although we’re expecting EPA ratings of 10 mpg in the city and 14 on the highway, only 1 mpg better than the Murciélago in the city and the same for long hauls. Of course, summoning all 691 hp will push that figure deep into single-digit range.
Pulling the paddle on the right shifts the car into first. The single-clutch, seven-speed automated Graziano gearbox is lighter and more compact than a dual-clutch unit, which helped Lamborghini meet its 3472-pound (dry) weight target for the Aventador. (Sadly, there will be no manual transmission offered.) With all fluids aboard, the Aventador should come in somewhere between 3700 and 3800 pounds, a few hundred pounds lighter than the Murciélago. Like many modern sports cars, the Aventador’s top gear exists to maximize fuel economy during high-speed cruising; the car actually reaches its 217-mph top speed in sixth.
3. . . 2. . . 1. . .
You’ll want to take a moment—and a few deep breaths—before flooring the throttle. The driver hardly has time to gasp before the Aventador hits 60 mph, which we estimate will take only 2.8 seconds. The 100-mph mark should pass in around 6.5 seconds and the quarter-mile will take less than 11. The rate of acceleration hardly seems to slow below 200 mph, and thanks to the hyperquick gear changes, there is zero perceptible lull during upshifts. The Aventador is equipped with a high-end audio system, but we prefer to listen to the conversation between our right foot and the engine. The V-12 makes a powerful low-frequency roar at lower engine speeds, which becomes a thunderstorm over 3500 rpm. Stay on the throttle and, beyond 5000 rpm, the Lambo V-12 sounds like the apocalypse.
The higher the speed, the more torque the car apportions to the Haldex clutch at the front wheels. This is said to help stabilize the front end at speed. It certainly contributes to incredible stability in hard cornering. Damping and steering response can be sharpened with the (Audi-esque) “Drive Select” button on the center console, which offers three choices: Strada, Sport, and Corsa—Road, Sport (surprise!), and Track. Even with stability control on, the sharp Corsa mode allows some oversteer before intervening.
The car delivers up to 60 percent of the engine’s torque to the front end, a transition the driver will note is accompanied by the sensation of the front end getting lighter and a loss of steering feel. Compared to the Murciélago, the steering requires a little less effort, but is more precise. The driver does notice some nervous feedback through the wheel, but that’s to be expected in a car with steering this quick and tight.
Whatchoo Doin’ Tonight, Baby?
It’s a razor-sharp jet-fighter on wheels, but more important, the Lamborghini Aventador is one of very few truly raunchy automobiles. With its aggressive engine note and aerospace styling, it is completely different from the more sophisticated—and equally new—Ferrari FF. Lamborghini will build 500 units a year, and 750 have already been sold worldwide. In the U.S., it’ll take at least $381,700 to put an Aventador in your stable. That’s a small price to pay for a genuine piece of Italian national identity—Vatican pomp, eccentric politicians, and all.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
BASE PRICE: $381,700
ENGINE TYPE: 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 397 cu in, 6498 cc
Power (SAE net): 691 hp @ 8250 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 509 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 7-speed single-clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 106.3 in Length: 188.2 in
Width: 79.9 in Height: 44.7 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3750 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 2.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 6.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 10.8 sec
Top speed: 217 mph
PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 10/14 mpg
Good bye my lovely 458 Italia and Ferrari FF good bye!
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- 8,624
- Messages
- 13,230
Holy shit, those shifts are jerky - love it.
I know most here love this car for the way it looks, but what I am loving is, what is underneath. Usually it is Ferrrai that is doing all the technical heavylifting and Lambo is all just visual drama - and of course a competent mechanical package, but nothing earth shattering. Not the Aventedor, for this Lambo, beauty is not just skin deep.
Yup, I think I would pick this over the Bugeyron.
I know most here love this car for the way it looks, but what I am loving is, what is underneath. Usually it is Ferrrai that is doing all the technical heavylifting and Lambo is all just visual drama - and of course a competent mechanical package, but nothing earth shattering. Not the Aventedor, for this Lambo, beauty is not just skin deep.
Yup, I think I would pick this over the Bugeyron.
PanterroR
Lap Time Luminary
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- 21,867
Oakley Design Working on Extreme Lamborghini Aventador LP760-2
With its 700 horsepower and jaw-dropping styling, the recently launched LamborghiniAventador hardly needs a tuning job. However, that's not what the crew over at Oakley Design believe, as the UK-based aftermarket specialist recently unveiled plans for an extensively upgraded Aventador.
As the name LP760-2 indicates, Oakley Design wants to add 60 horsepower to the V12 engine's output and to trade the all-wheel-drive system for a more dramatic Diablo-reminiscent rear-wheel-drive setup. Here's how these ambitious targets will be accomplished. The power increase will come from a re-mapped ECU, larger intake pipe diameter and a titanium exhaust system that will also save over 30 kilograms. The result will be 760 horsepower and 745 Nm (550 lb-ft) of torque, a gain of almost 10 percent compared to factory engine.
In addition to boosting output, Oakley Design wants to send all those ponies exclusively to the rear wheels, for weight saving reasons and increased performance. Oakley Design estimates the removal of the front differential, drive shafts and associated front drivetrain parts will reduce kerb weight by around 85 kilograms. The tuners believe the Aventador's advanced suspension design and very stiff full carbon monocoque should be able to handle 760 horsepower with just rear-wheel-drive. Nonetheless, to improve grip, the rear wheels will be wider. The company is also working on developing several suspension upgrade alternatives with Intrax.
Oakley Design will offer extensive modifications to the car's looks as well. Along with an aero kit, the package will include carbon fiber door mirrors and engine bay covers, plus a black carbon roof.
Even though we’ve yet to see the actual vehicle, Oakley Design claims it has already sold three of the five LP760-2 supercars it plans to build.
Source: car scoop
With its 700 horsepower and jaw-dropping styling, the recently launched LamborghiniAventador hardly needs a tuning job. However, that's not what the crew over at Oakley Design believe, as the UK-based aftermarket specialist recently unveiled plans for an extensively upgraded Aventador.
As the name LP760-2 indicates, Oakley Design wants to add 60 horsepower to the V12 engine's output and to trade the all-wheel-drive system for a more dramatic Diablo-reminiscent rear-wheel-drive setup. Here's how these ambitious targets will be accomplished. The power increase will come from a re-mapped ECU, larger intake pipe diameter and a titanium exhaust system that will also save over 30 kilograms. The result will be 760 horsepower and 745 Nm (550 lb-ft) of torque, a gain of almost 10 percent compared to factory engine.
In addition to boosting output, Oakley Design wants to send all those ponies exclusively to the rear wheels, for weight saving reasons and increased performance. Oakley Design estimates the removal of the front differential, drive shafts and associated front drivetrain parts will reduce kerb weight by around 85 kilograms. The tuners believe the Aventador's advanced suspension design and very stiff full carbon monocoque should be able to handle 760 horsepower with just rear-wheel-drive. Nonetheless, to improve grip, the rear wheels will be wider. The company is also working on developing several suspension upgrade alternatives with Intrax.
Oakley Design will offer extensive modifications to the car's looks as well. Along with an aero kit, the package will include carbon fiber door mirrors and engine bay covers, plus a black carbon roof.
Even though we’ve yet to see the actual vehicle, Oakley Design claims it has already sold three of the five LP760-2 supercars it plans to build.
Source: car scoop
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Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports
cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. It was founded in 1963 by Ferruccio
Lamborghini (1916-1993) to compete with Ferrari. The company is owned by the
Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi.
Official website: Lamborghini
Official website: Lamborghini
