MotorTrend/ Autocar: 2012 Lambo Aventador (Murcielago replacement driven)
12-06-10, 10:49 AM
#1
Speaks French in Russian
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MotorTrend/ Autocar: 2012 Lambo Aventador (Murcielago replacement driven)
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...llCars/254451/
The all-new Lamborghini Murciélago replacement won’t be launched until next March. But Lambo asked Steve Sutcliffe to join them in a secret sign-off test at Nardo in Italy. Cue a mad 210mph in the dark…
A garage door opens, writes Sutcliffe, and at that instant all conversation ceases. Before us, wearing heavy disguise that consists mostly of matt black duct tape atop four monumentally huge wheels and tyres, sits the future of Lamborghini – the very first prototype for the all-new V12 supercar that will replace the legendary Murciélago.
This is the car that will define what Lamborghini means to the rest of the world for at least the next 10 years. And it’s a car, or at least the prototype of a car, that I’ll be driving in less than half an hour’s time.
12 March 2009 1.04am
It has taken me two days of fairly grim travelling to get here – ‘here’ being the Nardo test track in southern Italy. At this stage Lamborghini isn’t allowed to give too much away. We know the tub is made entirely from carbonfibre and that the suspension is of single-seater-style pushrod design, both firsts for any Lamborghini.
What we don’t know – and what Maurizio won’t yet tell us — is what the car weighs. “If a Murciélago weighs nearly 1700kg with a conventional backbone chassis,” says Lamborghini’s main man, Maurizio Reggiani, “and you already know the new car has a carbonfibre tub because I just told you it does, how much do think the damned thing weighs?”
12 March 2009 1.25am
I press the big starter button on the console and the all-new Lamborghini erupts into life, much like every other Lamborghini erupts into life: with an enormous burst of revs, like it or not. But immediately I notice several new characteristics.
The sound from the engine and exhaust is smoother and less grainy than in a Murciélago, somehow. And the response from the crank when I blip the throttle is massively more immediate. Before it has even moved, this car feels both more refined and less physically intimidating than of old – less, dare I say it, like a rough old diamond from the good old days and more like a normal kind of supercar. One you’d half expect to see from the more extreme edges of a company like Volkswagen.
And that’s before you so much as mention the cabin, or the driving position, both of which are hugely more resolved than in the Murciélago.
12 March 2009 1.28am
The moment it moves, the new Lambo feels every bit as advanced dynamically as it does aesthetically inside. The ride is calm and controlled in a way that a Murciélago owner simply wouldn’t recognise. It glides quietly over ground that the old car shimmies and thumps across.
Best of all, you no longer get the impression that you are sitting at the front of a very long, triangular machine whose tail contains a bite so venomous that there is no known cure beyond a certain threshold.
Instead, the new car feels fundamentally better balanced, as if it has a much lower, broader centre of gravity; as if it won’t tear your arms off and then kick you in the unmentionables if you do the wrong thing with the throttle at the wrong moment in a corner. And all this, remember, from the very first prototype.
16 September 2010 12.10am
Scroll forwards 18 months and here we are again, in the middle of the night at Nardo, staring at not one but three different prototypes. Car One is the original test mule I drove last year, Car Two is a ‘mid-program’ prototype and Car Three is pretty much what will be unveiled next March, give or take its duct tape and matt black paint.
I climb inside Car Three and discover that the cabin has a much more polished feel to it this time. It looks impossibly high end and has a discernible air of quality to the way its switchgear, door handles and buttons operate.
It may not be fully signed off yet, but this car feels more like the finished article than any Murciélago ever did. And it feels faster – much faster – than the old timer as I rumble down towards the high-speed bowl and open the taps wide for the very first time.
The kick of acceleration is genuinely outrageous in second gear, as is the speed and severity of the gearchange as the new gearbox slices up through its seven forward gears.
At 200mph the front end also begins to bounce slightly, so at 210mph I back off, even though the car is still accelerating. Something didn’t feel quite right beyond 200mph on that first run. It turns out that the pushrod suspension was nudging its bump stops due to the cornering load, causing them to act as part of the suspension, hence the bouncing. But this will be eradicated, says Maurizio, before the car goes on sale next year.
16 September 2010 10.20am
Despite this minor glitch (which is what pre-production testing is designed to uncover, after all), the new car proves itself beyond all doubt around the handling circuit the morning after the night before. I drive a Murciélago SV first, then all three versions of the new car. Again, the differences in balance, feel, steering precision and speed are shockingly obvious.
The SV, all of a sudden, feels clunky and old beside the new car, and nowhere near as stable under brakes or during turn-in. The new car’s basic dynamic ability is so much greater, in fact, that it laps the circuit several seconds quicker in the end. And it feels massively better sorted into the bargain. Which means job done, all thing being equal and considered.
16 September 2010 11.55am
Time to go, to take the bus back to the airport – with a head full of questions answered and a notebook full of stuff that I’m not allowed to write about here. One thing I can tell you right here and now, though, is that the new V12 Lamborghini – whatever it ends up being called – is a thundering good car. One with the heart and soul of a traditional Lamborghini but the build integrity – and pure dynamic excellence – of the most advanced supercars money can buy.
Quite a cocktail, in other words, as long as you’ve got the ***** – and the bank account – to go with it. Business as usual, then, only better made, lighter and faster than ever.
A garage door opens, writes Sutcliffe, and at that instant all conversation ceases. Before us, wearing heavy disguise that consists mostly of matt black duct tape atop four monumentally huge wheels and tyres, sits the future of Lamborghini – the very first prototype for the all-new V12 supercar that will replace the legendary Murciélago.
This is the car that will define what Lamborghini means to the rest of the world for at least the next 10 years. And it’s a car, or at least the prototype of a car, that I’ll be driving in less than half an hour’s time.
12 March 2009 1.04am
It has taken me two days of fairly grim travelling to get here – ‘here’ being the Nardo test track in southern Italy. At this stage Lamborghini isn’t allowed to give too much away. We know the tub is made entirely from carbonfibre and that the suspension is of single-seater-style pushrod design, both firsts for any Lamborghini.
What we don’t know – and what Maurizio won’t yet tell us — is what the car weighs. “If a Murciélago weighs nearly 1700kg with a conventional backbone chassis,” says Lamborghini’s main man, Maurizio Reggiani, “and you already know the new car has a carbonfibre tub because I just told you it does, how much do think the damned thing weighs?”
12 March 2009 1.25am
I press the big starter button on the console and the all-new Lamborghini erupts into life, much like every other Lamborghini erupts into life: with an enormous burst of revs, like it or not. But immediately I notice several new characteristics.
The sound from the engine and exhaust is smoother and less grainy than in a Murciélago, somehow. And the response from the crank when I blip the throttle is massively more immediate. Before it has even moved, this car feels both more refined and less physically intimidating than of old – less, dare I say it, like a rough old diamond from the good old days and more like a normal kind of supercar. One you’d half expect to see from the more extreme edges of a company like Volkswagen.
And that’s before you so much as mention the cabin, or the driving position, both of which are hugely more resolved than in the Murciélago.
12 March 2009 1.28am
The moment it moves, the new Lambo feels every bit as advanced dynamically as it does aesthetically inside. The ride is calm and controlled in a way that a Murciélago owner simply wouldn’t recognise. It glides quietly over ground that the old car shimmies and thumps across.
Best of all, you no longer get the impression that you are sitting at the front of a very long, triangular machine whose tail contains a bite so venomous that there is no known cure beyond a certain threshold.
Instead, the new car feels fundamentally better balanced, as if it has a much lower, broader centre of gravity; as if it won’t tear your arms off and then kick you in the unmentionables if you do the wrong thing with the throttle at the wrong moment in a corner. And all this, remember, from the very first prototype.
16 September 2010 12.10am
Scroll forwards 18 months and here we are again, in the middle of the night at Nardo, staring at not one but three different prototypes. Car One is the original test mule I drove last year, Car Two is a ‘mid-program’ prototype and Car Three is pretty much what will be unveiled next March, give or take its duct tape and matt black paint.
I climb inside Car Three and discover that the cabin has a much more polished feel to it this time. It looks impossibly high end and has a discernible air of quality to the way its switchgear, door handles and buttons operate.
It may not be fully signed off yet, but this car feels more like the finished article than any Murciélago ever did. And it feels faster – much faster – than the old timer as I rumble down towards the high-speed bowl and open the taps wide for the very first time.
The kick of acceleration is genuinely outrageous in second gear, as is the speed and severity of the gearchange as the new gearbox slices up through its seven forward gears.
At 200mph the front end also begins to bounce slightly, so at 210mph I back off, even though the car is still accelerating. Something didn’t feel quite right beyond 200mph on that first run. It turns out that the pushrod suspension was nudging its bump stops due to the cornering load, causing them to act as part of the suspension, hence the bouncing. But this will be eradicated, says Maurizio, before the car goes on sale next year.
16 September 2010 10.20am
Despite this minor glitch (which is what pre-production testing is designed to uncover, after all), the new car proves itself beyond all doubt around the handling circuit the morning after the night before. I drive a Murciélago SV first, then all three versions of the new car. Again, the differences in balance, feel, steering precision and speed are shockingly obvious.
The SV, all of a sudden, feels clunky and old beside the new car, and nowhere near as stable under brakes or during turn-in. The new car’s basic dynamic ability is so much greater, in fact, that it laps the circuit several seconds quicker in the end. And it feels massively better sorted into the bargain. Which means job done, all thing being equal and considered.
16 September 2010 11.55am
Time to go, to take the bus back to the airport – with a head full of questions answered and a notebook full of stuff that I’m not allowed to write about here. One thing I can tell you right here and now, though, is that the new V12 Lamborghini – whatever it ends up being called – is a thundering good car. One with the heart and soul of a traditional Lamborghini but the build integrity – and pure dynamic excellence – of the most advanced supercars money can buy.
Quite a cocktail, in other words, as long as you’ve got the ***** – and the bank account – to go with it. Business as usual, then, only better made, lighter and faster than ever.
Last edited by GFerg; 12-06-10 at 07:40 PM.
12-06-10, 07:42 PM
#7
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That shape/design looks stunning! Totally different from the Murcialago. I don't know why some are saying there's almost no difference. All Lambo's share the trademark shape but are still distinct. This thing looks like a beast like no other. 
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12-07-10, 01:49 AM
#8
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Well look at the evolution of the F40 to F50 to Enzo. Lambo is going the Porsche route with this new styling. This new ones looks like a bigger Gallardo stealing the front end and the rear end. They even took the Gallardo's sideview mirrors.
12-07-10, 04:45 AM
#9
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not a huge lambo fan but the 'review' and pics look very impressive.
12-07-10, 12:37 PM
#11
Speaks French in Russian
Thread Starter
Motortrend Review
http://www.motortrend.com/future/fut...ent/index.html
Last September I had the chance to sample three prototypes of the long-awaited replacement for Lamborghini's raging wild Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce that has yet to be named, but is bullishly expected to go by Aventador LP700-4. The prototypes represented three different stages of development, and the drive was on Italy's famous Nardó proving ground, which includes some lovely handling courses and a 7.5-mile circular high-speed track that is one of the few places on earth where speeds of 200 mph or more can safely be probed.
Few spy shots are worth more than those of an uncamouflaged future Lamborghini flagship, but the various bras, diapers, and other paparazzi countermeasures deployed on such vehicles during early development obscure the aerodynamic surfaces, rendering them useless at the speeds they were designed for, so our prototypes ran sans camo -- in the black of night. Yes, our first experience at the wheel of the "83X" prototypes was a banzai run in the dark, following a Gallardo Supertrofeo pace car.
By hanging back and then catching up, I managed to log an indicated 320 km/h (199 mph) while probing my subconscious for any shreds of knowledge about deer populations in Italy's boot-heel. I'm happy to report that A) The southern Italian fauna is apparently attuned to tornado-like sound of an approaching Italian exotic traveling at the double-century mark; and B) that extensive aerodynamic research and wind-tunnel verification testing make the Aventador feel reassuringly stable at these speeds. A Murcielago provided for comparison felt far wilder, a bit nervous, and much more likely to kill me if I tried maxing it out.
The basic shape and the movable rear wing (it rises to 11 degrees for maximum rear grip when hot-lapping a race circuit, then lowers to 5 degrees for top-speed runs) create considerable downforce (final figures have yet to be released), such that the aerodynamic load on one of our prototypes compressed its springs to the point of engaging the bump-stop rubber, making for an abrupt and vertically jumpy ride. It's no small feat to tune aerodynamics, springs, all-wheel-drive balance, etc. for the very occasional customer who will probe the outer limits of its claimed 217-mph capability while keeping the ride acceptable for those who only care about securing the best parking spot in front of the Casino Royale.
It makes a mighty angry roar at high speeds, almost completely drowning out the sonorous snarl of the V-12 in the cockpit at heroic speeds. Steering effort is appropriately hefty at such speeds, when an inadvertent "maneuver" could be catastrophic. The other truly remarkable impression the new car makes is how significantly the new V-12 engine pulls when rolling on from 185 to 195 mph after hanging back from the lead car for a moment. All 690 of these SAE horses are obviously thoroughbreds.
The next morning we took to the handling circuit, first in the outgoing Murciélago, and then in the prototypes. The new car feels like a major leap forward, even before you pull the right paddle to engage first gear. The cockpit ergonomics are vastly improved and seat comfort is increased exponentially thank to its improved shape and the fact that the driver now sits more directly behind the controls instead of angling right to reach them in a Murciélago.
An Audi-derived multimedia **** and button system replaces a funky screen surrounded by microscopic indecipherable buttons, while a modern high-def TFT instrument cluster displays virtual analog gauges in crystal clarity -- a welcome replacement for the squinched, leaned-over graphics of yore. The rest of the switchgear is modernized, though most of it still seems bespoke and special. A reverse camera is standard, which is a great thing because those three bent louvers obscure visibility through the tiny rear window even more than the Murci's straight ones did.
The four-corner control-arm and rocker-arm-actuated coil-over shock suspension system employ conventional Ohlins dampers at all four corners (expect magnetic ride control to migrate from parent Audi sometime during the LP700-4's anticipated 10-year run), so the three drive modes (Strada, Sport, and Corsa) only alter the throttle map, shift speed, stability control thresholds, and the like for now. My full-on track assault was made in Corsa, or race mode. Once up to operating temperature, at high-rpm wide-open-throttle the new automated manual single-clutch transmission shifts way quicker than the Murcielago's, and almost as quickly as a twin-clutch (they're more languid when you're not charging as hard, no matter which setting is selected).
Charging off toward the distant turn one, the acceleration is far greater than 30 more horsepower could account for. Credit goes to the new car's lightened composite body structure (based on the technology showcased on the recent Sesto Elemento concept car), more about which will be revealed shortly. The engine note is considerably more appealing, thanks in part to the acoustic properties of the composite firewall as well as the new engine's intake and exhaust. We can't wait to hear even more of it from an inevitable future Spyder variant.
Relative to its predecessor, the LP700's spring rates are roughly 5-10 percent softer, but measured together the spring and damper tuning is harder on the new car. Such subtleties were difficult to discern on this smooth new track, but the lighter weight, active all-wheel-drive control, and sophisticated stability control system were immediately evident. When going into a turn, this significantly lightened car pushes far less than its 3900-pound progenitor does. Almost as soon as you've trailed off the brakes you can roll onto the throttle harder than imaginable, allowing the ESP and increasing front-wheel drive torque to pull the big supercar through the corner.
A broader power band also means you never have to rev it all the way out, and short-shifting is a better strategy in many parts of a fast track like the long course at Nardó. The outgoing car, which didn't offer any stability controls, feels extremely dangerous when charging hard, while the new one inspires confidence without seeming antiseptically safe or boring. It remains to be seen which approach results in more wreckedexotics.com fodder, but at least when it all goes wrong, the new Aventador is ready to cushion its occupants with eight airbags, including knee bags for each and, we're told, the scissor doors have an emergency opening system in case of roll-over.
Huge 15.7-inch carbon-ceramic brake rotors front and rear are easily modulated at low speed with a bit of free pedal travel that disappears under hard driving conditions when the system pre-fills the caliper for instantaneous response.
As with the Corvette ZR-1 and so many other supercars, it takes a LOT more than one day of lapping to discover how deep one can charge into a corner and still erase enough speed to negotiate the curve, and throughout a full day of hard lapping none of the three prototypes evinced even a hint of fade. Interestingly, during our drive day the two older prototypes suffered several maladies that sidelined them temporarily, but never did a wrench spin. All "repairs" were made via laptop connection. Amazing.
Slowing things down a bit for a parade lap of photography reveals the new transmission to be no match for the shift smoothness of a dual-clutch tranny. The torque interruption is always noticeable and shifts are slower in these other modes (plus they occur automatically at redline even when manual shifting is selected in either of these modes - Corsa lets you bounce off the limiter). The track was too smooth to afford much of an evaluation on ride quality, but the car's general drivability represents a huge step forward. The gauge cluster can be configured for either an analogue tachometer sweeping the main gauge with a digital speed reading inset, or vice-versa.
Many details remain to be finalized and announced, like official power and torque, weight, gear ratios, and more quotidian concerns like price and fuel economy (if you have to ask about either...). All will be revealed at the car's official introduction in Geneva this March, whereupon posters of it will begin adorning teen car-nut walls immediately, shortly after which the real thing will begin rolling into the garages of lucky rap stars and serious, tech-savvy drivers. I can tell you this hopeful lottery winner ranks the Aventador well above its corporate cousin, the Veyron, on his shopping list...
Few spy shots are worth more than those of an uncamouflaged future Lamborghini flagship, but the various bras, diapers, and other paparazzi countermeasures deployed on such vehicles during early development obscure the aerodynamic surfaces, rendering them useless at the speeds they were designed for, so our prototypes ran sans camo -- in the black of night. Yes, our first experience at the wheel of the "83X" prototypes was a banzai run in the dark, following a Gallardo Supertrofeo pace car.
By hanging back and then catching up, I managed to log an indicated 320 km/h (199 mph) while probing my subconscious for any shreds of knowledge about deer populations in Italy's boot-heel. I'm happy to report that A) The southern Italian fauna is apparently attuned to tornado-like sound of an approaching Italian exotic traveling at the double-century mark; and B) that extensive aerodynamic research and wind-tunnel verification testing make the Aventador feel reassuringly stable at these speeds. A Murcielago provided for comparison felt far wilder, a bit nervous, and much more likely to kill me if I tried maxing it out.
The basic shape and the movable rear wing (it rises to 11 degrees for maximum rear grip when hot-lapping a race circuit, then lowers to 5 degrees for top-speed runs) create considerable downforce (final figures have yet to be released), such that the aerodynamic load on one of our prototypes compressed its springs to the point of engaging the bump-stop rubber, making for an abrupt and vertically jumpy ride. It's no small feat to tune aerodynamics, springs, all-wheel-drive balance, etc. for the very occasional customer who will probe the outer limits of its claimed 217-mph capability while keeping the ride acceptable for those who only care about securing the best parking spot in front of the Casino Royale.
It makes a mighty angry roar at high speeds, almost completely drowning out the sonorous snarl of the V-12 in the cockpit at heroic speeds. Steering effort is appropriately hefty at such speeds, when an inadvertent "maneuver" could be catastrophic. The other truly remarkable impression the new car makes is how significantly the new V-12 engine pulls when rolling on from 185 to 195 mph after hanging back from the lead car for a moment. All 690 of these SAE horses are obviously thoroughbreds.
The next morning we took to the handling circuit, first in the outgoing Murciélago, and then in the prototypes. The new car feels like a major leap forward, even before you pull the right paddle to engage first gear. The cockpit ergonomics are vastly improved and seat comfort is increased exponentially thank to its improved shape and the fact that the driver now sits more directly behind the controls instead of angling right to reach them in a Murciélago.
An Audi-derived multimedia **** and button system replaces a funky screen surrounded by microscopic indecipherable buttons, while a modern high-def TFT instrument cluster displays virtual analog gauges in crystal clarity -- a welcome replacement for the squinched, leaned-over graphics of yore. The rest of the switchgear is modernized, though most of it still seems bespoke and special. A reverse camera is standard, which is a great thing because those three bent louvers obscure visibility through the tiny rear window even more than the Murci's straight ones did.
The four-corner control-arm and rocker-arm-actuated coil-over shock suspension system employ conventional Ohlins dampers at all four corners (expect magnetic ride control to migrate from parent Audi sometime during the LP700-4's anticipated 10-year run), so the three drive modes (Strada, Sport, and Corsa) only alter the throttle map, shift speed, stability control thresholds, and the like for now. My full-on track assault was made in Corsa, or race mode. Once up to operating temperature, at high-rpm wide-open-throttle the new automated manual single-clutch transmission shifts way quicker than the Murcielago's, and almost as quickly as a twin-clutch (they're more languid when you're not charging as hard, no matter which setting is selected).
Charging off toward the distant turn one, the acceleration is far greater than 30 more horsepower could account for. Credit goes to the new car's lightened composite body structure (based on the technology showcased on the recent Sesto Elemento concept car), more about which will be revealed shortly. The engine note is considerably more appealing, thanks in part to the acoustic properties of the composite firewall as well as the new engine's intake and exhaust. We can't wait to hear even more of it from an inevitable future Spyder variant.
Relative to its predecessor, the LP700's spring rates are roughly 5-10 percent softer, but measured together the spring and damper tuning is harder on the new car. Such subtleties were difficult to discern on this smooth new track, but the lighter weight, active all-wheel-drive control, and sophisticated stability control system were immediately evident. When going into a turn, this significantly lightened car pushes far less than its 3900-pound progenitor does. Almost as soon as you've trailed off the brakes you can roll onto the throttle harder than imaginable, allowing the ESP and increasing front-wheel drive torque to pull the big supercar through the corner.
A broader power band also means you never have to rev it all the way out, and short-shifting is a better strategy in many parts of a fast track like the long course at Nardó. The outgoing car, which didn't offer any stability controls, feels extremely dangerous when charging hard, while the new one inspires confidence without seeming antiseptically safe or boring. It remains to be seen which approach results in more wreckedexotics.com fodder, but at least when it all goes wrong, the new Aventador is ready to cushion its occupants with eight airbags, including knee bags for each and, we're told, the scissor doors have an emergency opening system in case of roll-over.
Huge 15.7-inch carbon-ceramic brake rotors front and rear are easily modulated at low speed with a bit of free pedal travel that disappears under hard driving conditions when the system pre-fills the caliper for instantaneous response.
As with the Corvette ZR-1 and so many other supercars, it takes a LOT more than one day of lapping to discover how deep one can charge into a corner and still erase enough speed to negotiate the curve, and throughout a full day of hard lapping none of the three prototypes evinced even a hint of fade. Interestingly, during our drive day the two older prototypes suffered several maladies that sidelined them temporarily, but never did a wrench spin. All "repairs" were made via laptop connection. Amazing.
Slowing things down a bit for a parade lap of photography reveals the new transmission to be no match for the shift smoothness of a dual-clutch tranny. The torque interruption is always noticeable and shifts are slower in these other modes (plus they occur automatically at redline even when manual shifting is selected in either of these modes - Corsa lets you bounce off the limiter). The track was too smooth to afford much of an evaluation on ride quality, but the car's general drivability represents a huge step forward. The gauge cluster can be configured for either an analogue tachometer sweeping the main gauge with a digital speed reading inset, or vice-versa.
Many details remain to be finalized and announced, like official power and torque, weight, gear ratios, and more quotidian concerns like price and fuel economy (if you have to ask about either...). All will be revealed at the car's official introduction in Geneva this March, whereupon posters of it will begin adorning teen car-nut walls immediately, shortly after which the real thing will begin rolling into the garages of lucky rap stars and serious, tech-savvy drivers. I can tell you this hopeful lottery winner ranks the Aventador well above its corporate cousin, the Veyron, on his shopping list...
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