Geneva show: Italy’s new Raging Bull

LAMBORGHINI threw back the covers on the highly anticipated replacement for its flagship Murcielago last night, when it also announced it will be called the Aventador LP700-4.

The Italian supercar maker’s new four-wheel drive flagship looks similar to its predecessor but is powered by an all-new high-revving V12 engine and introduces Lambo-first F1-style features including a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis and pushrod suspension.

First customer deliveries are expected to take place simultaneously around the world in the third quarter, with Lamborghini Australia scheduled to deliver its first customer cars in July.

Lamborghini Australia managing director Andrew Smith said he is already holding deposits for eight cars and anticipates delivering between 10 and 12 cars before the end of this year.

Pricing will be just under $800,000, making it slightly more expensive than the outgoing base Murcielago LP640 ($755,000) but less than last year’s limited-edition LP670-4 SuperVeloce ($889,000). A replacement for Lamborghini’s range-topping Murcielago LP640 is yet to emerge.

In keeping with Lamborghini’s traditional bull-related theme, the Aventador is named after a fighting bull from Spain that was awarded for its outstanding courage.

Also in keeping with modern Lambo nomenclature, the LP700-4 refers to the engine output in horsepower and the fact that it drives all four wheels.

Although the new 60-degree engine is the same size as the previous V12 at 6.5 litres, it was designed from a clean sheet of paper and is smaller, lighter and lower, measuring just 665mm from top to bottom, including the intake system.

This short-stroke V12 is rated at 515kW (at 8250rpm) and therefore produces some 44kW more power than the LP640 and 22kW more than the LP670, while also delivering more torque (690Nm versus 660Nm).

With the car’s dry weight having been reduced by 90kg (to 1575kg) over the Murcielago, the more powerful Aventador has startling performance, racing to 100km/h in just 2.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 350km/h, making it one of the quickest and fastest production cars ever built.

At the same time, the new V12’s environmental performance is also considerably better than before, with Lamborghini claiming both fuel consumption (17.2L/100km EC combined) and CO2 output (398g/km) is down by 20 per cent.

Mated to the new engine is a new seven-speed ISR (independent shifting rods) automated transmission designed to be the fastest robotised gearbox in the world, with claimed shift times of 50 milliseconds (40 per cent faster than the Gallardo).

This E-Gear transmission from Graziano is a single-clutch design, Lamborghini having rejected a dual-clutch unit for reasons of weight and size.

The four-wheel drive system employs an electronically controlled Haldex centre coupling as well as front and rear differentials.

A three-mode drive select system is fitted to control the engine, transmission, differential, steering and electronic stability control in three driver-selected settings – Strada (road), which offers a fully automatic shift, the more focused Sport and the extreme Corsa (race), which includes launch control.

The designers at Centro Stile Lamborghini in Sant’Agata Bolognese worked within the company’s current design language, but were apparently influenced by modern aeronautics.

The result is a shape that appears to draw inspiration from the $1.5 million Reventon – only 20 examples of which were built after its 2007 Frankfurt show debut – and last year’s Sesto Elemento Paris show car to create a more angular evolution of the Murcielago.

At 4780mm long and 2260mm wide, it is a little longer and wider than the Murcielago, but sits slightly lower at 1136mm.

The Aventador features a more chiselled nose, characteristic upward-opening doors (as on the Countach, Diablo and Murcielago), an optional transparent cover so you can see the mid-mounted engine, an aggressive rear diffuser and an electronically-deployed rear wing.

The rear wing sits flush with the bodywork at rest, rises to 11 degrees at mid-range speeds for greater downforce and flattens out to only four degrees at high speeds to reach maximum velocity while assisting directional stability.

Automobili Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann said the Aventador redefines the very pinnacle of the super-sportscar market, describing it as having brutal power, outstanding lightweight engineering, phenomenal handling precision and peerless design.

“With the Aventador LP 700-4, the future of the super-sportscar is now part of the present,” said Mr Winkelmann.

“Its exceptional package of innovative technologies is unique, its performance simply overwhelming.

“The Aventador is a jump of two generations in terms of design and technology it’s the result of an entirely new project, but at the same time it’s a direct and consistent continuation of Lamborghini’s brand values.

“It is extreme in its design and its performance, uncompromising in its standards and technology, and unmistakably Italian in its style and perfection.

“Overall, the dynamics and technical excellence of the Aventador LP 700-4 make it unrivalled in the worldwide super-sportscar arena.”

Lamborghini claims the carbon-fibre monocoque tub chassis weighs only 147.5kg and offers very high torsional strength. It has aluminium sub-frames at each end onto which the suspension, engine and transmission are mounted.

As previously reported in GoAuto, the new F1-inspired pushrod aluminium double wishbone suspension system connects the spring/damper components to the bodyshell structure rather than on the wheel mounts.

Lamborghini says that with the extra rigidity in both the chassis and suspension system, the suspension settings can be slightly softer for a better ride without detracting from body control and ultimate grip.

Other Aventador features include electronically controlled air intakes for the engine, carbon-ceramic composite disc brakes measuring 400mm in diameter at the front (using six-piston callipers) and 380mm (with four-piston grippers) at the rear, an electronic park brake, 19-inch rims on 255/35-section tyres at the front and 20-inch rims with 335/30 rubber at the rear, and a red switch cover for the start button on the centre tunnel.