2012 Lamborghini Aventador Reviews

Supercars. Who needs them? No-one really, and yet they are dream machines around the world.Right at the top today is the outrageous Lamborgini Aventador, which trumpets everything from a carbon fibre chassis to a 350km/h top speed, 2.9-second sprint to 100km/h, and a $745,600 price tag in Australia.Lamborghini only sold 32 cars in here in 2011, despite the global success of the V10-powered Gallardo that goes up against the Ferrari 458, yet there is already a two-year waiting list for the Aventador LP700-4.That could be the styling, or the performance, or just the fact that 2011 brought an all-new Lamborghini V12 flagship with - translating its name - 700 horsepower and all-wheel drive.The first time I drove a V12 Lamborghini, back in the 1980s, it was a disaster. The borrowed Countach was grumpy, awfully uncomfortable, hot and cramped, and then a radiator hose sprung a leak   . . .It was outrageous, and memorable, but not in a good way. So I am interested to see how the Aventador goes, especially as it attracts the attention of the Italian Police - "documents please" - just 30 minutes of legal-speed driving after leaving the Lamborghini factory.VALUEHow do you measure value on a car as costly as the Aventador? It's mostly about the satisfaction it delivers to someone who has a fleet of cars and most likely a giant boat and a couple of houses, together with the bragging rights ability to shut down the owner of a Ferrari 599 or Lexus LF-A. And that's not me.Still, if you consider the Aventador against the Lexus LF-A at $700,00 and the outgoing Ferrari 599, it makes a solid case thanks to the styling, performance and lots of luxury equipment. The Lexus feels pretty ordinary against the Aventador, despite its track-tuned development.The starter button alone in the Lamborghini - it sits in the centre console and has a flip-up red cover like the ones used for missile launches - could be enough to win some people. "The car is already a sellout. Our whole allocation for 2012 is gone," says Martin Roller of Lamborghini."Nationally, we'll probably do 50 cars this year. Last year was down, of course, because we were waiting for the Aventador. But we've got it now and it's a cracker."TECHNOLOGYThe technical presentation from the engineers at Lamborghini headquarters in Sant'Agata goes on for nearly three house, and that's before the visit to the production line and carbon fibre laboratory.The highlights are the full carbon fibre chassis, claimed as the first in the world and displayed with aluminium suspension assemblies bolted to the passenger cell, as well as the high-tech V12 engine, Haldex all-wheel drive and a bank of computers to keep everything talking and pointing in the right direction.There is less attention to the 17.1l/100km fuel economy and CO2 emissions of a naughty 398 grams/kilometre, even though Lamborghini says this is a significant 20 per cent improvement over the car's Murcielago predecessor.DESIGNThe shape of the Aventador, designed in-house after a competitive pitch against Lamborghini's owners at Audi, is just plain outrageous. Lots of car companies say their sports cars are inspired by fighter jets but it's true for Lamborgini, even if the back-end view looks a lot like a scarab beetle.The nose is chiselled in true super sportscar style, the wheels and tyres are huge, and the Aventador has the scissor-lift doors - easy for close-in parking - that have become a V12 Lamborghini signature.Inside, the digital dashboard mimics old-style analogue dials - but with far more information - and there are two comfy and supportive bucks with a giant centre console. But it's hard to find somewhere to put the push-button key that unlocks the car, and the luggage space is - at best - tight.SAFETYNo-one from ANCAP is going to crash an Aventador, but the results of the company's own testing - on display as part of an illustration on repair work - shows the massive strength of the carbon fibre passenger cell. There is also ESP with a variety of driving modes, since some owners will take to racetracks, giant brakes with ABS control, parking radar and a - much needed - reversing camera.DRIVINGTime with the Aventador is theatre. It's also cracking good fun, even sticking religiously to the Italian motorway speed limits behind an Audi pace car and over snow-drenched minor roads.From the first moment that V12 engine fires behind my head, the car has me. The first time I uncork all the power, and feel a kick in the back that makes a V8 Supercar pretty bit tame, I wonder how anyone could possibly use an Aventador on the road every day.But it's surprisingly docile when you leave the robotised manual gearbox in drive, with all the driving assist systems set for manual support. It will dribble easily in traffic, isn't completely impossible to park, and is comfy and cosseting.Get the car cracking through some turns and there is a little reluctance from the nose, but application of power gets things sorted for a neutral balance and it will really hustle along any road at almost any - sane - speed.The best thing about the Aventador is the reaction it gets from other people. Jaws drop, camera phones fire into action, and people just wave and cheer. Even the police eventually smile and send me on my way.In Australia, the Aventador will be just plain outrageous and exotic and desirable. It's not for everyone, and most people will dismiss it as a piece of silly irrelevance, but it's good that cars like the flagship Lamborghini still exist.VERDICTThe Aventador is a silly car and silly money, but so much fun. It's a true dream machine.STAR RATINGLamborghini AventadorPrice: from $754,600Warranty: 3 years/ unlimited kmResale: New modelService interval: 15,000km or 12 monthsSafety: four airbags, ABS, ESP, TC.Crash rating: not testedEnigne: 515W/690Nm 6.5-litre V12Body: 2-door, 2-seatDimensions: 4780mm (L); 2030m (W); 1136mm (H); 2700mm (WB)Weight: 1575kgTransmission: 7-speed robotised manual; all-wheel-driveEconomy: 17.2l/100km; 398g/ CO2

When the cars involved are all from Lamborghini, one of the world's most exotic brands, the whole deal sounds so much sweeter. And it is. But what if I tell you we never get much beyond the posted 130km/h limit, that a metre of snow has created traffic chaos in a string of tiny hilltop towns, and that the highlight of the day is a stand-off with thePolizia over documents for the cars and drivers? Oh, and lunch, of course. But that's all ahead as we roll into Sant' Agata, the home of Lamborghini since it was set up by a humble tractor maker in the 1960s, for a deep-dip day of driving in the latest hero cars for the Italian brand. It's a dream come true, a big tick on the bucket list, and a chance to discover why some people really choose a Lamborghini ahead of a Ferrari - or a perfectly reasonable new apartment.The Lamborghini brand has always been a bit more exotic and mysterious than mainstream Ferrari, which is just up the road and remains the benchmark for any buyer - or brand - looking to tap the supersports dream. These days it picks up the giant benefit of a place in the Volkswagen Group, thanks to its Audi ownership. That means German efficiency with Italian passion, and that's far better than doing things the other way around.Carsguide is in Italy with Lamborghini for the first - yes the very first - official press visit in a generation, covering everything from technical briefings and a walk down the production line to a sneak peek into the carbon fibre research laboratory and a long lingering look at the museum. What emerges is an exotic brand with a sense of style and humour, but a very sharp approach to its cars and customers.The Gallardo changed Lamborghini forever, giving the company the credibility and reliability to put the brand on shopping lists around the world. Now there is the new flagship, the $754,600 Aventador with the V12 engine and 350km/h top speed.But when it's flashing a warning about icy driving, and the day quickly degenerates into a slow-speed tour through some beautifully snowed-in countryside, even the Aventador loses its shine. And literally, too, with so much slush about.But then comes a tunnel and, with a volley of rapid-fire downshifts, the Aventador and the Gallardo Superleggera are howling like banshees and everything is right in the world. I'm smiling, the cars are happy, and it's a great day.AVENTADOR:Ferruccio Lamborghini chose a V12 engine when he set up in opposition to Enzo Ferrari in 1963 and his company has continued down the same road for close to 50 years.The latest V12 flagship is the Aventador, one of the most exotic looking cars on the road in 2012 and one that ticks almost every box for teen-aged dreamers and 50-something magnates. It really is that special.The Aventador is a two-seat supersports car with a 6.5-litre engine that punches out 520 kiloWatts to feed through a high-tech all-wheel drive system. Did someone mention Audi, which owns Lamborghini?The first Aventadors have just reached Australia and already there is a two-year waiting list, even though the bottom line starts at $754,600 without worrying about on-road costs, insurance or a few personal tweaks in colour or trim.Value? It's not really something you can assess without access to James Packer's vault.But there is plenty of technology, starting with the world's first full carbon fibre monocoque. That's the centre of the car, where the people sit, and it is the foundation for the suspension and the rest of the mechanical package that hangs off at either end.The Aventador has a computer-controlled seven-speed robotised manual gearbox that's capable of F1-speedy shifts, but it's also programmed to shift quickly to the high gears to maximise fuel economy - rated at 19.1 litres/100km - and minimise emissions.No-one from ANCAP is intending to crash-test an Aventador, but the car has a super-rigid structure, airbags and the usual ESP and ABS systems to keep its two occupants safe. And anyone driving the car at 110km/h is so far from the danger zone that the real threat is boredom and a micro-sleep.You start the Aventador by lifting a small red flap - like the ones covering the triggers for rockets - after sliding deeply into the car through its signature scissor door. The sound is magic V12 music, although surprisingly muted.Tug a shift paddle and it's time to get moving, with the computer power easing the clutch and shifting gears as well as any of the latest double-clutch packages. The Lamborghini feels very wide, the ride is super-firm, and there are scary thoughts about what could happen if I put my foot on the floor.But there is no chance today, with an Audi Q7 running as the pace car and enforcing a quiet pace on slick and icy roads. A couple of times I get brave and belt it up beyond 8000 revs, enjoying the sort of thrust usually reserved for Formula One drivers.One time, with the speedometer hovering around 120km/h, I give the Aventador its head and the traction control light blinks furiously, the steering tugs and hunts, and I realise the big beast is not happy.Me? Perhaps. It's great to get time in the Aventador but now I cannot wait for the next time, and hopefully some Australian sunshine and a wide-open racetrack with no speed limits and no Q7s.GALLARDO SPYDER:It's easy to stay warm in a droptop Gallardo, even when the outside temperature is barely above freezing.The cabin is set deeply into the middle of the car, there are heated seats, and the shape of the wedgy body keeps the wind flowing smoothly over your head.Of course, there is also the warm glow you get from driving such a rare beast.The Gallardo Spyder is an effective convertible conversion on the V10-powered Lamborghini that pays the bills, and returns a profit to Audi, in the 21st century. The Gallardo has been teased and tweaked in a number of directions, and the Spyder is the one that works for a lot of people.The roof is electric, as you'd expect, but still a canvas job at a time of clamshell hardtops. It works, but it doesn't look as nice as some cars that cost far less than its $515,000.The mechanical package is built up from a 5.2-litre V10 with 343 kiloWatts and a 0-100km/h sprint time o just 4.0 seconds, thanks to all-wheel drive. There is a six-speed e.gear transmission and all-wheel drive, as well as a cabin in typical Lamborghini leather but with switchgear and displays that are more obviously borrowed from Audi than the lineup in the Aventador.The Spyder can easily run with the bulls, especially in a land of speed limits and Polizia, and it does it with a little more panache and excitement than a regular Gallardo.I can feel a little slackness in the chassis, though not a lot, but the Spyder is still a car that can surprise and delight. It's just not for me.GALLARDO SUPERLEGGERA:Now we're talking. This car is a lightweight - in the best possible way.The Lamborghini team created the new pacemaker in the Gallardo lineup with lashings of lightweight carbon fibre to trim the bottom line by 70 kilograms while holding onto 419 kiloWatts of power and all-wheel drive.That means 0-100km/h in a time warping 3.4 seconds, a 325 km/h top speed and a searing $542,500 price tag in Australia. That means it costs more than a Ferrari 458 Italia.But Lamborghini says the Superleggera is a car for people who enjoy cars and driving, and makes the point with kermit green bodywork on the test car at Sant' Agata. It also has ripper sports bucket seats, a suede-wrapped steering wheel, and carbon fibre everything from the door trims to a rear wing that produces real downforce.The Superleggera is the evil member of our little Lamborghini train, always teasing the driver with the promise of instant feedback, a howling soundtrack, and the ability to compress time and space.But it feels edgy and nervous, which is ideal for a racetrack but less encouraging on a cold day with changeable conditions including water, sludge and a little snow and ice.When you strap into this Gallardo you have to pay attention and be prepared for action.That's what makes it so enjoyable, even just squirting away from traffic lights or easing through a couple of right-angled bends.The Superleggera is the car that Lamborghini puts up against Ferrari and also the McLaren MP4-12C, and it makes a powerful statement. It's not for everyone, but for the people who want one it ticks all the boxes. 

I've never been to a bullfight and perhaps that's why something in the logic of Lamborghini's naming policy escapes me.The Aventador, its new supercar, follows previous Lambos by taking the name of a famous fighting bull.The original Aventador went “into battle in October 1993 at the Saragossa Arena, earning the Trofeo de la Pena La Madronera, for its outstanding courage''. Apparently.Courageous, no doubt, but of course, doomed. No amount of horned bravado is going to save it from the bloke in a Lady Gaga outfit with a long shiny blade. I'm pretty sure bulls are on the wrong side of the longest losing streak in history.Humans barracking for bulls have noticed these odds and protested. According to a survey last year, 60 per cent of Spaniards were opposed and as a result Barcelona held its last fight a little while ago after Catalonia implemented a ban.So the Aventador is named after a dead bovine from a spectacle increasingly out of tune with the times. You can't help wondering whether Lamborghini has its branding strategy quite right. Supercars already feel like a threatened species. Are we about to witness their heroic last stand?Thankfully, no. The Aventador doesn't feel like the last of the line; far from it. This is a supercar from the future that's just beamed in, Star Trek-style. It's been designed by Darth Vader and has the latest warp drive. It's boldly going where no supercar has gone before.VALUEThe Aventador has a price as stratospheric as its ability - and an increasing number of rivals, even at this level -- but Lamborghini is emphatically bullish about sales. It has 1500 orders already and no sign of flagging despite the economic storm on the horizon. There's already an 18-month waiting list.DESIGNWith its arrowhead styling the Aventador is a stealth fighter without the stealth; it could probably avoid radar detection but you'll never miss it on the road. The Aventador is the first series production car to employ this design language after it was used for two special editions: the Reventon, a version of the Murcielago, and the Sesto Elemento, a fully carbon fibre version of the Gallardo.Upward opening doors have been a signature of Lamborghini flagships since the Countach and they are reappear here. They swivel up and you limbo-dance in. Ahead are virtual dials from the deck of the Enterprise, a start button under a hinged red cover and lots more angular surfaces. Anyone familiar with top-shelf Audis will know the buttons are not bespoke, but there's nothing off-key.TECHNOLOGYLike almost everything else on the Aventador, the transmission is new and Lamborghini developed its own robotised seven-speed system rather than take existing technology from its Volkswagen parent. It came up with a system it calls Independent Shifting Rod, which is lighter and more compact than the double-clutch transmissions becoming ubiquitous on performance cars. It's also very quick, banging up or down through gears in 50 milliseconds in track mode. Even in strada, response feels instantaneous.The suspension, with double wishbones all round, employs the pushrod design favoured by racing cars. Positioned inboard, it's lighter and more compact than the Murcielago's while delivering better comfort and dynamics, Lamborghini says. Tyres are 19-inch at the front, 20 at the rear and house huge carbon ceramic brakes. At the front they measure 400mm and are gripped by six pistons.They can rein in the Aventador from 100km/h in just 30m, which means they are incredibly effective. It feels like it, too, with short braking zones for some corners and you're playing with fire if you don't brake in a straight line. Like the Murcielago, the Aventador has electronically controlled air intakes that adjust automatically, as well a rear spoiler that rises as speed requires then changes its angle of attack.DRIVINGI've travelled to Sepang racetrack, Malaysia, to sample the car for the first time. There are a lot more motoring journalists here than cars, so it's two laps of the track and heavily shepherded ones at that. A Gallardo, Lamborghini's junior supercar, acts as pace car with a pro driver at the wheel.Seeing an Aventador alongside a Gallardo brings home how extreme it is. Only in this context could a Gallardo look as tall as a people-mover and as intimidating as Play School. The Aventador is Commodore-long but a scant 1.1m high. If it wasn't more than 2m wide you could step over it. There's only time to acquaint myself with bits relevant to piloting the car around 15 corners and 5.5km. It's get in and get going.The acceleration is more linear and less dramatic than expected but utterly relentless. The naturally aspirated 6.5-litre unit behind the cabin is Lambo's first new V12 in decades. The Murcielago, its predecessor, wrung more and more out of the previous engine until there was nothing left to give. This starts beyond that level with 515kW at 8250rpm, which is high revving in anybody's language and spectacular for a V12.It likes to rev, too, and is good for a top speed of 350km/h. On the track, I'm well into triple figures before I realise because it takes just 2.9 seconds to reach 100km/h. Floor it and you're flying into the next corner quicker than you expect. Not that I'm looking at the speedo. There isn't time.Mid-corner grip, with its huge rubber, all-wheel-drive and differentials everywhere, feels off the scale although I'm testing it only when I get something not quite right, such as the line into a corner. As speed rises and falls, surfaces and intakes on the car are responding.Corners are quick too, although with fairly pronounced weight transfer from one side of the car to the other in rapid direction changes. This may be because I made the mistake of obeying instructions and leaving the suspension settings in strada, when sport or track would have been more appropriate. A colleague with a rebellious streak chose sport and said the car's weight evaporated. Not that it's all that heavy anyhow.The Aventador sheds 90kg compared with the Murcielago and it's certainly light for its size. Lamborghini has made the entire passenger cell from carbon fibre -- one of few cars to do so, along with the new McLaren -- and despite its city-block footprint weighs just 1575kg dry. Carbon fibre is stronger and stiffer than equivalent aluminium or steel structures and as a result the Aventador is 1 1/2 times more rigid than the Murcielago.Two laps go in blur of impressions. There's something otherworldly about the Aventador. It transports the driver to a place where ordinary sensations of speed and performance no longer apply. As intimidating as anything you can buy, it takes supercars to the next level and my senses and reflexes haven't had time to adjust. It feels less feral than the Murcielago but has the technology and performance to back its menacing looks.If there's a surprise, it's the relative lack of drama in the way it goes about its business. From pitlane, watching cars race down the straight, it was the Gallardo pace car that made a more appealing sound. I was expecting a bit more fury from the Aventador. A bit more snorting histrionics, a bit more scraping of hooves. What it declares loudly though, is that the supercar has a lot of life in it yet.VERDICTFlagship Lamborghinis come along about once every 10 years, so it will be some time before it needs to find a name for the next one. By then, bullfighting could be history and Lamborghini will be left with a dilemma. But as long as there are still supercars to name, they can call them what they like.LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR LP700-4Price: $754,600 plus on-road costsEngine: 6.5-litre V12Outputs: 515kW at 8250rpm and 690Nm at 5500rpmTransmission: Seven-speed robotised manual, all-wheel driveLAMBORGHINI'S 12 ANGRY CYLINDERS350GT (1964-66), 3.5-litre V12. 160 builtMiura (1966-72), 3.9-litre V12. 764 builtCountach (1974-90), 3.9-litre (later 5.2) V12. 2042 builtDiablo (1991-2001), 5.7-litre V12. 2884 builtMurcielago (2001-10), 6.2-litre V12. 4099 built