We Love Cars July

Don t leave your ego at the door
Aventador S
Review
Lamborghini
16
By: Liz Dobson
We’re driving along a main street in
Valencia, Spain, in Lamborghini’s
Aventador S. A teenage boy is about
to cross the road when he sees us; he
stops and his mouth forms an “O” as
we drive past.
Stunned, he doesn’t even whip out
his smartphone to take a photo, like
other locals have done as we drive
from the Ricardo Tomas circuit to our
waterfront hotel.
A few hours later, over dinner, I
describe the teen’s reaction to Lamborghini’s
new CEO, former Ferrari F1
boss Stefano Domenicali, and show
him a video on my smartphone of the
crowd that swamped the Aventador S
as we took photos on the waterfront.
“That is the reaction we want,” says
Domenicali, “we want that ‘wow’ reaction
when people first see the new
Aventador S.”
The car goes on sale in April this
year with New Zealand prices yet to
be announced, but in America it costs
US$421,000 [NZ Pricing to be confirmed].
The car has a new aerodynamic design,
redeveloped suspension, increased
power and new driving dynamics.
The “S” is the suffix of previous enhanced
Lamborghini models and the
Aventador is the first product in nearly
40 to gain the “S” title.
The first Aventador was launched in
2011 and has proved a success for the
company, alongside the Huracan coupe
based on the platform of Lamborghini’s
parent company, Audi AG’s R8.
The Aventador S retains its famous
mid-rear 5-litre, V12 naturally aspirated
engine, now with an impressive 554kW
of power and 690Nm of torque.
The new super sports coupe gains a
more aggressive nose and longer front
splitter to redirect airflow for better
aerodynamic efficiency and improved
engine cooling. Two air ducts in the side
of the front bumper also help cool the
specially designed Pirelli tyres.
The active rear wing can move in three
positions depending on speed and drive
select mode, and optimises the car’s
improved overall balance, working with
vortex generators created in the front
and rear of the chassis’ underside that
maximise air flow as well as assisting
brake cooling.
The car also gains a new driving
mode over the “strada, sport, corsa”
called EGO (see ‘Lambo’s way ahead’
find out the logic behind the name), that
lets you individually set the powertrain,
steering and suspension.
But it’s the rear of the Aventador S
that is most changed, with three single
exhaust outlets exiting through the
rear bumper.
Lamborghini’s new designer Mitja
Borkert said that the inspiration board
for the redesign had three elements: the
exhaust pipe of the space shuttle (the
new three-pipe exhaust), a venomous
snake (for the front bonnet) and jet
fighters (the aerodynamics).
Borkert spent 20 years with Porsche.
He was responsible for the look of the
second-generation Cayenne and was the
name behind the design of the hugely
popular Macan.
As Lamborghini moves forward with
the launch this year of the super sports
SUV, Urus, it makes sense that the company
hires Borkert for his success with
luxury off-roaders. But he has also been
involved in the look of the Aventador S
Return to
Contents Page