Does Lambo's hottest convertible rewrite the drop-top book?
YOU can't help but love the evolution of Lamborghini’s Aventador.
When the mind-boggling super coupe was born in 2011 it arrived with a monstrous 6.5-litre V12 engine that pumped 515kW to all four wheels, sending the big bull from zero to 100km/h in just 2.9 seconds.
Find a road long enough and the Aventador won't stop until 350km/h flashes up on the digital dash, and its Haldex all-wheel drive, pushrod suspension and garden-roller tyres keep everything facing the right way up through twister roads.
Spend some time in the Aventador LP 700-4 and you will certainly come away with many forged opinions. You may find its ride a little harsh, you might not like its 12 mid-mounted cylinders blaring in your ear and you might get over the sledgehammer-violent gear changes, but you certainly won't hand back the keys thinking it could do with a bit more poke.
And yet, that’s clearly what the Lamborghini engineers thought, because earlier this year the Italian car-maker unveiled the LP 750-4 Superveloce, which can wring its version of the 6.5-litre engine out to in excess of 8000 rpm, producing a whopping 559kW.
But that still wasn’t mad enough for the Sant’Agata team because then they cut its roof off. The result is the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce Roadster and you’ll be hard pressed to find a more loopy Lambo.
It is not the first time the SV nameplate has been applied to a raging bull-badged vehicle but it is the first convertible to be dubbed Superveloce. The Aventador SV Roadster is the fastest convertible from Lamborghini to date.
Just 500 of the demonic drop-tops will be sold worldwide with an unconfirmed number of those coming to the Australian market. If you have $916,150 to spare, you could be the proud owner of a piece of Lamborghini history.
Like the coupe fixed-top version, the SV Roadster has some unmissable alterations to its bodywork to set it apart from the (dare we say it?) standard version, with outrageous front and rear diffusers, complimented by a massive rear spoiler.
The body modifications may be a conspicuous nod to the extra performance but they are very functional too, channeling air in and around the Aventador when at race-pace, as well as reducing weight.
In conjunction with the body mods, Lamborghini has stripped out 50kg of weight compared with the LP 700-4 Roadster, dropping the kerb weight to 1575kg and boosting handling, braking and road-holding in the process.
Despite the significant boost to power and crash-dieting, the SV’s acceleration and top speed remains the same as the entry-level open top Aventador, but the Superveloce is more about sensation than speed.
The Roadster doesn’t have clever folding roof mechanisms or tidy tonneau covers and instead, when the sun is shining and you want to attract a lot of envious glances, the Aventador’s two-piece carbon-fibre roof simply lifts out and stows in the boot.
In place of the fixed-glass rear window, Roadster owners have the option of lowering an electric version which allows the full cacophony of the mighty V12 into the cabin for full unadulterated appreciation of the Italian soundtrack.
“The Superveloce is the purest, most sports-oriented and fastest series production Lamborghini ever,” according to Lamborghini Automobili president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.
“The Roadster version represents our commitment to satisfying our passionate clients with immensely emotional driving dynamics combined with an extraordinary open air experience.”
But it isn’t the company’s first mid-engined cabriolet. When Lamborghini chopped the top off its Gallardo in 2006, the Audi R8-based rocket put wind in people’s hair like never before.
While the Aventador’s top is a Ikea-style flat-pack DIY The little Lambo’s folding roof was a little more user-friendly folding completely into its own compartment. It also removed the rear window and pillars unlike the Aventador’s more targa-top approach.
But the pumped-up Aventador Superveloce Roadster is not for a second apologetic about any of its practical shortcomings. It sets out to be the most outrageous, vicious and look-at-me convertible money can buy, so has it succeeded?
Daniel Gardner GoAuto.com.au
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