Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
The wait is over ladies and gentlemen: Lamborghini’s
next hypercar has made its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show, and
dare we say what a hypercar it is! The new Bull God will feature an
earth shattering 700hp V12 and the highest power to weight ratio of any
car in its class. Yes, this is the new, long waited Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4.
Lamborghini
is really good at creating sinister super sports cars, but it is
equally as talented at naming them. According to the company,
"Aventador" was the name of a bull that entered into battle on October
1993 at the Saragossa Arena, earning the "Trofeo de la Peña La
Madroñera" for its outstanding courage. Having the courage to go up
against a new world of super sports cars will be the name of the game
for the new Lamborghini flagship. Today’s world is extremely high-tech
and many new players have entered the arena. Lamborghini has been
promoting its carbon-fiber monocoque technology and the Aventador’s 2.9
second 0-62mph, but will that be enough?
According to
Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. "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 makes it unrivaled in the worldwide super sports car
arena."
UPDATE 11/12/2012: Everyone has to admit that the Lamborghini Aventador
is a cool supercar and despite its $387,000 price tag, the demand for
it is pretty high. Currently, the waiting list is set at about 12
months, but Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini’s
CEO, recently announced that the company is working on reducing the
waiting period, especially now when the demand is almost double of what
it was. Currently, Lamborghini is producing a total of 600 Aventador
units a year, but they are working on investing in the plant so that
they can increase production capacity.Exterior
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the new Aventador LP700-4 follows the same design language as with the latest Reventon and Sesto Elemento
concept. The model has been designed at the Centro Stile Lamborghini in
Sant’Agata Bolognese and takes its inspiration from modern aeronautics
and from the world’s fastest and most agile aircraft.
The
supercar is 4.78 meters long, 2.26 meters wide, and only 1.136 meters
high. The proportions and body parts have been calculated to improve
the car’s aerodynamics as much as possible. All of the aerodynamic
elements are integrated into the body shell form, from the front spoiler
to the rear diffuser, while the rear spoiler is deployable and
controlled electronically. The 4 degree approach angle is optimized for
high speed and assists directional stability at the very top end of the
spectrum. The 11 degree tilt, on the other hand, delivers considerably
greater downforce at mid-range speeds, helping to optimize handling and
stability.
Up front the Aventador gets an air guide
further emphasized by glossy, black frames, and bi-xenon headlamps.
These headlights are more than just a simple bulb behind a casing, they
are an exercise in further design. The Y shaped lights spread out from
the middle and a different set of LED lights within creates the turn
signal. The side of the car have two sweeping strokes – the first
emphasizes the front wheel arch; the second is a very sharply drawn line
beginning at the front wheel arch. Lamborghini describes it as a tensed
muscle running along the entire side of the car and over the rear
wheel. Also, two large air intakes behind the upward-opening doors are
used for a better cooling engine. Finally the rear gets a lower diffuser
and rear LED lights that create the same shape as the ones out front.
In what has become one of the most distinctive features
for any Lamborghini, the passenger doors will open upwards towards the
sky. This feature has been used on every major Lamborghini supercar
since the Countach. Few companies have been able to create a specific
design element that they are able to carry through various decades with
such poise. The nearest competitor may be Mercedes Benz and the 300SL Gullwing of the past and SLS AMG of today.
Customers
will have the ability to choose from 13 exterior colors in pastel
metallic, pearlescent, or matte. These include the newest shades of
Grigio Estoque, Arancio Argos, AD Personam, Nero Nemesis, Bianco
Canopus, and Marrone Apus. Automobili Lamborghini has really taken
notice of the aftermarket world with their new paint options. Matte
paint has become all the rage in high-end cars and can look especially
striking on something as svelte as a Lamborghini. Three specific Matte
tones will be available from the factory and should increase the curb
appeal of these machines even further
If you are one of the lucky few to have sat in a
Reventon than you would know how Lamborghini was attempting to create a
cockpit out of a dashboard. The revolutionary gauges that acted like the
instruments of a jet plane were the first in a line of new technologies
that would evolve into the Aventador. Instrumentation for the Aventador
is displayed on a large LCD screen while a completely independent
system and LCD screen controls stereo and navigation functions. The
press release makes the center console of the car sound like your car is
a robot by calling it the, “Human-Machine Interface.”
The
full leather single-color interior is available in either Nero Alde
(black) or in Marrone Elpis, with the contrasting stitching offered in a
range of colors. The two-tone leather interiors are offered in two
style lines. For Bicolor Sportivo, the base color is black, with the
contrast in orange, white, yellow or green, while Bicolor Elegante
presents a harmonious blend of brown tones. A virtually inexhaustible
array of variants is also offered by the Ad Personam individualization
program.
The Aventador will be offered with ABS, electronic brake distribution, anti-slip control, speed-dependent servo-tronic steering, hill start assist and, of course, ESP stability control. The rear spoiler and the side air intakes are electronically controlled. The Drive Select System enables vehicle characteristics (engine, transmission, differential, stability control, steering) to be set in accordance with individual driver preferences in one of three modes – Strada (road), Sport and Corsa (track).
Perfomance
Lamborghini has made it clear that a V12 engine will be
the only thing to ever power their supercar, but it was time to develop a
new and modern version of the legendary V12 of yesteryear. The
Aventador will come with a new 6.5-liter V12 engine with an AWD layout
that produces 700 HP 8,250 rpm and 509 lb-ft at 5,500 rpm. It is the
first all-new Lamborghini developed engine since the Countach. This
engine will be able to get from 0-60 mph in just 2.9 seconds while
blasting off a top speed of 217 mph. With a total weight of 1,575
kilograms (3,472 lb) it will deliver a power to weight ratio of 2.25
Kg/hp. These figures are astounding, but not out of this world.
Lamborghini has surely created a super car, but until we can get it on a
track with its competition we will not know if the Bull can reign King.
Design
of the engine was simple in theory. The car needed a powerplant that
was lighter than the old one and more powerful. That tends to be the
problem with just about every iteration of a new sports car, but
Lamborghini was able to develop several new ways of solving it. They
made the engine lighter by using an aluminum-silicon alloy to lower the
overall weight to just 235kg. Parts that are more readily exposed to
high heat were still forged from steel, but the overall engine weight is
equal to 3.0hp per kilogram.
The Aventador’s engine is mated to an all-new
“Lamborghini ISR” – the ISR stands for Independent Shifting Rod -
seven-speed single clutch automated manual gearbox that combines quick
shift time with manual shifting, which proves to be quite useful when a
car has a low weight and compact dimensions.
the
new Lamborghini powertrain is a revolutionary new technology that will
set apart the Aventador – and all its future models - from its supercar
contemporaries.
The ISR gearbox allows the Aventador to shift gears
almost simultaneously. It comes with two modes and 50 millisecond shifts
that works in such fashion that when one of the shifting rods is moving
out of one gear, the second rod is already shifting on to the next.
Another important aspect of the new Lamborghini transmission fits
perfectly with the company’s new goal of making its supercars more
lightweight: the ISR transmission weighs in at only 79 kilos – about 174
pounds – significantly lighter than any other DSG transmission out on
the market.
Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan
Winkelmann explains that the new Lamborghini powertrain is a
revolutionary new technology that will set apart the Aventador – and all
its future models - from it’s supercar contemporaries. “This new power
unit is not only the crowning glory of our product range, it is also
part of our enormous investment in the future of the Lamborghini brand,”
he said.
2013 Aventador Additions
Lamborghini
went into great lengths about the newest additions to the Aventador’s
drivetrain for the 2013 model year: the Cylinder Deactivation System
(CDS) and the start-stop technology.
The stop-start
system will shut the engine off when the car is stationary at a stop
light and it will use supercaps – high-performance capacitors – to
restart the engine just as soon as you press the gas pedal. Well, maybe
not as soon as, but 180 milliseconds after touching the gas. Yeah,
that’s faster than any human can ever notice. To boot, this system will
also save the Aventador about 3 kg (6.6 lbs), as the supercar will now
use only a small battery to power the vehicle electronics, since it is
no longer needed to start the car.
Additionally, the
CDS will shut down one bank of the V-12 engine under low loads at speeds
less than 135 km/h (83.9 mph). This will leave the Aventador cruising
around as an in-line 6-cylinder until you need the extra power. No need
to worry if a 12berlinetta comes up on your tail, as a quick tap of the
throttle and all 12 cylinders start pumping again like nothing
happened.
All of this will decrease the 2013
Aventador’s combined fuel consumption to 16 l/100 km (14.7 mpg) and its
CO2 emissions from 398 g/km to 370 g/km. Total emissions and fuel
consumption at 130 km/h (80.77 mph) is estimated to drop by about 20
percent.
Engine and Drivetrain Specs:
| Engine Type | 6.5-liter V-12 DOHC |
| Engine Output | 700 horsepower at 8,250 rpm and 509 pound-feet of torque at 5,500 rpm |
| Transmission | 7-speed automated manual (unofficial) |
| Fuel Economy | 16 l/100km (14.7 mpg) combined |
| Emissions | 370 g/km |
No comments:
Post a Comment