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Lamborghini officially reveals new Veneno Roadster

Sexy or vulgar - whatever you thought of the Veneno which Lamborghini unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this past March, it didn't much matter. Because by the time we saw it, all three examples were already bought and paid for... at the equivalent of $3.9 million each. But if you had that much cash burning a hole in your pocket and lamented missing out on the opportunity to put one in your driveway, we've got good news, because Lamborghini has just confirmed another nine examples to be built. Only this time, it's got no roof.
Now officially confirmed after leaking out the other day, the Lamborghini Veneno Roadster features the same radical styling, extreme competition-derived aerodynamics, carbon-intensive construction and twelve-cylinder powertrain as the coupe that proceeded it and which we enjoyed photographing for your viewing pleasure just last month. The principal difference, of course, is the open-air cockpit, which offers no protection from the elements whatsoever: no fabric umbrella contraption, no removable glass or metal panel, nothing to get between your dome and the air rushing by at 220 miles per hour. That's the same top speed as the coupe, while the 0-62 run takes just a fraction of a second longer at 2.9 seconds. But we doubt you'd notice the difference with that 6.5-liter V12 revving just behind your ears.
It's the same engine and seven-speed ISR gearbox that powers the Aventador, only tuned up to 750 horsepower for the Veneno. And it should have more power, because at 3.3 million euros (about $4.5 million, give or take a Gallardo), the Veneno Roadster isn't just $600,000 more expensive than the Veneno coupe, it's also more than ten times the price of an Aventador. Still with us? You can scope out all the details in the press release below and browse through the photos in the gallery above for a closer look.

Lambo to quarantine twin-turbo V8 to Urus

Lamborghini is planning to slot a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 into the Urus sport utility vehicle. But don't expect the engine to make its way into the Italian firm's supercars anytime soon. According to the latest report, that forced-induction mill will be limited exclusively to the sport ute for the foreseeable future. Speaking with Autocar, CEO Stephan Winkelmann reiterated that the Urus will be the only Lamborghini model powered by the turbo eight. "On the supersports cars we are convinced that the choices we have made with the naturally aspirated engines are still the right ones," said Winkelmann. "We are not saying that future engines will never beat what we have in our cars; we are saying as long as there is nothing that is better, especially at low revs or in terms of the sound that the V10 and V12 have, we stick to them." While its rivals have embraced turbocharging, Lamborghini has been a steadfast holdout for high-revving, naturally aspirated engines with two-digit cylinder counts. Ferrari, for example, has slotted a turbocharged V8 into both the California T and 488 GTB. McLaren uses a turbo V8 in all its models. Lambo's own sister brands Porsche and Bugatti also use turbochargers. But the Huracan eschews forced induction for an atmospheric V10, as does the Aventador for a V12. The Volkswagen Group of which Lamborghini is part employs a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 for both the Bentley Continental and numerous Audi models. We'll likely be looking at a version of this engine to power the Urus, which is also expected to offer additional powertrain options in the future. The last time Lamborghini offered an SUV was with the LM002 of decidedly different orientation, powered by a version of the V12 engine from the Countach. Related Video:

Lamborghini Huracan to get What3Words navigation

The Lamborghini Huracan will soon launch a novel navigation system that can take you to any point on the globe with incredible specificity. It relies on a geocoding system called What3Words that, as the name implies, uses a combination of just three words — rather than building numbers and street names — to describe locations. Here's how it works. The creators of What3Words divided the entire planet into 10 by 10 foot squares and randomly assigned three words to each one. There are 57 trillion squares in all, each with three words pulled from a pool of 40,000 in the English language. For example, the Washington Monument has a pretty confusing street address: 2 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20024. What3Words identifies that location as "congratulations, fingernails, desk". The idea is that those three words are much less prone to misinterpretation, especially by a computer or voice recognition system. Its level of granularity also has advantages if, say, you're trying to tell a friend where you're waiting at large concert venue. It can also get very precise in areas where there are no roads or buildings at all. In fact, the app helped rescuers locate a group of lost hikers in the U.K. To be fair, the system isn't exclusive to Lamborghini; the Huracan is just the first to roll out this technology in conjunction with Alexa's voice activated navigation, according to the New York Times. The Huracan will receive this functionality this year. For the record, the 2018 Mercedes A-Class was the first car to use What3Words for navigation. Of course, the system isn't perfect. Unless someone gives you a What3Words address, you still have to translate a regular street address to the What3Words address in order to use the system. Also, its random nature doesn't really provide an intuitive relationship between one location or another. With street addresses, you understand that 100 Main Street and 102 Main Street are near each other, while 900 Main Street might be far away. And you can see whether you're getting closer or farther by looking at the numbers. The square directly north of "congratulations, fingernails, desk" is "dome, next, senses". So there might still be a while before What3Words is adopted for widespread use. We could see this being useful in an off-road vehicle meant to venture into the wilderness. Still, the more options the better, and if What3Words does become commonplace, the Lamborghini Huracan will be ready.