08 Lambo Murcielago Roadster Lp640 Awd Egear Q-citura I-pod-kit Nav Cam 1-own 3k on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Dad 3D-printed a Lamborghini because his son liked one in Forza

Sterling Backus's son only had one question after he drove a Lamborghini Aventador in the XBOX video game Forza: Can we build one? Most dads would respond with a chuckle and some quip about winning the lottery. But not Backus, whose day job is laser physicist. Backus responded, "Sure," and he meant it. As of this week, the replica is capable of driving under its own power. Backus, the chief scientific officer at KMLabs in Boulder, Colorado, and his 11-year-old son dubbed the project "Interceptor," and the build has a budget of about $20,000. Backus hand-built the steel chassis and pulled an LS1 V8 from a Corvette for power. He found the panel layouts through online design community GrabCAD, and then he modified them for 3D printing.  But he ran into a problem: The 3D-printed plastic would melt in the sun. So, he decided to incorporate carbon-fiber encapsulation (shown below), in which he wraps the parts and covers them in epoxy. Piece by piece, he assembled the shape of the supercar using a Creality CR-10 105 desktop 3D printer that he got for about $900 from Amazon. The front brake air intake alone is said to have taken 52 hours to complete. Additional cool features include a gated shifter, functioning lights, and scissor doors.  One of the fun aspects of the whole story is that Backus admits he had some learning to do when it came to the art form of additive engineering. So, he turned to the same place everybody else goes these days: YouTube. The physicist joked that he went to YouTube University and learned by watching videos.  With the end of the project in sight, Backus says he wants the final product to serve as an educational tool for Science Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) programs.  "The intent is to take the car to local schools to show kids how cool technology can be," the project's Facebook page says.  In the words of Jesse Pinkman, "YEAH SCIENCE!"  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lamborghini Aventador SV gets more, less weight [w/video]

Following Lamborghini's recent tease, we were pretty certain that the Italian supercar brand would unveil its Aventador Superveloce at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. Sure enough, during the Volkswagen Group Night event, the supercar with more power and less weight made its grand debut. Technically dubbed the Aventador 750-4 SV, Lambo revised the valve train and added a new four-exit exhaust with less backpressure. The result is a redline now at 8,500 rpm and a boost to 740 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque. Grunt still gets to all four wheels via a seven-speed gearbox. The changes help reduce the sprint to 62 miles per hour to just 2.8 seconds, and if that's not enough, 124 mph is just 8.6 seconds away from a standing start. The top speed reportedly rises to 217 mph. The other major factor in helping this improved performance is a 110-pounds reduction in weight to tip the scales at 3,362 pounds, which comes thanks to copious amounts of carbon fiber. On the outside, the door panels, side sills, fenders and new fixed rear wing are all made from the lightweight material, and the upgraded parts for the body reportedly increase downforce by 170 percent. The interior even features Lambo's Carbon Skin fabric for the headliner. Beyond the lighter weight and extra power, customers get magneto-rheological dampers, carbon-ceramic brakes and variable ratio electric power steering. All of this Italian performance comes at a price of 327,190 euros before any value-added tax when the cars go on sale in the spring. Official US pricing isn't announced yet , but that figure equates to about $366,000. Check out a video of the car being unveiled at VW's Group Night festivities in Geneva.

Words aren't needed in the company of an Espada

There's something about vintage Italian machinery. From the curvaceous lines of the Ferrari 250 GTO to the more exacting angles of the Lamborghini Espada, the cars hold the promise of something illicit. Something both scowling parents and stern-jawed law enforcement would thoroughly disapprove of if you happened to get caught in the act. It's one of the infinite reasons we love them, and the crew at Petrolicious have managed to capture that precipice of temptation on film.
CJ Bonura was kind enough to let the crew tag along during a little impromptu canyon run in his big silver Espada. The video eschews the typical owner interview in favor of more engine audio and an appropriate soundtrack. If the clip doesn't leave you wanting to jump into your own car for a quick sprint, we can't help you. Check it out in the video below, and stay tuned for more goodness from Petrolicious.