2004 Lamborghini Gallardo Base Coupe 2-door 5.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster removes roof for added sound and fury

In his first drive review for Autoblog, contributing writer Jason Harper described the sound of the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ as a "GT3 race car married to a Learjet crossed with a Valkyrie warrior screaming at her husband. At full flog it's loud enough to make you wince and eradicate all conversation. It is the sound of a non-turbo V12 doing exactly what it's made for." Now, imagine hearing all that without a pesky roof in the way. That's what you'll get with the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. It is the convertible version of the SVJ, which replaces the coupe's fixed roof with a carbon fiber panel that must be physically removed and stored under the hood. There is a not-insignificant weight penalty of 110 pounds for going topless, which certainly stands in contrast to the SVJ's various weight-saving measures. Otherwise, the Roadster is business as usual for the SVJ. As a refresher, this Aventador would be the latest-and-greatest version with a track focus. Besides weighing less than the 730-horsepower Aventador S Roadster, it boasts 759 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque from its naturally aspirated V12. Lamborghini says the SVJ Roadster will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds, which is 0.1 second slower than the coupe. It has a seven-speed automated manual transmission and all-wheel drive. The SVJ features the second-generation Aerodynamica Lamborghini Attiva system (ATA), which basically adds an abundance of active aero elements designed to reduce drag and dramatically increase downforce. Those elements manage to selectively channel air away from the prominent rear wing to reduce drag (and therefore increase speed) on a straightaway, while allowing the wing to do its job and increase downforce when braking. It also effectively "stalls" air away from one half of the wing during cornering to provide extra downforce on the inside wheels during cornering and therefore increase grip. For the roadster, airflow is uninterrupted regardless of whether the roof is in place or removed, and Lamborghini says the SVJ sees a 40 percent improvement in downforce compared to the old SV Roadster. Other SVJ elements include a special rear-wheel steering system, while the Haldex fourth-generation all-wheel-drive system and magnetically controlled adaptive suspension have been specially tuned. For the latter, anti-roll stiffness has been improved by 50 percent compared to the SV Roadster.

Lamborghini yacht by Tecnomar is 4,000-hp tribute to the Lambo Sian FKP 37

Lamborghini is no stranger to the boating industry, it developed a pair of marine engines in the 1980s, but it has never made its own boat. It took a step toward the world of yachts when it teamed with Italian firm Tecnomar to design a high-performance vessel inspired by the limited-edition Sian FKP 37 introduced in 2019. It's quick, rare, and head-turning, and it was deemed worth of wearing the company's Raging Bull emblem on its bow. Tecnomar (a boatmaker owned by The Italian Sea Group) worked directly with Lamborghini's Centro Stile to inject some of the design DNA that characterizes Sant'Agata's supercars into a yacht. The end result stands out with a strikingly rakish silhouette, Y-shaped LED lights on the front part of the hull, and hexagonal glass on both sides. They draw a visual link between the yacht and Marcello Gandini-designed cars such as the Miura and the Countach. Settling into the captain's chair feels a lot like slipping behind the wheel of a modern-day Lamborghini, except you're sitting taller, you're floating on water, and there's a lot more space around you. In lieu of an old-fashioned wooden helm, Tecnomar installed a three-spoke steering wheel that looks a lot like the unit Lamborghini currently puts in its cars. It even has a 12-o'clock mark, which seems more than a little superfluous when you're motorboating. Digital gauges display vital information about the boat and its surroundings, including navigation data, and the throttle levers are reminiscent of the drive mode selectors found on the center console of the Urus.     Buttons lifted straight out of the Lamborghini parts bin are used to start the engines -- and, yes, that's plural. While the Sian is the company's first production-bound hybrid model, there is nothing electrified about its water-going sibling. Power comes from a pair of V12 engines built by MAN and each rated at 2,000 horsepower. Performance specifications haven't been released yet, but it sounds like the yacht needs a 4,000-horse punch because it's 63 feet long and it weighs about 53,000 pounds. It's relatively light all things considered thanks in part to the use of carbon fiber in its construction, and it falls in the ultra-lightweight boat category. Tecnomar expects to deliver the first boats in early 2021. It capped production at 63 units globally, and it priced each one at $3 million before options are factored in.

Lamborghini may offer rear-drive Huracan

Lamborghini may not offer a manual-transmission option on the new Huracán - so few customers were asking for it on the preceding Gallardo as it was - but don't think that it won't pursue ever more hardcore variants. And that will reportedly include a rear-drive version.
Speaking with journalists at the Pebble Beach unveiling of the new Huracán Super Trofeo, Lamborghini CEO Stefan Winkelmann is reported to have said, "We did it with the Gallardo so it might be an option. We are a four-wheel-drive super-sports car [manufacturer] but why should we not do a rear-drive option?"
The rear-drive Huracán would naturally shed a few pounds off the all-wheel-drive version's curb weight, but the question is just how much. There is said to have only been so much of the AWD system that Sant'Agata was able to strip out of the Gallardo to make the rear-drive Balboni edition after the fact, but if the Huracán was engineered from the get-go for both drivetrains, the rear-drive version could prove that much more thrilling to drive.