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Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster loses roof, keeps the speed

Supercar builders seem to becoming good at making convertibles that make negligible sacrifices. McLaren recently launched the 570S Spyder, which is exactly as fast, stiff and efficient as the coupe with only about 100 pounds of extra weight. Now, Lamborghini has done virtually the same thing with its flagship Aventador S Roadster. The Aventador S Roadster features the same naturally aspirated V12 as its hard-headed twin, and it makes the same 729 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque. That engine will take the roadster to the same 217 mph top speed as the Aventador S coupe. The only sacrifices appear to be that the roadster weighs 110 pounds more than the coupe, and it has a claimed 0-62 mph time a tenth of a second slower. But we're not sure you'll care about that tenth of a second with the wind in your hair and the V12's exhaust note in your ears. And if you ever get tired of the exposure to the elements, you'll always have the top with you, since the top panels, weighing roughly 13 pounds a piece, can be stowed in the front trunk. Actually, there is one extra sacrifice to choosing the convertible, and that would be the price. The Aventador S Roadster has a starting MSRP of $460,247. That's roughly $40,000 more than the coupe. That could get you a well-optioned and customized Aventador S coupe, but no amount of custom interior configurations can get you the full auditory experience the Roadster can. Related Video: Featured Gallery Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster: Frankfurt 2017 Related Gallery Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster View 14 Photos Image Credit: Lamborghini Lamborghini Convertible Supercars lamborghini aventador s

Lamborghini Miura Retro Review: What it's like to drive the original supercar

“Glon, youÂ’re in the Miura.” Hang on, IÂ’m in what now? About a minute later, I have the keys to a 1973 Lamborghini Miura SV finished in Oro Metallizzato. Five minutes later, IÂ’m annoyed by the frosty winter air whooshing onto my face but too enthralled by the V12Â’s noise to close the window. The person who coined the phrase “never meet your heroes” clearly hasnÂ’t been let loose in the original supercar, a model of paramount importance in the pantheon of automotive history. Unveiled in 1966, and positioned above the 400 GT as LamborghiniÂ’s range-topping model, the Miura may as well have landed from a far, unexplored corner of the galaxy. It stretched about 172 inches long, 69 inches wide, and merely 41.5 inches tall, dimensions that gave it proportions more closely aligned with todayÂ’s definition of a supercar than with the crop of GTs whizzing by in the left lane of the Italian autostrada in the 1960s. I canÂ’t say that the Miura broke with tradition, Lamborghini didnÂ’t have much in the way of tradition three short years after its gutsy inception, but it looked nothing like the 400 GT. Highly respected Italian designer Marcello Gandini penned the Miura while working for Bertone. Its Fiat 850 Spider-sourced headlights were mounted nearly flat, its door handles were integrated into a column of fins, and its roof line peaked above the seats before flowing into a Kammback-like rear end. Mamma mia! It may look humble parked next to an Aventador, but its design was revolutionary in the 1960s. Equally revolutionary was the technical layout. While the 400 GT — and most high-end GTs sold during this era — were fitted with a front-mounted engine, the MiuraÂ’s 3.9-liter V12 was positioned directly behind the passenger compartment. Odder still, it was mounted transversally. Some historians claim that the inspiration for this arrangement was the original Mini, which stretched just 120 inches long thanks in part to a transverse-mounted engine. The MiniÂ’s role in shaping the Miura has never been proven, but whatÂ’s certain is moving the engine back and turning it 90 degrees changed LamborghiniÂ’s history. More than simply a new model for what was then a small, obscure company, the Miura became nearly a deity in the automotive stratosphere. It blazed the course that dozens of supercars have followed since. Rejigging the proportions required rearranging the interior.

Runway Rumble: Nissan GT-R, Ducati 1098 and Lamborghini Reventon Roadster battle it out

One 2.5-mile runway, three different ways to take off: a Ducati 1098, a tuned Nissan GT-R with 580 horsepower and a launch control upgrade, and a Lamborghini Reventon Roadster. You'd naturally expect the Ducati to assert it's lightweight, high-horsepower authority in these matters, but with more than two miles to run, the ride that gets the jump at the line isn't always the one that gets the win.
That comes in especially handy for the Lamborghini, which suffers from a bad start in the first race and just looks plain ordinary in the second, until it finds redemption. You can see how it all goes down in the video below.