motors
ADVENTURE C
AN AVENTADOR
an you ever have too much of a good thing? There are those who seem pretty confi dent that there is no such thing as too much.
How else could you explain the existence of the
Lamborghini Aventador Roadster LP700-4 – even the name is longer than the Coupé on which it is based. There’s the looks for starters. The Aventador
Coupé is hardly a wallfl ower, but the Roadster has a few tricks of its own. For starters it has to accommodate some sort
of roof mechanism, so at the back where there is normally a slated window there are two hexagonal windows into the engine bay. The roof itself comes in two pieces of
carbonfi bre, and although at launch they’re coloured matte black other colour options will be available later. To remove them you have to tilt the seat
forward, release a catch, pull the panel out of position and stash it in the boot at the front. You could argue that’s a bit of a faff (and you’d
be right) but the alternative would compromise the car’s looks, and a fabric roof would not handle 217mph. Yes, the Aventador Roadster is not a fraction
slower than its Coupé counterpart. Under those little windows there is the same
satanical 6.5-litre V12 engine that debuted in the fi xed-roof version, pumping out a spectacular 691bhp. The roof system also helps keep the weight
down; with that plus a little body strengthening the Roadster is a mere 50kg heavier, and as a result it can post 3.0 seconds for the 0-62mph sprint and bash past the 200mph mark.
50 THEbusiness QUARTER Lamborghini claims that the Roadster posts
exactly the same lap times around its test circuit as the Coupé. On the track, idling down the pit lane it’s hard
not to be a little intimidated given the huge amount of power and the whopping price tag, but after only a few corners it’s clear to see that it is actually a remarkably friendly device. There’s four-wheel drive spinning away beneath you to keep the power in check, and the Sport and Corse modes (selectable on the centre console) not only alter the operation of the ESP and the gearbox but also the power split between front and rear. Select the most aggressive Corse mode and the
Aventador feels pinned to the track, and allows you to get on the power early out of the bends and simply rocket down the straights. After the track came the road drive – a cruise
along Ocean Drive, Miami, reveals the other reason why you’d want to buy one; people love this car. Some other rival marques might not enjoy the
same universal approval that the Aventador got, thanks to its sheer outlandishness. The maximum possible speed on Ocean Drive is about 15mph, but the crowd along the street waved, applauded, wanted their picture taken with it. One guy raced out into the middle of the
road and offered us a free lunch if we parked the Aventador outside his restaurant – that’s the kind of response it provokes. And that’s exactly why you’d buy one. At
almost £300,000 it won’t be your only car and if you have that much to spend you’re unlikely to be much of a wallfl ower yourself. Its rivals seem a bit plain and straightforward in comparison – this is a proper, outlandish, cartoon-like Lamborghini supercar that can still do the boring stuff too.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60