As was widely expected—especially after spy photographers crashed a prelaunch photo shoot in January—Lamborghini has introduced the new Aventador SV at the 2015 Geneva auto show. And like its “Superveloce” (“superfast” in Italian) predecessors dating back to the Miura, this Aventador model is more powerful, lighter, and, yes, even more extreme-looking than the car on which it’s based. Clearly, Lamborghini has no intentions of surrendering any wall space in the rooms of the earth’s population of 12-year-olds.
SuperVeneno
Looking like an Aventador that’s been hanging out in its Uncle Veneno’s garage, the Superveloce features a suite of wild body mods, including new doors, rocker panels, and fenders, as well as modified scoops and a massive, manually adjustable rear wing mounted on two giant struts. Most of these were rendered in carbon fiber, helping reduce overall weight by 110 pounds according to Lambo. The last Aventador we tested tipped the scales at a hefty 4085 pounds, but 110 fewer pounds isn’t insignificant when shaving tenths from acceleration times—especially when zero-to-60-mph times hover near the all-important three-second mark.
Lambo says its aerodynamicists strove to improve both downforce and aerodynamic efficiency without increasing drag. Great success: Downforce is indeed up by a claimed 170 percent, and aero efficiency has been increased by 150 percent. The fact that the SV looks like something from the postapocalyptic Thunderdome is a happy coincidence.
Lamborghini did not leave the interior alone, either. Black microsuede covers most surfaces, and Y-shaped yellow inserts are found on the racing-style seats. The Superveloce also becomes the first production car to feature a soft new carbon-fiber-based fabric that Lambo calls “Carbon Skin”; it’s used for the headliner and in a few other small places in the cockpit. The TFT gauges also have been redesigned, with yellow as the dominant color, the shift indicator in light blue, and a g-force meter occupying the lower part of the cluster.
Its Heart Beats Fast
Now for the best part: The 6.5-liter V-12’s power increase has been confirmed, with the mega motor churning out 740 horsepower at 8400 rpm and 509 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm, a bump of 49 cavalli compared with the standard Aventador. For those of you with encyclopedic knowledge of Lamborghinis, you may recognize those output numbers as identical to those of the kabillion-dollar 2013 Veneno. Lamborghini expects the SV to catapult from zero to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds, to 124 mph in 8.6, and to 186 in 24 flat. Should you have enough road (and nerve), the Superveloce is said to top out somewhere in excess of 217 mph.
The Superveloce also incorporates magnetorheological shocks, variable-ratio steering, carbon-ceramic brake rotors, forged matte-black wheels measuring 20 inches up front and 21 inches in back, and Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber.
Lamborghini describes the Aventador Superveloce as “the most sports-oriented, fastest, and most emotional series-production Lamborghini ever”; ignore the highly emotional Miura, and we might be inclined to believe the statement. That said, this Aventador has a high bar to vault, as we witnessed the Aventador’s stunningly quick little brother, the Huracán, hit 60 in just 2.5 seconds in our recent test. Can you say “grudge match” in Italian? We can’t, but we’re sure it sounds awesome.
The Aventador Superveloce goes on sale in late spring of this year; don’t be surprised to see the price approach $500,000. Lamborghini developed a special “Rosso Bia” red as the Superveloce’s launch color, with five additional colors offered off the rack. Of course, for a price, the Sant’Agata automaker will paint the Aventador with anything owners desire under its Ad Personam personalization program. Camry beige, anyone? We kid—call us old-fashioned, but you can paint ours in that megahot red.
