When Lamborghini launches a new car you can bet your house on it looking so outrageous that your eyes will bulge from their sockets.
And this latest model is no different.
It’s called the Aventador Superveloce Jota (SVJ) and it’s the most powerful naturally aspirated V12 road car the Italian super-brand has ever produced. Oh, and it looks like Kermit on steroids.
It’s so quick that it has set a new lap record for a production model around the Nurburgring – unofficial confirmation that it’s the fastest thing you can buy with four wheels and number plates.
Kermit on steroids: This is the new Lamborghini Aventador SVJ – the most powerful V12 road car the Italian brand has ever produced
As far as extreme design goes, there’s little else on the road that will match it for onlooking shock and awe
In traditional Lamborghini style, there’s no subtlety to the unveiling of its latest tarmac gobbling supercar, showcasing the new Aventador SVJ in a fetching luminous green.
But the assault on your eyes is nothing compared to what this car will do to the rest of your senses.
With 759bhp, the 6.5-litre engine is the most potent of all road-legal V12s the brand has ever unleashed onto the streets.
The Aventador SVJ accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 2.8 seconds. If that doesn’t squeeze the air from your lungs, it will reach 124mph from a standstill in just 8.6 seconds.
That means you could lose your license for speeding quicker than Usain Bolt can finish a 100-metre sprint.
Take it on track – or to an abandoned airfield – and you can put the claimed top speed of ‘in excess of 217mph’ to the test, if you’ve got the nerve.
The Aventador SVJ accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 2.8 seconds. If that doesn’t squeeze the air from your lungs, it will reach 124mph from a standstill in just 8.6 seconds
It’s so fast that you can lose your license for speeding quicker than Usain Bolt can finish a 100-metre sprint
Take it on track – or to a derelict airfield – and you can put the claimed top speed of ‘in excess of 217mph’ to the test, if you’ve got the nerve
Just to confirm the mind-boggling speed of this thing, Lamborghini has rubbed every other car makers nose in the dirt with the fastest recorded lap time for a production model around the infamous Nurburgring circuit.
It completed the 12.8-mile Nordschleife route in six minutes and a shade under 45 seconds.
That’s two seconds quicker than the previous record holder, the Porsche 911 GT2. And to think, Lamborghini has smashed the German manufacturer’s record in its own back yard.
As well as more performance than a standard – if you can call it that – Aventador S, the SVJ gets a full quota of aerodynamic surgery in a bid for absolute performance.
As a result, it looks about as menacing as something with four wheels can get.
Just to confirm the outright pace of the car, Lamborghini set the fastest recorded lap time for a production model around the infamous Nurburgring circuit in the Aventador SVJ
It completed the 12.8-mile Nordschleife route in six minutes and a shade under 45 seconds – 2 seconds quicker than the previous record
The aerodynamic changes to the car make it look about as menacing as something with four wheels can get. The engine cover and rear panel has more slits in it than an a pair of teenager’s ripped jeans
The new front apron is joined by a pair of snarling nostril intakes and the engine cover and rear panel has more slits in it than a pair of teenager’s ripped jeans.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a proper supercar if it didn’t have a wing big enough for you to host a party buffet on and a rear diffuser with more fins than a frenzy of great whites.
It also gets reworked suspension and the rear-wheel steering system has been tweaked to make it as infinitely precise in the corners as it is blisteringly quick on the straights.
The new front apron is joined by a pair of snarling nostril intakes
The interior is lavished with carbon, Alcantara material and more switches than an airport control tower
A limited edition version called SVJ63 (right) – a tribute to Lamborghini’s founding year of 1963 – will also be made, though just 63 examples will be produced
The car was officially revealed at this year’s Monterey Car Week in California, along with a limited edition version called SVJ63 – a tribute to Lamborghini’s founding year of 1963, with 63 examples being produced.
Lamborghini has yet to deliver the final blow of shock – the price – but expect it cost a significant premium on the Aventador S, which rings in at just over £270,000.
Audi has also got in on the supercar act in the US…
This is Audi’s vision for supercars of the future. It’s called the PB18 e-tron and was launched at Pebble Beach on Friday alongside the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Refusing to be outshone by its VW Group sibling, Audi has decided to use the Pebble Beach event to show the motoring world what a supercar of the future – rather than today – might look like.
It’s called the Audi PB18 e-tron Concept and it looks just as bonkers – if not more so – than Lamborghini’s on-sale effort.
It’s party trick is that it can transport the owner from the door across the chassis to the central driving position.
The seat, wheel and pedals all slide electrically into the middle of the car. Then when you want to get out, the seat can move back to the side again. Genius.
Measuring in at four and a half metres long and two metres wide, it’s an all-electric performance weapon with a greater footprint than today’s Range Rovers.
It will certainly be quicker than the rugged British 4x4s, though.
t’s party trick is that it transports you from the door to the driving position
The seat, wheel and pedals all slide electrically into the middle of the car. Then when you want to get out, the seat can move back to the side again
It uses an electric drivetrain consisting of a 95kWh solid state battery and three e-motors – one on the front axle and two on the rear – to produce a combined 671bhp
Using a trio of e-motors, one on the front axle and two on the rear, it produces a claimed 671bhp – more power than the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ’s V12 petrol motor can churn out.
It’s faster to 62mph too, managing the feat in two seconds dead.
To keep those electric motors running, they need a lot of juice. Feeding them is a 95kWh solid state battery, which uses regenerative systems to boost the range on the move.
Under the latest emissions test cycle – called WLTP – it can cover 311 miles between charges, so Audi says. And it doesn’t take long to replenish the battery packs.
Measuring in at four and a half metres long and two metres wide, it’s an all-electric performance weapon with a greater footprint than today’s Range Rovers
Under the latest emissions test cycle – called WLTP – it can cover 311 miles between charges, so Audi says
A full charge takes as little as just 15 minutes, and you can replenish the drained batteries wirelessly
With 800-volt compatibility, it can be fully charged in around 15 minutes. And charging can also be done wirelessly using inductive charging.
Even with an electric drivetrain – which are excessively heavy – Audi has managed to trim it down to the weight of a family car, around one and a half tonnes.
And as well as being fast and light, it’s also pretty practical, in concept form anyway.
It uses an extended body to create a svelte shooting brake – which traditionally is a two-door estate car – with as much boot space as a Volkswagen Tiguan SUV (470 litres).
Being a concept, it’s unlikely we’re going to see this become a reality any time soon, though.
But rest assured much of the technology will be fed into Audi’s soon-to-be-released mainstream cars that the brand is due to launch in the next five years as part of a recover strategy from the embarrassment of the VW emissions cheating scandal.
Even with an electric drivetrain – which are excessively heavy – Audi has managed to trim it down to around one and a half tonnes – the same as an average family car on sale today
And as well as being fast and light, it’s also pretty practical, in concept form anyway. It uses an extended body to create a svelte shooting brake – which traditionally is a two-door estate car – with as much boot space as a Volkswagen Tiguan SUV
We’re unlikely to see the PB18 e-tron make it to production any time soon, but some of the technology might be used in future mainstream cars with electric powertrains
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