We Took Lamborghini’s Ferocious New Supercar Out for a Spin

A few warnings before climbing into the most extreme Lamborghini: there’s no navigation; no stereo or radio, either, so don’t bother looking. This particular Aventador SV does have air-conditioning, but it’s an optional extra. Be careful of the gearbox too: if you’re sitting at a red light, maybe put it in neutral so as not to overheat anything.

Also, right now it’s out of gas. The massive 6.5-litre, 750 horsepower, 12-cylinder masterpiece of an engine uses roughly the same amount of gas as the oil sands.

It’s Concours weekend in Pebble Beach, California — the part of the Monterey peninsula that’s one big luxury enclave of golf resorts and seaside mansions. Clint Eastwood lives just up the hill. Jay Leno is in town doing his car show. Something like $400 million dollars will change hands during the vintage car auctions this week. This is the only place where a bright red Lambo with a rear wing the size of a surfboard count as status quo.

Only here would you be driving along in your SV and pass another one, the owner flashing the highbeams, acknowledging our mutual privilege and good taste, a dignified way of saying “Twins!”

There are only 600 Lamborghini Aventador SVs in the world and they’re almost all sold. But rest easy, if you want one, you can still put down a deposit for the just-announced SV Roadster — same car, less roof.

Why SV? It stands for Super Veloce, which as you can guess, is Italian for Super Fast. Not the most creative title for Lamborghini’s flagship supercars, but it is accurate. Plus, it does have some history behind it.

The badge first appeared in 1971 on the Miura SV, a V12-powered thing of beauty. It was the car that created the whole supercar sub-genre. Ever since then, the initials SV have graced the fastest, hairiest, meanest supercars to leave the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy.

Nobody would accuse the “normal” Aventador of lacking in power or panache or ability to strike fear into the hearts of all who drive it. But, that didn’t stop Lamborghini from upping the ante with the SV — the company isn’t known for its restraint.

The SV is over 100 lbs lighter, and 50 hp more powerful than the car on which it’s based. It retains the four-wheel drive system too. So 0-100 km/h takes just 2.8 seconds. The seats are minimalist, one-piece carbon fibre pieces, and Lamborghini even ditched the floor mats — and most of the sound dampening — to save weight. You hear ever little pebble ping up against the carbon-fibre floor.

On the road there are precious few opportunities to really test this car. But when an open stretch emerges, you have to try.

Despite the huge displacement of the engine, it responds instantly, without inertia. Its throttle and steering are twitchy, and demand care. The gearbox is an odd single-clutch automated manual. Clunky around town, but it’ll change gears with a BANG the instant you flick the right paddle behind the steering wheel.

Full throttle is something to behold: the noise and flashing lights on the dash telling you to shift up; the way the tarmac seems to warp under the raw torque of those wide Pirelli tires. It’s violent and raw and frantic, totally overloading all your senses.

Which is to say, it’s a properly intimidating supercar. It’s not easy to drive. It’s not especially comfortable. But that’s not the point. It is an unforgettable experience, one you just want to have more of.

In fact, if you want a mid-engined V12 supercar these days, Lamborghini is the only one still crazy enough to build them. McLaren uses a twin-turbo V8 on all its cars. And Ferrari’s V12s all reside in front-engined grand tourers, or as part of a hybrid system in LaFerrari. A hybrid!

Lamborghini was the first to built a true V12 supercar, and now, it looks as though they might also be the last. Long may it rage.

Specs
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Power: 750 horsepower
Gearbox: 7-speed auto
Price: $528,927