Old school Lambo, new tricks
in spirit. It’s supposed to be for those who live on the edge. That image is still justified. But some of those edges have been smoothed off a little for the S model.
Make no mistake, the Aventador S has teeth. It’ll rocket to 100kmh in 2.9 seconds, for example. To anticipate your next thought: yes, a Tesla Model S is faster (because that seems to be everybody’s next thought when you talk supercar performance). But in a Tesla, there aren’t 12 explosive devices assaulting your eardrums and you aren’t lying down like you’re in a coffin, fully prepped to be propelled to The Next Place.
The sights, sounds and sensations the Aventador S offers are hard to match at any price. Although there aren’t that many prices higher than $659,932 anyway. That’s before options. You’ll definitely want options.
The right environment helps create the right mood, of course. Ours was the Australasian media launch for the Aventador S at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit, near Melbourne. Bit wet on track, too. No pressure.
In the powertrain’s most aggressive driving mode under full throttle, my head was literally being smacked against the back of the seat as the single-robotisedclutch seven-speed ISR transmission rammed through its 50-millisecond gearchanges. No wonder they asked us to wear helmets.
And of course an Aventador S requires you to engage completely with it. Lamborghini talks about it being an ‘‘emotional’’ thing. The V12 engine resonates through your body (because it’s almost attached to your body, right behind the cabin), the steering and 4WD system are always active and it’s a special feeling sitting centimetres above the ground, strapped to a ground-effect missile.
Ultimate speed is still a KPI of the Aventador S. Modified front and rear sections with more aggressive aerodynamics (including a three-position active rear wing) have improved overall downforce by 50 per cent compared with the previous model. All the better to hit 350kmh with.
So yes, the Aventador S can still stir and and shock you. Sweaty palms are just a jab of the throttle away.
But many of the changes wrought for the new S-model are also aimed at making it a more usable supercar. At the risk of heresy, a couple of really important ones have surely happened thanks to the work of other brands in the Volkswagen Group, especially Audi and Porsche.
Perhaps the most significant dynamic change is the addition of rear-wheel steering (RWS). The back wheels can steer up to three degrees at low speed (in the opposite direction to the front) and up to 1.5deg at high speed (anywhere between 50-90kmh, same direction as the front). Porsche uses RWS on high-end models like the 911 GT3.
The end result is that the Aventador S is much less hopeless in low-speed manoeuvres – in fact, a quick run on a first-and-secondgear coned-up course showed it to be quite agile – and much more progressive in high-speed changes of direction. There’s also Lamborghini Dynamic Steering (LDS), which gives you a different ratio depending on vehicle speed and the driving situation. Thank you Audi.
Neither RWS or Dynamic Steering are new, but Lamborghini claims that this is the first time they’ve been combined on a production car.
The previous Aventador had three driving modes: Strada, Sport and Corsa. But now there’s a fourth, called Ego which allows you to mix and match any of the other three settings among powertrain, steering and suspension. That gives you an additional 24 modes to choose from and more importantly, allows you to be naughty in some areas without suffering the consequences in others.
The differences between each setting are quite marked. To give an example, the torque split of the 4WD system can vary between 60/40 and 90/10 between Strada and Sport modes. If you want the head-smacking gearchange setting, select Corsa. And so on.
The suspension has also been revised to suit the new powertrain and chassis. As before, the Aventador S has racing-style pushrod suspension and magnetorheological dampers (sometimes called ‘‘magnetic ride’’), but with new geometry and calibration.
All of these systems work together through the Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Attiva (LDVA) control unit. But that’s quite hard to say, so you could just call it the Giant Computer Brain.
So yes, you can now tailor the Aventador S much more to individual taste and yes, you can drive it into a supermarket carpark and actually turn around.
It’s also packed full of technology, including lightweight construction. But if you were to argue that it’s still also the ultimate old-school supercar, it’d be hard for anybody to disagree.