Aventador joins ranks of elite at the Nordschleife
I BLAME the original 1979 MadMax cult movie for this. Ever since Mel Gibson revved up the film’s iconic supercharged Ford Falcon Police Interceptor, anybody who has wanted to infuse a standard model with a touch of attitude has simply finished it in very, very offwhite and called it a Black Edition.
That said, most Porsches – thanks to their unfussy styling – look very smart in black-on-black, so there will be no more sarcasm directed at the new Black Edition special series 911 Carrera and Boxster models, available to order in South Africa as of this week. All Black Edition Porsches come with built-in telephony and navigation modules, automatically-dimming rear-view mirror cruise control and a special Sport Design steering wheel.
The 911 Carrera Black Edition is available as either a coupé or a convertible, with your choice of rear or allwheel drive. Each has the basic 257kW, 3.4-litre flat six, 20inch 911 Turbo rims and LED headlights operating on Porsche’s Dynamic Light System Plus.
The all-black interior features heated sports seats, a Bose sound system, and parking sensors front and rear linked to a reversing camera.
The mid-engined Boxster roadster has the 195kW, 2.7litre flat six, 20-inch Carrera Classic rims and bi-xenon “dynamic system” headlights. Blackness covers the soft top and roll-over bar, as well as the heated seats.
A wind deflector, dualzone air-conditioning and a premium audio package are standard issue. Pricing, says Porsche SA, will be announced shortly. LAMBORGHINI’S new Aventador LP 750-4 SuperVeloce has joined the world’s most exclusive supercar club, the elite group of street-legal production cars that have lapped the infamous Nordschleife at the Nurburgring, in less than seven minutes.
To date it has just two confirmed members: the Porsche 918 Spyder, still the fastest with a time of 6:57, set by Marc Lieb late in 2013, and the SuperVeloce, with a time of 6:59.73 on Monday this week.
McLaren controversially claimed that its P1 had done a sub-seven minute lap in 2014 but has scrupulously avoided providing any proof.
The (apparently bog standard) Lamborghini broke through the magic barrier at the hands of Pirelli test driver Marco Mapelli, during the development days for the latest version of its P Zero Corsa street-legal tyres.
Standard it may have been but the LP 750-4 SuperVeloce, first shown at this year’s Geneva motor show, is no ordinary Aventador. Wearing one of the sexiest aero kits on four wheels, it comes with fifty extra horses in the engine compartment behind the driver (for a total of 750hp or 552kW at 8 400rpm) and 50 less kilograms.
It’ll launch from a standstill to 100km/h in 2.8 seconds flat, says the maker, and hit “more than 350km/h” flat out. Lamborghini plans to make just 600 examples, at the an eyewatering R8.5 million each – that’s a cool R1.35-million more than the LP 700-4! One has already been ordered for South Africa, and will be delivered to a customer in Cape Town in January. The Nordschleife (North Loop) of the Nurburgring, nicknamed the Green Hell by Jackie Stewart, is 20.832km long, although record laps are measured from the footbridge to the gantry, a distance of 20.600km, which includes no less than 154 corners. To get from bridge to gantry in less than seven minutes you have to average 177km/h. Ride along with Mapelli on incar video at: http://iol.io/b9avs