- Doors and Seats
2 doors, 2 seats
- Engine
6.5i, 12 cyl.
- Engine Power
552kW, 690Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (98) 16L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2015 Lamborghini Aventador SV LP750-4 review
Downsizing. It is the buzzword in the car industry. The act of taking a large capacity, naturally-aspirated engine and replacing it with a smaller capacity, turbocharged engine; increasingly with some sort of hybrid option.
It began in small cars, like the Volkswagen Golf, but as spread across the car industry as governments around the world push for reduced CO2 emissions.
It has spread to the likes of BMW M, Mercedes' AMG division and even Ferrari – replacing big V8s with smaller turbocharged engines.
Downsizing has even reached Formula One, with the sport switching from screaming naturally-aspirated V8s to hi-tech 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid 'power units'.
But while this new generation of downsized turbocharged engines are better for the environment and can still pack a performance punch, for true driving enthusiasts the purity of a high-revving, naturally-aspirated engine cannot be beaten.
A more linear power delivery, without the need to wait for turbochargers to spin up, and a more raucous exhaust note (although modern turbo engines are sounding better and better) make naturally-aspirated engines so engaging to those you love driving.
Thankfully for those enthusiasts Lamborghini and Porsche aren't bowing to peer pressure and joining the downsizing trend (well, at least not completely in Porsche's case).
Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann has vowed his company will be the "last man standing" in defending the naturally-aspirated engine.
"The brand has a DNA, and that has to be maintained. Otherwise there is no reason to exist," Winkelmann told Drive this week.
"Of course, it has to be done in line with the regulations, but not to invest in things which are not requested by our customers. Lamborghini is equal to technical innovation, but not in fields which are not relevant to the super sports car."
Winkelmann was speaking at the launch of the new Aventador Super Veloce LP750-4 – the company's most powerful V12 coupe.
And while the Italian company was unleashing the Aventador SV on the world, in Germany Porsche was launching the new 911 GT3 RS.
It has bucked the trend and increased its engine capacity, from 3.8- to 4.0-litres, as the company tries to create the ultimate driver's 911.
First Drive: 2015 Lamborghini Aventador SV LP750-4
Barrelling down the front straight of the Circuit de Catalunya with 6.5-litres of naturally-aspirated V12 wailing behind my ears at 8500rpm I can't even hear myself scream.
As a flick the right paddle into sixth gear, it thumps me in the back like I've been hit by a cricket bat. And just before the speedo reaches 300km/h, I stomp on the brakes and force the air from my lungs as I ignite the full force of the carbon ceramic stoppers.
The Lamborghini Aventador SV is obnoxiously extreme in every sense – and that's just the way the Italian sportscar maker intended.
As only the fourth model in its history to wear the Super Veloce badge – which literally translates from Italian to mean Very Fast – the Aventador follows in the wheeltracks of the Muira, Diablo and Murcielago models as the most hardcore expression of Lamborghini's flagship supercar. Like its predecessors, the SV is lighter and more powerful than the already outrageous Aventador and features more aggressive exterior add-ons that generate increased levels of downforce as well as a raft of chassis modifications that improve upon its dynamic abilities.
Building on its lightweight carbon monocoque structure, the extensive use of carbon fibre in the new aero bits, as well as additional lightweight plastic panels and a stripped back interior, the SV weighs in 50 kilograms lighter, tipping the scales at 1525kg.
As for the engine, Lamborghini has developed a lightweight exhaust system with reduced back pressure and tweaked the variable valve timing system and intake manifold, all of which raises the maximum engine speed to 8500rpm – up 500 revs – to generate an additional 37kW, raising peak power to 552kW at 8400rpm while torque remains static at 690Nm from 5500rpm.
To deliver all that grunt to the tarmac – and ensure the SV can erupt from a standstill to reach 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds – the seven-speed semi-automatic transmission has been recalibrated with the ability to switch cogs in 20 milliseconds in Corsa mode, and the Haldex all-wheel drive system has been tweaked to react faster in transferring torque between the front and rear axles.
But just as critical are the changes to the dynamic elements, with the SV adopting magnetic dampers and a new variable ratio steering rack as well as wearing specially-developed Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres – measuring 225/35 at the front and a massive 355/25 at the back – on its lighter, centre-locking alloy wheels.
Even though our first drive was restricted to a handful of laps on the circuit, the Aventador SV seems civilised enough (in supercar terms) to use around town. But the SV needs to be unleashed on a racetrack to experience its party tricks.
It's only on a track where you'd be brave enough to flick through to its hardest Corsa setting, which raises the rev limit to access the extra power, the dampers are stiffened to their maximum, the gearbox thumps through the cogs as fast as it can and the ESP is relaxed enough to allow for a bit of movement through the corners and wheelspin under acceleration.
The Aventador needs respect, but there is a seeming mutual admiration when it is driven harder and closer to its limits. That's because, if you can get past the intimidation factor, then the SV is a surprisingly playful and chuckable machine. In some ways it feels like a low-slung rally car in that you can use its tendency for lift-off oversteer to set-up for the corner (rather than panic in the middle of it) and then adjust its mid-corner attitude using the throttle and faith that its all-wheel drive system powers it out of the corner with plenty of traction. And yet in other ways, it feels like a genuine race car, with direct and precise steering, virtually no body roll through the bends and masses of grip from its sticky tyres.
Either way, it lives up to its name as being Very Fast. Very, very fast.
While rivals such as the Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari and McLaren P1 need to be admired for fast forwarding the future of hybrid-powered high-end sportscars, so to does Lamborghini for steadfastly staying in the past with cars like the Aventador SV.
It is the extreme expression of a supercar that not only turns heads but one that ignites the senses and challenges and rewards those lucky enough to afford one.
2015 Lamborghini Aventador SV
Price: $882,650 (plus on-road costs)
On-sale: September 2015
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Power: 552kW at 8400rpm
Torque: 690Nm at 5500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed automated manual, AWD
Performance: 2.8sec (0-100km/h), 350km/h (top speed)