2013 Aventador Gaining Cylinder Deactivation, Stop-Start Systems: Report

A 2013 update to Lamborghini's still-fresh Aventador hypercar will bring somewhat ‘green’ credentials to the model, according to a new report.

The Swedish arm of Auto Motor & Sport has reportedly obtained internal documents that illustrate a raft of changes for the V12-powered Lambo.

Key among these changes will be the addition of a cylinder deactivation system and stop/start technology for the first time, making for a fuel economy improvement of up to 20 percent.

The report claims that European-cycle combined fuel consumption will drop from 17.2 l/100km to 16.0 l/100km, with CO2 emissions reduced from 398g/km to 370g/km.

Effectively reverting the V12 to a six-cylinder engine when under light load, this cylinder deactivation system is likely to draw on technology already employed in its Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley stablemates.

The start/stop system is said to be actuated by a supercapacitor, rather than a battery, which reportedly yields a three kilogram weight saving and faster actuation time.

This system is expected to re-start the engine in 180 milliseconds, significantly faster than the 250 milliseconds of the system currently used in the Ferrari California.