AUSTRALIAN NEW CAR & SUV BUYER’S GUIDE | 85L
amborghini’s Aventador S
costs $789,809. Let’s just
call it a neat $1 million once you
tick the options boxes. Oh, and
let’s not forget the luxury car tax
component of almost $170,000.
Aventador Roadster is $825,914.
and Aventador SVJ is $949,640.
Launched in 2012 as the
fl agship successor to the
Murciélago, production is
limited to 1000 cars per year,
largely because its carbon-fi bre
composite monocoque, the car’s
core chassis/body structure, is
made in-house, a complex, time-
consuming operation.
In S form, Aventador’s 6.5-litre
naturally aspirated V12 engine
produces 544kW at 8400rpm.
It’s put to the road via a
seven-speed single clutch
automated manual gearbox and
all-wheel drive.
Weighing in at 1575kg,
Aventador S rockets to 100km/h
in 2.9 seconds and 300km/h in
24.2 seconds, on its way to a
350km/h top speed.
Aventador SVJ, tuned for
566kW of power, reaches
100km/h in 2.8 seconds.
Aventador’s single curved
silhouette from nose to tail
— a defi ning visual element
Lamborghini fi rst used on the 1974
Countach — features a wider front
splitter to increase aerodynamic
downforce — assisted by a three-
position rear wing and higher-fl ow
rear diffuser — and direct more
cooling air to the standard carbon
ceramic brakes.
Sharper hydraulic steering
is supplemented by rear-
wheel steering for greater
agility in low-speed corners
and improved stability at high
speed. Lamborghini’s F1-style
pushrod suspension, with
adaptive dampers, has been
revised accordingly, and bespoke
Pirelli PZero tyres are fi tted,
while the previous model’s three
driving modes — Strada (street),
Sport and Corsa (race) — are
supplemented by the appropriately
named Ego, which gives you an
extra 24 customisable drivetrain,
suspension and steering settings.
The Aventador is not an easy
car to drive.
First you have to get in, via its
vertically swinging doors, a task
that’s impossible to do with any
decorum for an average-sized,
reasonably well-padded bloke. As
for egress, the easiest way to doit is to just open the door, fall out,
keep calm and carry on.
The customisable TFT
instruments are very cool, but the
driver’s seat isn’t as supportive
as a supercar’s should be,
there’s nowhere to put anything
and tall blokes might be a tight fi t
under the low roof. This is not a
practical, spacious car.
I get half-a-dozen laps of
Phillip Island, enough to confi rm
that the V12 is still the ne plus
ultra of atomic-grade, planet-
frying, naturally aspirated
powerplants. It’s a magnifi cent
piece of machinery, but when
you see 270km/h on the speedo
and realise the car is still
accelerating like a missile, it
does focus your attention on the
meaning of life.
The seven-speed
transmission’s shifts can be
harsh, unsettling and slow and
while the steering is eager and
precise, the Aventador rampages
around the track with little
fi nesse or grace. It feels big,
heavy and, at times, unbalanced
when changing direction. It also
works its tyres hard and as the
day wears on, the car gets twitchy
and snakey in faster corners.When the back end wants to
swap places with the front under
brakes at 260km/h on approach
to Turn One, I realise I’d rather
live than continue. Aventador is
spectacularly rapid in a straight
line and it will scare you silly
anytime you like, but there’s not
much else to it, really.LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR S FROM $789,809
THINGS WE LIKE
Mad, bad and beautiful
12 cylinders of naturally aspirated
ferocity
Groovy instruments and that red
engine-start button
Sharp, intuitive steering
Massive braking power
Strong resale values
THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE
Feels unwieldy at speed in corners
and tyre grip can become tenuous
Big and heavy
Getting in and out is a chore
It’s not worth the money
The Huracán is almost half the
price but it’s a much better car
SPEX
Made in Italy
6.5-litre V12 petrol/seven-speed
automated manual/all-wheel drive
544kW of power at 8400rpm;
690Nm of torque at 5500rpm
0–100km/h in 2.9 seconds (claimed)
Warranty: Three years/unlimited
kilometres
11.6L/100km highway; 26.2L/100km
city; 98 octane premium; CO 2
emissions are 394g/km
Standard: Four airbags, stability
control, carbon ceramic brakes,
TFT digital instruments, Apple
CarPlay, Bluetooth, navigation, 20-
inch front/21-inch rear alloy wheels
with 255/30 and 355/25 Pirelli
PZero tyres, leather upholstery,
tyre pressure monitoring.
Redbook future values: 3yr: 60%;
5yr: 49%Safety
Not yet tested
PerformanceHandlingQuality and reliabilityComfort and refi nementValue for moneyOverallSTARS
compare with ...
Ferrari 812 Superfast, Porsche
911 Turbo S