To highlight the improvements, Lamborghini provided a back-to-back slalom drive between an Aventador LP700-4 and the new S model.
Last, and certainly not least, the notoriously herky-jerky seven-speed automated manual gearbox has been re-tuned for (slightly) more smoothness. The new EGO system offers customizable drive modes, separating steering, suspension, and drivetrain settings for a total of 24 combinations. Revised aerodynamics boost downforce and decrease drag, depending on the three-setting spoiler's position. The stability control and Haldex all-wheel-drive systems have been revised so power doesn't dump to the front wheels during off-throttle maneuvers, making it easier to steer the beast with the right pedal and power out of corners. On top of revised suspension kinematics and geometry as well as new upper and lower arms and wheel carriers, the pushrod suspension now uses adaptive magnetorheological shocks like those on theĪventador SV. There's more than four-wheel steering at play helping the Aventador S grapple with the corners.
At the Spanish track, the new Aventador manages something the first one couldn't: though it still retains some understeer, it also dances and turns more willingly, snaking its way through each corner with a gratifying combination of weight transfer and grip. Accelerate too early, and you'd suffer terminal understeer until you allowed the weight to shift, likely triggering traction control as you goosed the throttle on the way out. The act required some patience to allow the front wheels to dig in and take hold, and even more resolve to wait for the perfect moment to squeeze the right pedal and power out of the apex.
If you've ever tried to toss a boomerang through a maze, you've got a basic idea of what it took to carry an originalĪventador through a high-speed corner. In case you're keeping tabs, the extra 13 pounds of the steering hardware are offset by a new titanium exhaust system, essentially rendering the curb weight unchanged. The system responds in 5 milliseconds, and has the virtual effect of shortening the wheelbase by up to 20 inches or lengthening it by 27 inches.
Lamborghini's chassis, which now uses a four-wheel-steering system to countersteer the rear wheels below around 75 mph, and turn them in phase with the fronts for stability at higher speeds. But version 2.0's most notable improvements apply to the big Of course theĪventador S produces more power – to the tune of 729 horsepower, a 38-hp climb from before, with torque only increasing by one, to 509 pound-feet – and the extra grunt affects neither its 0-to-62-mph time of 2.9 seconds nor its terminal velocity of 217 mph. This updated version has been rechristened with an S at the end of its name, and yes, in the twisted microcosm of earthbound fighter jets, flames coming out of hindquarters qualify as subtle. Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 (including its alphanumeric name) were subtle, but the boys in Sant'Agata Bolognese have gone full-bore at refining the famously unwieldy flagship enough to make it drive as capably as it looks.
It's just past dawn and I'm running on a thin supply of caffeine and adrenaline, but theĢ017 Lamborghini Aventador S I'm chasing around Circuit Ricardo Tormo just made me crack a grin: faint blue flames are simmering deep within the leader's three exhaust pipes, pulsing almost imperceptibly as it whips around the track.