Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4

Scoring seat time in a super-exotic car like the Lamborghini Aventador is always a rarity. So we were delighted to be handed these keys recently for a 2-hour solo blast through California’s Carmel Valley. Properly titled the Aventador LP 700-4, this is Lambos’s top street fighter, and packs a 700-horsepower wallop from its 6.5 liter V12 engine, fed through a 7-speed single clutch sequential gearbox to all four wheels. The Aventador is a big car at over 15 ½ feet long…about as long as a Toyota Camry… yet tips the scales at a trim 3472 pounds thanks to a carbon-fiber monocoque cloaked in carbon fiber and aluminum body panels...so it delivers a power-to-weight ratio right up there with say… a fighter jet. Actually, styling pays more than a passing nod to the F-117 stealth fighter with its sharp angles and broad flat planes. But there is nothing at all stealthy about the Aventador’s performance. Zero to 60 blurs by in under 3 seconds, en route to a top speed of 217 mph. 

We didn’t approach that terminal velocity, but might admit to a few ticketable bursts of speed on lonelier stretches of road. On those uneven, twisty and narrow roads, the Aventador’s racing-inspired front and rear horizontal dampers and pushrod suspension kept its poise, but we think it’s better suited for smoother, long stretches of asphalt ribbon. Speed-dependent hydraulic-electric power steering gives plenty of feedback with just the right amount of heaviness. In auto mode, the single-clutch gearbox is clumsy and clunky. We opted to shift mostly for ourselves, just to hear that V12 howl towards its lofty redline, over and over again…right to the end of our ride. And, it can be all yours for a king’s ransom, before options, of about $380,000.