Posted on March 3rd, 2008 by Auto News
Lamborghini plans to introduce an updated Gallardo at this year??™s Geneva auto show, the Gallardo LP560-4??”???LP??? for longitudinale posteriore, meaning the longitudinally mounted engine sits behind the driver, ???560??? for 560 PS (pferde starke, a primarily German unit of power), and ???4??? for four-wheel drive. Five hundred sixty PS translates to 552 horsepower, which is up from 513 horsepower in the current car.
The new Gallardo also gets visual tweaks, but no official pics have surfaced as of yet. We??™ll be sure to give you all the details and tons of photos of this latest Gallardo as soon as we can. Check back the first week of March.
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Posted on January 23rd, 2008 by Auto News
The new Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 features considerable innovations in terms of body design and mechanics. And also with a new name: Murcielago LP640, which refers to its engine position - longitudinale posteriore - and to its power 640 bhp. Designers and engineers have not only focused on reworking the engine, suspensions, gearbox, exhaust system, brakes and electronics, but also the interior and exterior design; improvements that make the Murcielago LP 640 the most extreme and fastest sports car in its class, placing it at the very top.
The first vehicles will be available in spring 2006. Since the original Murcielago??™s debut at the 2001 International Car Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, around 2,000 vehicles have left the car plant in Sant??™ Agata Bolognese.
Unmistakable Lamborghini Design
In their reinterpretation of the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, the designers at the Lamborghini Style Centre have remained true to the traditional Lamborghini principles of purism, sport and function. The Murcielago LP640 now appears even more aggressive, with the new front and rear bumpers contributing significantly to its appearance. The exhaust system terminal has been incorporated in the diffuser on the rear bumper. Other innovations include the rear lights, which enhance the distinguishing features of the Murcielago LP640, making it unmistakable even at night. The design of the sides is also worth mentioning: while the area behind the air intake on the right side is practically closed, the left side features a vast aperture for cooling the oil radiator. Together with the aerodynamically defined front and rear, this proves yet again that the shape of a Lamborghini is dictated by function.
More Powerful Engine
The engine of the new Murcielago LP640 has undergone outstanding and radical modification. The increased bore and longer stroke have boosted the displacement of the classic 60?° V-engine from 6.2 liters to 6.5 liters. Thus the already extraordinary 580 bhp engine power has now been elevated to an impressive peak of 640 bhp at 8,000 rpm. The 12-cylinder engine reaches a maximum torque of 487 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm.
The new Murcielago LP640 features a modified sixratio gearbox as well as a tougher rear differential and new axle shafts. On request, the e-gear automatic gearbox is also available equipped with the new dedicated ???Thrust??? (acceleration program) mode.
Frame and Chassis: Perfect Harmony
The body of the Murcielago LP640 with its characteristic scissor doors is created from the prized union of sheet steel and honeycombed carbon fiber, glued and riveted together.
Driving, handling and stability at high speed are enhanced by new springs and stabilizers, as well as by a redesigned electronically controlled damper. The “antidive” and “anti-squat” features on the axles, which efficiently prevent so-called “brake diving” and “squatting”, have not been changed. The two springs on every rear wheel, the single spring on every front wheel and the damper are placed coaxially.
Optional CeramicCarbon Brakes
The dual hydraulic circuit brake system equipped with a vacuum brake booster ensures considerable deceleration values. The self-ventilating front and rear brake disks measure 380 mm x 34 mm and 355 mm x 32 mm respectively. The control circuit of the four-channel anti-blocking system (ABS) with electronic brake control (DRP) and traction control (TCS) features a new characteristic curve. The system consists in an electro-hydraulic control unit and four speed sensors.
When particularly high braking performance is required, it is possible to equip the vehicle with 380 mm x 36 mm ceramic carbon brakes featuring six-piston brake calipers.
Even More Exclusive Interior
The seats in the cockpit have undergone the most radical changes; more spacious and equipped with redesigned head restraints, the seats now ensure better comfort. The leather upholstery features lozenge-shaped stitching called “Q-citura”. The same design is recaptured on the upholstery on the door panels, the panel between the seats and the engine compartment, and on the roof panel.
A new instrument panel has been developed with lights featuring a new graphic design, flanked by a new Kenwood car radio with a 6.5??? widescreen monitor and DVD, MP3 and WMA player. An optional navigation system is also available (standard in Japan).
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Posted on December 28th, 2007 by Auto News
 ? Lucca, Italy - Rational parameters such as sense and? sensibility simply don’t belong in the same universe as the new Murcilago LP640 roadster. This Lambo’s craziest element, its soft top, is located about an inch above your scalp. It’s made of a mix of canvas, transparent plastic, velcro straps, and a thicket of black metal bars. I hate it with a vengeance. When the device is in place, you’re advised not to exceed 100 mph or else the outer edges of the roof might come adrift, triggering hurricane-style chaos. But with the roof stowed in the luggage compartment, the topless LP640 can reach a top speed of 205 mph. (As with the LP640 coupe, the name represents the car’s engine position–longitudinale posteriore–and its horsepower, 640.) We briefly saw the needle hit 200 mph, but at that pace you need goggles to keep your eyes dry.
After the thoroughly convincing Gallardo Spyder, Lamborghini fans hoped for a similar, automatic folding roof for the updated open-air Murcilago. Unfortunately, the LP640 roadster is haunted by the same manual top as its predecessor. Removing the complex scaffolding takes no more than three or four minutes, but putting the stuff back on requires the efforts and considerable patience of two people. Just ask Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni, who taught us plenty of new Italian vocabulary while spending more than fifteen minutes trying to pitch this incredibly stubborn tent.
The best thing about the LP640 roadster is that it removes all the barriers that separate you from the sounds of the wonderfully melodious engine. Even with the windows up, the turbulence above 70 mph will flatten your nose, fold back your ears, and push dimples into your cheeks. At the same time, the unfiltered 6.5-liter V-12 assaults your hearing organs. Full throttle through the gears is an incredibly physical experience: 4000 rpm sounds deafening, 6000 rpm hurts, and 8000 rpm threatens a momentary coma. In sync with what’s going on inside the auditory canals, this car attacks your sense of balance by applying what feels like the longitudinal g-force of a Formula 1 racing car. Lamborghini claims that the two-seater can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, a 0.4-second gain over the previous version. A Bugatti Veyron is almost four times more expensive but only 0.9 second quicker.
Like the LP640 coupe that went on sale last spring, the LP640 roadster offers optional ceramic brakes, a navigation system, restyled eighteen-inch wheels, resculpted door mirrors, a bigger oil cooler, stronger driveshafts, and a beefed-up rear differential. Although the power- train chips have been reprogrammed, the optional automated-manual e-gear transmission still suffers from occasional takeoff hiccups.
Amazingly enough, the Murcilago has traction control but no stability aids, so the tail end needs to be treated with care on slippery surfaces. Thanks to all-wheel drive, grip is never an issue, and the brakes squash energy with amazing efficiency. The Sport button has a whiplash effect on the transmission but not on the dampers, which are already tuned for speed rather than for comfort. The steering is quick, precise, and neatly weighted, but the turning radius measures an excessive 41.2 feet.
For $361,700 (with e-gear), you certainly can buy a more practical sports car, but you can’t buy a more outlandish one. With an amazing engine and a wild ride that can take you past 200 mph, the topless LP640 fears no rivals in terms of its wow factor.
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Posted on December 28th, 2007 by Auto News
Like most Italians, Moreno Conti is a man prone to hand gestures. “Yesterday,” he says, his hands swooping toward my face, “parking in the Via Internationale in Bologna, all of Bologna, it was like this.” He raises his arms again, elbows dancing, and brings both fists down toward his belt buckle. I have no idea what this movement means, but it’s followed immediately by more gestures, most of them too quick to decipher. He quickly realizes he’s losing me and wraps things up: “Much handling,” he says, hands on his hips, “for the tour bus.”
Conti is trying to tell me what happens when you take the $1.4 million Lamborghini Revent??n out into traffic. (As far as I can tell, tour buses make illegal U-turns, intersections grind to a halt, and the delicate fabric of society rips itself a new one.) He should know. Conti is the man in charge of Lamborghini’s demonstration fleet and the Revent??n’s de facto chaperone, and as such, he’s probably done more miles in the car than anyone else.
And so I am waiting in the courtyard in front of Lamborghini’s headquarters, standing next to the irreplaceable, only-one-of-its-kind Lamborghini Revent??n and wondering if my brain is going to implode when I turn the key. I climb into the car, stab the brake pedal, and fire things up. My brain doesn’t collapse at the sound, the Earth continues to spin on its axis, and Paris Hilton is still alive and well. I am, I admit, somewhat disappointed.
To be a little disappointed in the Revent??n, however, is to know the Revent??n well. Lamborghini hawks the car as an all-new, world-beating model-one befitting a sticker price that’s more than triple that of any other production Lamborghini-but in reality, it’s little more than a tweaked and rebodied Murci?©lago LP640. The Revent??n’s 6.5-liter V-12 is standard-issue Murci?© stuff, as are the car’s all-wheel-drive system, paddle-shifted E-gear transmission, and basic body structure. It might look expensive, and it might be expensive, but it’s ultimately not as get-your-hopes-up ridiculous as its price would make you think.
So what about that price? The million-dollar-yes, million-premium over a standard Murci?©lago buys you new carbon-fiber outer bodywork, new forged aluminum eighteen-inch wheels, new seats, new interior trim, and a new-from-the-ground-up digital instrument cluster. Not to mention exclusivity: Only twenty customer Revent??ns will be built, regardless of demand, and all of them are already spoken for. (Our test car was labeled number zero of twenty; it also saw duty as the primary exhibit on Lamborghini’s Frankfurt motor show stand.) The whole car was designed to look like a landed fighter jet, and the theme carries over into everything from the instrument cluster font (white military-look stencil) and trim (camo brown suede) to the paint (matte stealth-look diamond black).
In person, the Revent??n isn’t necessarily pretty-from some angles, it’s just a mass of polygons and whack-your-knees-off sharp edges-and it’s initially difficult to get your head around. The car seems entirely too one-off absurd, as if some rich customer came to pick up his Murci?©lago and, pinky to his lip, became a scheming Dr. Evil. (”Yes, yes, it’s very nice. But can you make it . . . pointy?”) Certain pieces of the Revent??n’s design are definitely very cool, and yet others look as if someone took a brush and a can of paint to someone else’s finished work of art. All things considered, the ordinary Murci?©lago is a good-looking Mona Lisa of a car, and it probably didn’t need fuzzy eyebrows and a Dick Dastardly moustache.
Still, cars are meant to be driven as much as stared at, and in that respect, the Revent??n latest doesn’t disappoint: Like the Murci?©lago that lives under its skin, the Revent??n is an angry, unruly beast that feels barely tamed. Heavy steering, a jud-jud-juddering clutch takeup, torture-chamber unadjustable seats, and a driveline that winds up in tight corners all conspire to make you want out, and yet you keep driving. Like most Lambos, the Revent??n succeeds in spite of itself-it kicks your ass six ways from Sunday, but the noise and the pain and the sheer drama of it all keep you glued to the wheel.
In the end, that’s really all a million-dollar Lamborghini has to do. And as we pull back into the parking lot in Sant’ Agata, a tour bus locks up its rear wheels and grinds to a halt in our path. Even in seen-it-all Lambo Land, mere feet from the factory’s door, the Revent??n has stopping power. Maybe that, in itself, is all those twenty soon-to-be-owners want. Much handling for the tour bus, indeed.
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Posted on December 24th, 2007 by Auto News
? If the greatest dream in all gearheaddom is of greater and greater speed, then the fullest realization of that dream must trade wheels for wings. If you can watch Top Gun without cursing your slow reflexes, bad back, or coke-bottle glasses, then maybe you should stick to collecting stamps.
So Lamborghini, builder of dreams and fulfiller of fantasies, has decided if its customers can??™t fly Maverick??™s F-14 Tomcat, then at least they can drive something that looks like the ground-bound equivalent.
If you??™re thinking you??™ve seen this before, that??™s because what looks like a Murci?©lago in costume is in fact a Murci?©lago in costume. According to Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, the company ???took the technical base of the Murci?©lago LP640 and compressed and intensified its DNA, its genetic code.??? In other words, Lamborghini took the already over-the-top Murci?©lago and went so high above it that Luke Skywalker could mistake the Revent??n for an enemy combatant.
From the pointed nose all the way down those long rear buttresses, what is still recognizable as a Murci?©lago has been tweaked and folded in a way that makes even the Murci look tame by comparison. Then the whole thing is painted in a matte gray/green Navy-fighter camo color Lamborghini has named after the car itself, Revent??n.
The fighter-pilot fantasy endures inside, where the LCD instrumentation is styled after a fighter cockpit, minus the dozens of gauges that would leave the average driver drooling and speechless. A plain old steering wheel still controls direction, though. No control stick here. All carbon fiber and gray Alcantara, the interior of this street fighter plays its part well.
Despite the stylistic reform and a huge price premium, the Revent??n is mechanically identical to a Murci?©lago LP640. Lamborghini scrounged around inside the 6.5-liter V-12 for an additional nine horses, for 641 hp torturing all four tires through a six-speed e-gear automated manual transmission. Not that we would complain about a 3.4-second rush to 60 mph and a 224-mph top speed, but for $1.4 million, we might hope for something a bit more special under that jagged engine cover.
You read that correctly: $1.4 million. As in, ???the price of a loaded Murci?©lago, plus a million dollars.??? Plus three moderately optioned Murci?©lagos! But it looks so cool, and like all Lamborghinis, it??™s named after a fighting bull. Revent??n the bull made a name for himself by killing famous bullfighter F?©lix Guzm??n in 1943 in Mexico City.
Will Revent??n the car prove as deadly? It still won??™t get many chances to buck owners. Lamborghini will make only 20 copies of this limited-edition supercar, and they’ve all been sold already to the privileged??”you??™d have a fairly sound argument for saying ???foolish??? here, too??”few dreamers who will ever fly this fantasy.
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Posted on November 22nd, 2007 by Auto News
As the expected delivery date nears for the lighter, more powerful Ferrari Challenge Stradale, Lamborghini loyalists get this good news: the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Like the prancing-horse crowd, the bucking-bull boys have corralled a few more horsepower and shed some unnecessary weight to create this special edition.
Starting with the already exhilarating Gallardo coupe, Lamborghini chucks the rear diffuser, the underbody tray, the rearview-mirror housings, the interior door panels, the central tunnel, and the engine cover and replaces them all with carbon-fiber copies of the old panels for a reduction of 154 pounds, bringing the weight down into the 3370-pound neighborhood.
Then, compounding this weight-loss program, the intake and exhaust systems are retuned, and the ECU is reprogrammed to stir up 10 more horsepower, for a total of 523. Lamborghini claims these upgrades will spit a Superleggera to sixty in 3.8 seconds, 0.3 second quicker than the last Gallardo coupe we tested. Lamborghini??™s paddle-shifted e-gear six-speed transmission (usually a $10,000 option) comes standard in the Superleggera. Get in line now. This special-edition Lambo will be available in March 2007 and will certainly cost a significant chunk more than the Gallardo??™s already steep $175,000 base price.
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