More than skin deep

So now you know what electronic wizardry beneath happens when you push buttons but how does the latest V12 flagship from St Agata drive?

In a nutshell, like a tamed bull. With 700bhp underneath your right foot (which incidentally is offset a fair bit to the left), you’ll expect the Aventador to be quite the white knuckled, perspiration dripping drive. But there is just so much grip from the massive Pirelli P-Zero tyres (255mm up front and 355mm wide at the rear) and four-wheel drive system that the car simply just picks up speed with the same effort that Italian men employ to chat up lusty SPGs at Boat Quay. The power is extremely linear with serious thrust from low rpms thanks to 6.5-litre of naturally aspirated displacement. With 700bhp at 8500rpm, the V12 has a broad flat powerband with not troughs or peaks. Just a relentless surge of power in every gear. Speed builds at a scary pace but cocooned inside the cabin, the scenery moving past is almost surreally serene. Even the exhaust note – which sounds fantastic on the outside – is almost a bit too muted from within.

Make no mistake, with ESP totally off, I’m sure the LP700-4 is still a handful to master. But with all the electronic aids on, this fastest Lamborghini ever will no doubt flatter most weekend warriors and over zealous owners. The carbon ceramic brakes will bleed off speed effortlessly should one find himself charging into a corner too fast. And then if the speed is still a touch too fast, the immense grip available will ensure that that Aventador simply make the corner without much fuss.

With just three laps of a ‘shortened’ Shanghai Circuit for each journalist, its not fair say how the LP700-4 will perform under flat out, hold no prisoners mode. But at 80 percent of its immensely capable performance envelope, the Aventador has proven to be a very tractable supercar whose potential owners can hope to exploit on the streets – where no doubt it’ll be spending most of its time – without fear of being gored.

Credits: Story by Yang Photos by Lamborghini and Yang