The article was originally produced on October 12, 2011, some facts and prices may have changed since then.

Lamborghini Aventador LP-700-4

The last bull has fallen to the sword in Barcelona after the people there voted against bullfighting so that it is now banned. However, Lamborghini has unleashed a new bull with more muscle and power than ever that will continue to terrorize the matadors. Aventador is the name of the new bull from Sant'Agata Bolognese!

We've made our way down to Italy and Lamborghini's birthplace to get to know the most powerful brand ever produced. Exactly the same trip we did two years ago to test the brand's then powerhouse, the Murciélago LP-670-4 SV, a slimmed-down Murciélago with 670 horsepower from the 6.5 liter V12 engine. A beast that could make almost anyone fear it. Will the new Lamborghini Aventador be able to evoke the same emotions?

Not only has Lamborghini given the Avantador more powder in the engine, they have also uncompromisingly made a design that is about keeping the weight down. This has been solved through a so-called monocoque made entirely of carbon fiber, which provides incredible torsional stiffness, but at the same time low weight. The technology to build up the car in this way is mostly only found in very advanced racing cars. 

A couple of days before departure we received an email from a colleague in the industry asking if we had seen the latest on a motoring blog where a white Lamborghini Aventador had been photographed lying deep in a ditch on the side of the road. According to the text on the site, it testified to a careless overtaking and that it was the Lamborghini press car that was involved. Something that as a journalist you would prefer not to hear so close to departure. Once down there, however, it turns out that there was one more car, a black furious bull at our disposal. 

After a quick briefing, we roll out of the factory. Everyone stares even though there should be several similar cars rolling out every day for testing. But it's easy to understand those who can't stop watching. With its angular design, the Aventador can almost be compared to a so-called stealth aircraft that is designed to trick the radar. Some lines can be compared to those found on the extremely limited version, the Reventon, a further development of the Murciélago. The Aventador has received an even more angular design. Nowadays, you cannot manually fold up any air intakes or wings, it now happens automatically at speeds above 70 and 120 km/h.

The gearbox, which is not a dual-clutch gearbox, but a 7-speed so-called ISR gearbox and has three modes, Strada, Sport and Corsa. In normal city driving, the Strada works perfectly, possibly on the verge of being a little lethargic. The lethargy disappears drastically when you change to Sport, then the box becomes lightning fast with medium throttle during the downshifts. The lovely sound of the intermediate gasses gives you goosebumps! However, it is at the last position, Corsa, that the total horror-mixed delight occurs to the driver. The car absolutely explodes at every shift. The momentum in the car, which can be more likened to a catapult, is so powerful that one wonders if this can affect road holding. For normal highway driving and on winding roads that we drive the Aventador on, the Sport mode is more than enough.

That there is a V12 machine with 700 horsepower behind the seats is something you absolutely do not need to doubt when the pedal is pressed down to the floor. The soundscape from the twelve cylinders is a joy to enjoy and you lie easily and unsophisticatedly in low gears and at high rpm to maximize the pleasure. 

Something that makes the Swedish heart beat a little extra is that the Aventador's four-wheel drive comes from Swedish Haldex and that parts of the suspension are made by Öhlins. The performance figures that Avenatador offers also make the heart beat a little extra, the start from standstill to 100 km/h takes place in only 2.9 seconds and the time to 200 takes only 8.9. The top speed is a whopping 350 km/h, something we unfortunately do not get the opportunity to test due to the relatively dense Italian traffic.

Despite its vulgarly strong engine and its neck-breaker-like gearbox, the Avetantador is an easy-to-drive car. Of course it is big, but you have a relatively good view from the car if you compare it to previous Lamborghini models where it was rather non-existent. On the twisty mountain roads above Bologna, the car shows color but never shows a hint of slowing down. Lamborghini has done its homework this time and built a car that can withstand being handled with a brutal hand. And it is precisely this that makes one realize that the car is easy to drive, you can drive it hard but it will give back even if you are not a full-fledged racing driver. Something that in models like Countach, Diablo, and to some extent Murciélago, did not work because they were so incredibly difficult to drive and brutal for their time. Long live the bull from Sant'Agata Bolognese!

+ Incredibly powerful, terribly cool and unusually easy to drive.

- Not that it's actually a minus, but has the wild-tempered, hard-to-drive Lambon seen its best days with the Aventador?