Review Car

There are few more exciting announcements than a new Lamborghini, especially when accompanied by the promise of another iconic V12 wedge. And even more so when the new car, which replaces the already monstrous Murciélago, is descr ibed by R&D chief Maurizio Regg iani as “50-times better” than its predecessor and “two generations ahead”. In short, the Aventador LP700-4 i s
Lamborghini’s response to McLaren, Ferrari, and Pagani’s new challengers, and it intends to w in.
“Normally when developing a new car you start w ith the basis of the existing car and try to improve the point that you judge the state-of-the-art,” explains Reggiani. “With the Aventador, we scrapped the previous engine, suspen sion, chassis, gearbox, and four-wheel-dr ive system, and we redefi ned everything. We’re not compromising by starting with an existing Lamborghini shell, but are defi ning what can be the best performance car possible. “We were able to make a completely new car without the constraints of using anything already existing on a previous car, so ever y part is created to be the best ”
At the core of Aventador is a full carbon-fi ber monocoque developed at L amborghini’s Advanced Composites Rese arch Centre in Sant’Agata Bolognese, weighing a mere
147.5kg. Together with the front and rear aluminum frames, the package weighs in at 229.5kg, a saving of more than 90kg over the Murciélago accordi ng to Reggian i, and the torsional stiffness is raised to 35,000Nm per deg ree of twist, an increase of around 150%.

The sharp lines and taut surfaces of the design were inspired by aeronautics, as was its test program, especially the crash simulation work, which was carried out in an
adaptation of PamCrash. “We did a huge amount of work in simulation, and this was based on our partnership with the University of Washington [where Lamborghini has an Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory] and Boeing, with which we introduced the building block approach that allowed us to have perfect simulation in composite materials so we could predict deformation and energy absorption,
and also continuously change the technology and materials based on the results of the simulation. Afterward, when we
did the real crash tests, we had perfect alignment between simulation and real-life deformation. It is not the software that is important, but the ability to defi ne the right
characteristics of the material and to give the composite materials the right behavior. You must be able to predict the real deformation, the real behavior, which is not as easy as with metal,” Reggiani explains.

The number of prototypes required for crash tests was minimized as the alignment between simulation and physical tests meant there was no need to repeat any tests. In previous programs, tests were repeated up to 30 times. This is all the more remarkable given that the Aventador required something that its predecessor didn’t: global homologation. Thus Reggiani ensured the car meets all US and European standards such as FMVSS 214 and FMVSS 208, as well as the latest FMVSS 216 roof crush resistance tests, the challenging 50mph (80km/h) rear impact FMVSS 301, and also Phase II of the recent European pedestrian protection standards. While crash testing required few cars, Reggiani specifi ed a healthy fl eet of prototypes for the test program, with
more than 20 used during the development phase, and a similar number of pre-series production cars then given
fi nal shakedown. The fl eet covered over 310,000 miles (500,000km)
during development, a fi gure that in “a different world to the Murciélago”, according to Reggiani. This was mainly done at Nardò, plus other Lamborghini regulars such as Hockenheim, Imola, and the
Nürburgring, and climate testing was carried out in northern Sweden, Africa, and the Middle East. In all, the program took the team 36 months from design to sign-off, a fact of which Reggiani is very proud. “In just three years Lamborghini was able to develop a completely new vehicle  the design, styling defi nition, engineering, concept, everything   based on technology that was not present before.”