Broken Bull: Why Lamborghini Needs Fixing

The most disappointing car I’ve driven so far this year? The Lamborghini Aventador. Oh, there are things I love about the latest big-banger Lambo: the supercar-on-steroids styling that could only come from the company that gave us the jaw-dropping Countach; the spine-tingling bellow that accompanies the relentless thrust from that mighty 691-hp V-12; the pure, unadulterated swagger of those scissor doors. But in terms of the actual drive experience it’s really…um… not that good. It’s last place finish in this year’s Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car competition is a reflection of that.

Yep, the thing launches like a cruise missile, storming past 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. Sure, it’ll run the quarter mile in the 10-second bracket. And if you keep your right foot buried, it’ll take you deeper into 200-mph territory than almost anything this side of a Veyron. Make no mistake, the Lamborghini Aventador is fast–a hair-on-fire, omigod, laugh-out-loud-velocity raptor.

But…the single-clutch automated manual transmission is a joke. In Strada (street) mode, the shifts are slower than a wet weekend in Cleveland; in Corsa (race) mode, they’re like a hit across the back of the head with a shovel; and Sport, the setting in between, isn’t much good, either. It doesn’t matter whether you’re going slow or fast, trying to work with the Aventador’s tranny is an exercise in teeth-grinding frustration. Next to Porsche’s PDK and the new dual-clutch transmissions from Ferrari, it’s hopelessly outclassed.

Though better than the Diablo and early Murcielagos, the Aventador chassis is also nowhere near the top of the class. There’s a ton of grip, but not much subtlety, and the differences among the Strada, Sport, and Corsa chassis settings are oddly non-linear. Regardless of setting, it rides like a Conestoga wagon, transmitting every single lump and bump into the cabin with such clarity you’d swear the thing had solid axles. Am I getting soft in my old age, complaining about the ride in a supercar? Nope. Both the Ferrari 458 and McLaren MP4-12C prove you don’t have to suffer a sore butt and blurred vision for handling artistry.

And then there’s the small issue of the Aventador’s brakes. It hardly seems possible that a car with carbon-ceramic rotors the size of a satellite television dish could run out of brakes after just two hard track laps. But that’s exactly what happened with an Aventador we tested recently.

The Lamborghini Aventador has style in abundance. Sure, it’s edgy and extreme, and there’s still a faint whiff of gold chain and chest hair about it, but that’s why it appeals to little boys of all ages. What the Lamborghini Aventador lacks is the substance to match.

“You have a lot of work to do at Lamborghini,” I said to former Bentley and Bugatti boss Wolfgang Durheimer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, immediately after congratulating him on his promotion to development chief for Audi, Lamborghini, and Ducati. “I know,” he said, without a moment’s hesitation. And, after I’d taken a deep breath and given him the warts-and-all download on the Aventador, all he said was, simply: “I agree.”

There are big changes coming at Lamborghini. One of Durheimer’s first moves was to order Lamborghini’s engineering team to buy a Ferrari 458. Then he told them: “That is your benchmark.” This one piece of information alone more than suggests the next-generation Gallardo is going to be a significant step up from the current car. “We have to stop thinking of the Gallardo in terms of the Audi R8,” says Durheimer bluntly. “Lamborghini will now concentrate on Ferrari in terms of performance and handling.”

Back when the Miura, the Countach, and the Diablo were the fastest road-going cars in the world, you could forgive Lamborghinis their faults. But now that the Bugatti Veyron indisputably owns that title, Lamborghini needs a new mission. Ferruccio Lamborghini got into the car business because he wanted to build a better Ferrari. Maybe Wolfgang Durheimer will finish the job.

by: motortrend