New Lamborghini V12 screams to 9,500rpm
We’re getting close to the reveal of the new Lamborghini flagship, the hybridisation of which has just about been the worst-kept secret in the car industry these last couple of years. What we’ve all been wondering, however, is what form the marque’s incredible V12 will take in a new era of electrification. Well, in the run-up to the car’s reveal, we’ve been given all the juicy details and suffice to say, it sounds like this Bull has been forged to take on both the Ferrari 812 Superfast and SF90 Stradale in a oner, dispensing with the Pagani Utopia along the way… Lighter, more powerful and more aggressive, the new engine displaces 6.5 litres, produces over 800PS (which grows to more than 1,000PS when combined with the electrics) and can get to over 9,000rpm.
Specifically, 825PS (607kW), peaking at a spectacular-sounding 9,250rpm, which is only just shy of the car’s 9,500rpm rev limit. For the avoidance of doubt, that’ll make the Aventador’s successor the highest-revving non-limited series production car on sale. The motor is a development of the Aventador’s engine, with what’s suspected to be a few changes shared with the Essenza SCV12 track car. It’s 17kg down, higher compression (12.6:1) and thanks in part to electrification, 30 per cent down on CO2. Don’t worry, it’ll still sound incredible as if over 9,000rpm from a V12 wouldn’t, yet Lamborghini still claims that “particular attention has been lavished on the soundtrack… to emphasize the tone of the engine, already melodious at low revs and then rising to a natural harmonious crescendo”. Sounds good to us.
Of course, the V12 on its own would make the car, codenamed LB744, the most powerful production Lamborghini road car to date, but as we know, it’s getting some help. The car will feature three electric motors – two on the front axle, which also provide regenerative braking, and one in the transmission – for a total system output of 1,015PS (747kW). So yes, it remains all-wheel-drive, albeit minus a direct link to the gearbox up front. That’s because, like the track-only Essenza SCV12, this car spins the engine back-to-front, with the new gearbox (and integrated third motor) now astride the rear axle, as opposed to the Aventador’s, which ran into the cockpit structure.
That space is now filled by the new 3.8kWh battery, which feeds the electric motors and allows a small but as yet undisclosed all-electric driving range. Lambo claims it'll juice up off a three-pin wall plug in 30 minutes and can be charged on the move by the hybrid system in six.
What those familiar with the Aventador will be most thankful for, however, is the gearbox itself. All-new, all different, it’s a compact, lightweight, quick-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch, meaning the neck-breaking ISR box of old is no more. To keep its size and weight down, Lamborghini has dispensed with a traditional reverse gear, instead entrusting rearward movement duties to the electric motors. Because there are three electric motors, the new V12 Lamborghini can be run as an all-wheel-drive EV, in its ‘P3’ mode.
Yes, the Urus is now effectively Lamborghini’s bread and butter, but it’s the essential heritage of this family history of cars that gives the badge credit and appeal. Happily, it sounds like they’ve reinvested the Urus riches into what will surely be the dream car of a generation and what sounds like a technically incredible machine. We can’t wait to see it, and hear it. Expect a full reveal within months, if not weeks.
Lamborghini
V12
Aventador
