After I turn onto Ocean Drive, he steps forward,
nearly into my lane, and beckons with a low wave and smooth Cuban
inflection. "Pay whatever you like -- just valet with me!"
This is why we're here. As big cities go, Miami is as good at pretending
it's immune to obscene displays of conspicuous consumption as Los
Angeles or New York City. But as in those cities, Miami denizens are
actually paying close attention, behind their mirrored Persols, over
cups of cortado. The tourists out on A1A are much more overt --
smartphones are already out and up, fingers poised to snap and record.
But something is missing. Ah, the soundtrack.
I hit the stereo button and immediately Daft
Punk's "Around the World" untz-untz-untzes out of the open-air cockpit.
My driving partner quietly moans, "Eurotrash ..." and tries to slump
down into his seat, but there is no hiding, not with the top off and
windows down.
I relent and thumb the next track, Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind,"
which, despite geographical displacement of some 1300 miles, is awww
yeah perfect. It has the requisite thumping bass line, catchy hooks, and
deep, locally relevant lyrics: "...I got it made...If Jeezy's payin'
LeBron, I'm paying Dwayne Wade."
Like Shawn Carter, Miami Heat ballplayers LeBron
James and Dwayne Wade definitely have it made. This Lamborghini
Aventador roadster was built for just such men, ballers of exceptional
talent and height who can justify its limitless headroom and afford its
$445,300 price tag, probably with the spare change found between the
couch cushions on their yacht.
So what's new on the roadster that warrants an
additional $65,600 over last year's Aventador coupe, other than raising
(and losing) the roof? Key upgrades to both the roadster and coupe
include automatic engine stop/start, engine cylinder deactivation,
suspension refinements, and tweaks to the seven-speed, single-clutch
transmission.
Lamborghini's engine stop/start system employs high capacity capacitors
it calls "supercaps," which discharge enough voltage to quickly start up
the Aventador's V-12 with just the lift of the brake pedal at a fresh
green light. Lamborghini claims multiple benefits for its auto
stop/start system: "nearly imperceptible" start up times (roughly 180
milliseconds), a 6.6-pound weight savings over traditional starter
motor/battery systems, improved packaging and fuel efficiency, and
reduced CO2 emissions.
The new cylinder deactivation system (CDS) also
improves the latter two by shutting down an entire bank of cylinders
under low engine load and speeds up to 84 mph, effectively turning the
6.5-liter V-12 into a 3.25-liter inline-six.
All told, Lamborghini claims auto stop/start and CDS account for a 25
percent reduction in CO2 emissions and a 7 percent improvement in fuel
efficiency on the European NEDC cycle. EPA fuel economy figures have yet
to be measured for the roadster, but the coupe gained 1 highway mpg, to
11 mpg city/18 mpg highway with the same upgrades. (It also retained
the $3,700 gas-guzzler tax.)
The Aventador's V-12 is otherwise untouched and
still cranks out 691 horsepower and 509 lb-ft of torque. Most
impressively, says Lamborghini's R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani, is that
approximately 368 lb-ft of torque is available at 1500 rpm in all seven
gears. "The most torque at every gear of any car!" he says.
But that torque is also part of the Aventador's
problem. "No computer can shift a car like this better than a human,"
says Reggiani. "We try - but it is very difficult."
Reggiani's team has tried to refine the seven-speed single-clutch
transmission to reduce automatic shift harshness, particularly in Strada
(street) mode. The primary goal: Lessen the fore/aft head toss that
occurs on upshift.
We haven't been shy about calling out this
neck-snapping motion on the coupe, so we won't stop now. Shifts in the
roadster maybe a touch better, but they are still unacceptably jerky for
a mode meant for cruising around town. If this is the best Lamborghini
can do via software tuning, it's time to focus on the hardware, concede
the weight and packaging efficiencies of the single clutch (and let's
face it, the Aventador is neither a compact nor lightweight supercar),
and join the dual-clutch party.
At Miami-Homestead Speedway, vertebrae-cracking upshifts are expected --
welcomed, even -- in Sport and Corsa (race) mode. Exiting the last turn
onto Homestead's banking, the violent, 50-millisecond upshifts from
second through fourth equate to speeds near 150 mph before the wisely
positioned cone section on the high bank.
Even with her top off, the roadster is a big
girl; you feel every bit of her 4300 pounds in the infield transitions.
It's not the retuned pushrod suspension, though. Reggiani say spring
rates have been softened a touch and a bit more rebound has been added,
but this doesn't seem to have affected turn-in. The roadster corners
impressively flat, especially for a car that feels so wide and long.
This feeling is amplified in the two stints I take in the Euro-spec
right-hand-drive model painted a lovely shade of Azzurro Thetys, the
light blue launch color. With my normal bracing points inverted,
cornering forces are transferred to unfamiliar locations on my shins,
knees, thighs, and elbows, underscoring just how hard the roadster
swings her bulk through turns. She brassy and confident, easy to hustle
at speeds short of full race.
In the more familiar left-hand-drive models, she feels even faster --
and hungry for aggressive inputs -- but she does bite back. In Sport
mode, lifting throttle for a tight, second gear corner momentarily sends
jerky shocks through the transmission. This wasn't a one-time
distraction, but behavior observed on separate lapping sessions in
manual and automatic mode.
Still, the best mode for overall driving is
manually paddle-shifting in Sport mode. The shifts are quicker than the
languid rocking motion of Strada mode (auto or manual), but nowhere near
the brutal head thwackers of Corsa (manual only). You'll never get the
quickness of a modern dual-clutch or the smoothness of a traditional
automatic, but if you time the upshifts with a bit of throttle lift, you
can approach the sensation of a manual transmission.
Now about that top. Though a simple design, it manages to be a
fiendishly complicated technological showcase. Technology first: The
two-piece top is composed of three layers of composites. The outer two
layers are made of RTM (resin transfer molding), a type of carbon fiber
that is becoming ubiquitous among high-dollar supercars. The inner,
structural layer is composed of Lamborghini's proprietary Forged
Composite, a new type of carbon fiber developed by Lamborghini and
Callaway Golf. Forged Composite uses a random arrangement of microscopic
carbon fibers, instead of the long directionally woven strands found in
RTM and other types of CRFP. The benefits of this new composite are
numerous. Forged Composite is light and strong as you'd expect from
carbon fiber, but it can also be drilled without losing structural
integrity, and is much quicker to produce.
This is why we're here. As big cities go, Miami is as good at pretending
it's immune to obscene displays of conspicuous consumption as Los
Angeles or New York City. But as in those cities, Miami denizens are
actually paying close attention, behind their mirrored Persols, over
cups of cortado. The tourists out on A1A are much more overt --
smartphones are already out and up, fingers poised to snap and record.
But something is missing. Ah, the soundtrack.
I hit the stereo button and immediately Daft
Punk's "Around the World" untz-untz-untzes out of the open-air cockpit.
My driving partner quietly moans, "Eurotrash ..." and tries to slump
down into his seat, but there is no hiding, not with the top off and
windows down.
I relent and thumb the next track, Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind,"
which, despite geographical displacement of some 1300 miles, is awww
yeah perfect. It has the requisite thumping bass line, catchy hooks, and
deep, locally relevant lyrics: "...I got it made...If Jeezy's payin'
LeBron, I'm paying Dwayne Wade."
Like Shawn Carter, Miami Heat ballplayers LeBron
James and Dwayne Wade definitely have it made. This Lamborghini
Aventador roadster was built for just such men, ballers of exceptional
talent and height who can justify its limitless headroom and afford its
$445,300 price tag, probably with the spare change found between the
couch cushions on their yacht.
Lamborghini's engine stop/start system employs high capacity capacitors
it calls "supercaps," which discharge enough voltage to quickly start up
the Aventador's V-12 with just the lift of the brake pedal at a fresh
green light. Lamborghini claims multiple benefits for its auto
stop/start system: "nearly imperceptible" start up times (roughly 180
milliseconds), a 6.6-pound weight savings over traditional starter
motor/battery systems, improved packaging and fuel efficiency, and
reduced CO2 emissions.
The new cylinder deactivation system (CDS) also
improves the latter two by shutting down an entire bank of cylinders
under low engine load and speeds up to 84 mph, effectively turning the
6.5-liter V-12 into a 3.25-liter inline-six.
All told, Lamborghini claims auto stop/start and CDS account for a 25
percent reduction in CO2 emissions and a 7 percent improvement in fuel
efficiency on the European NEDC cycle. EPA fuel economy figures have yet
to be measured for the roadster, but the coupe gained 1 highway mpg, to
11 mpg city/18 mpg highway with the same upgrades. (It also retained
the $3,700 gas-guzzler tax.)
The Aventador's V-12 is otherwise untouched and
still cranks out 691 horsepower and 509 lb-ft of torque. Most
impressively, says Lamborghini's R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani, is that
approximately 368 lb-ft of torque is available at 1500 rpm in all seven
gears. "The most torque at every gear of any car!" he says.
But that torque is also part of the Aventador's
problem. "No computer can shift a car like this better than a human,"
says Reggiani. "We try - but it is very difficult."
Reggiani's team has tried to refine the seven-speed single-clutch
transmission to reduce automatic shift harshness, particularly in Strada
(street) mode. The primary goal: Lessen the fore/aft head toss that
occurs on upshift.
At Miami-Homestead Speedway, vertebrae-cracking upshifts are expected --
welcomed, even -- in Sport and Corsa (race) mode. Exiting the last turn
onto Homestead's banking, the violent, 50-millisecond upshifts from
second through fourth equate to speeds near 150 mph before the wisely
positioned cone section on the high bank.
Even with her top off, the roadster is a big
girl; you feel every bit of her 4300 pounds in the infield transitions.
It's not the retuned pushrod suspension, though. Reggiani say spring
rates have been softened a touch and a bit more rebound has been added,
but this doesn't seem to have affected turn-in. The roadster corners
impressively flat, especially for a car that feels so wide and long.
This feeling is amplified in the two stints I take in the Euro-spec
right-hand-drive model painted a lovely shade of Azzurro Thetys, the
light blue launch color. With my normal bracing points inverted,
cornering forces are transferred to unfamiliar locations on my shins,
knees, thighs, and elbows, underscoring just how hard the roadster
swings her bulk through turns. She brassy and confident, easy to hustle
at speeds short of full race.
In the more familiar left-hand-drive models, she feels even faster --
and hungry for aggressive inputs -- but she does bite back. In Sport
mode, lifting throttle for a tight, second gear corner momentarily sends
jerky shocks through the transmission. This wasn't a one-time
distraction, but behavior observed on separate lapping sessions in
manual and automatic mode.
Still, the best mode for overall driving is
manually paddle-shifting in Sport mode. The shifts are quicker than the
languid rocking motion of Strada mode (auto or manual), but nowhere near
the brutal head thwackers of Corsa (manual only). You'll never get the
quickness of a modern dual-clutch or the smoothness of a traditional
automatic, but if you time the upshifts with a bit of throttle lift, you
can approach the sensation of a manual transmission.
Now about that top. Though a simple design, it manages to be a
fiendishly complicated technological showcase. Technology first: The
two-piece top is composed of three layers of composites. The outer two
layers are made of RTM (resin transfer molding), a type of carbon fiber
that is becoming ubiquitous among high-dollar supercars. The inner,
structural layer is composed of Lamborghini's proprietary Forged
Composite, a new type of carbon fiber developed by Lamborghini and
Callaway Golf. Forged Composite uses a random arrangement of microscopic
carbon fibers, instead of the long directionally woven strands found in
RTM and other types of CRFP. The benefits of this new composite are
numerous. Forged Composite is light and strong as you'd expect from
carbon fiber, but it can also be drilled without losing structural
integrity, and is much quicker to produce.