Geneva 2009: Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce

Lamborghini's top dog, the Murciélago, is getting a bit long in the tooth.  Although most Lamborghinis age in the same manner as Dick Clark, the Diablo's replacement has been around since 2001- an eternity in the high-end sports car market.  To keep interest in the massive V12-powered beast up towards the end of it's shelf life, Lamborghini has announced a new variant of the Murciélago line - the LP670-4 SuperVeloce.

The LP670-4 SuperVeloce (man, that's a mouthful) follows in the footsteps of the lairy Diablo SV.  The SV was a lightweight version of the regular Diablo, ditching the VT's 4WD system for rear wheel drive, and sporting a tweaked 5.7L V12 of 510 horsepower.  Bigger brakes, revised aerodynamics and a stripped, track-ready demeanor made the Diablo SV one of the most coveted Diablo models - and the Murcielago SV should be capable of filling the Diablo SV's shoes quite easily.

Lamborghini went to great lengths to make the LP670-4 SuperVeloce stand out from the rest of the "pedestrian" Murcielago lineup.  The front end is redesigned to incorporate a large carbon-fibre front splitter, with hints of Reventon to it's shape.  This massive splitter- and the negative-air-pressure brake ducts atop the front fenders - give the SV a hint of Formula 1 to it's appearance.  The lower cladding on the sides is painted matte black to match the rest of the SV trim, including the characteristic massive vent on the driver's side for the oil cooler.

Around back, the LP670-4 SV gets some modifications to increase the menacing appearance.  The exhaust now exits through a single, massive rectangular hole.  Nasty.  There is also the option of two different fixed spoilers for the rear end, the larger of which is displayed in the pictures.  The Lamborghini press release states this provides "massively improved stability at high speed" which is something the SV will probably become familiar with.  And you can't miss the massive carbonfibre rear splitter, even if you wanted to.

Lightweight, black-painted forged alloy "Ares" wheels are wrapped with super-sticky 18" Pirelli P Zero Corsas, 245 width in the front and a massive 335mm in the rear.  The coolest exterior change has to be the bizarre looking engine cover, constructed in three dimensions out of polycarbonate and carbonfibre.  Only a Lamborghini...

Mechanically, the LP670-4 SV benefits from both reduced weight and increased power - always a good combination.  To shed a few pounds off the porky Murcielago, Lamborghini retooled some of the framework and reduced weight of existing components by using lighter materials; the end result is a 220lb reduction in curb weight, dropping from 3671 to 3470 pounds.

Although the regular LP640 wasn't exactly lacking for power, everyone knows that more is always more.  So the engineers in Sant'agata fiddled with the massive 6.5L V12, tweaking the valvetrain, intake setup, and other small internal changes.  Power jumps from 640 to 670 at a peak speed of 8,000rpm, and torque stays the same at 660nM(487 lb-ft) at a fairly high 6,500 rpm.  This massive V12 will spin all the way out to 8,500 rpm - which is undoubtedly memorable.  This V12 is a quite impressive unit, sporting dual ECU's (one for each cylinder bank) for closer control over engine parameters, 12 liters of oil capacity from the external dry-sump lubrication system, all-aluminum construction, continuously variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust valves, and a three-stage variable length intake tract.

Power is transmitted through either the standard 6-speed e.Gear automated manual transmission, or an optional externally gated 6-speed manual transmission to all four wheels.  The SV's all-wheel-drive system is primarily rear-biased, but can transfer up to 35% of drive torque to the front axle, so it enjoys the supercar handling balance while retaining a safety net to keep skill-underendowed drivers out of ditches.  It's a fair concern: the lighter, harder SV will accelerate to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds, and taps out at 212 miles an hour - or 209mph with the optional aerodynamic package including the massive fixed rear wing.

The interior of the LP670-4 SV has been upgraded to support it's hardcore intentions.  Virtually every surface is slathered in Alcantara or carbonfibre, and the SV gets a special set of carbon-bucket racing seats.  Oh, and the door panels are carbonfibre.  It's got a slightly cold atmosphere, but it seems fitting to the target demographic of loaded investment bankers with racecar driver fantasies.

No word yet on pricing; but this is the type of car that's cross-shopped with yachts, not other mere mortal automobiles - so who cares?  Let's just be thankful such cars even exist today.