tommallett

Monday:

This summer has seen a number of fire breathing supercars unleashed on the public. One of the naughtiest has to be Lamborghini’s new Aventador. It comes with a fire breathing V12 and a 0-60 time the right side of 3 seconds. So, I could hardly fail to be excited when thrown the keys to one on Monday morning.

First impressions are overwhelmingly positive. The dashboard is fantastic and the red cover for the start button makes you feel like a fighter pilot. It also feels decently made, certainly a marked improvement over the Murcielago.

While it is certainly fast (it can’t fail to be with nearly 700 bhp) the chassis feels so well sorted that it could actually do with more power. I found myself wondering what it would be like with 850 bhp rather than the paltry 690 bhp that comes as standard. This sounds like a good thing, and it may well be, but it also means the car lacks some of the excitement of an LP670-SV.

There are various issues with the car. All revolve around its use at normal road speeds. It is tuned towards under steer at low speed, which means it lacks the sharpness that most enthusiastic drivers adore. It also has poor low speed ride quality and a gearbox which, despite the promises, is not up there with the very best.

My end conclusion has to be that while it looks fantastic, is built beautifully and offers considerable value at a smidge under £250,000 it doesn’t quite fulfil its statistical promise.

Tuesday:

Another day with Lamborghini provides an interesting perspective on the previous day’s events. A new LP670 Superleggera is the order of the day.

The previous Superleggera was not one of my favourites. I always felt that it lagged behind its Ferrari equivalents and that it lacked the alertness that a light weight version should embrace.

The latest car is markedly different, however, it has 10bhp more than the car upon which it is based, but in the best traditions of light weight Italian Supercars feels transformed by the weight saving. This is coupled with a great noise and a surprisingly comfortable cabin, despite its hard core pretensions.

It is also interesting to discover that it doesn’t feel significantly slower than the Aventador. It may well be less ferocious above 180 mph, but at road speeds it eats up the road plenty quick enough.

Wednesday:

I was knocked off my super car pedestal on Wednesday, but only to drive a car that I revered a few years ago. I hadn’t driven an Alpina Roadster S for 5 years, but it sits on top of the pile as the very best of the first generation Z4’s.

The good news is that it still holds a place in my heart. The first generation Z4 was never particularly well damped, bouncing down the road like a drug addled Jack in the box. However, the Alpina rectified this and added a 300 bhp six cylinder engine. If that wasn’t enough, it adds plenty of appeal stylistically. Good value for money nowadays too.....