2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster Drive Review

Lambo doors

My god man, just look at it: It is the sharp-edged, air-slicing scimitar of speed, slicing its way through the atmosphere with efficiencies only dreamed of in the era of the Countach, Diablo and Murcielago. The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 roadster is a 217-mph argument against restraint. With a shape inspired by a combination of stealth fighter and (we are not making this up) an Italian beetle, and with a monstrous V12 you'd expect on a rocket ship, this beast is the fitting halo successor to the Lamborghini line. 

Or, in more pedestrian terms, it is the Aventador coupe with a removeable roof. The double-shell carbon-fiber roof panels make for a tightly fitting top that increases structural rigidity when clamped firmly in place. Reinforcements totaling 110 pounds to the carbon-fiber frame keep the body tight with or without the roof in place. 

Likewise, the 6.5-liter V12 is the same as the one in the coupe. It makes 690 hp ("Just say 700," Lambo president Stephan Winkelmann urged us, with a smile) at 8,250 rpm and 509 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 revs. Cylinder deactivation that alternates shutting off left and right banks of the engine along with supercapacitor-powered stop/start system gives this beast 14.7 mpg combined. That's not much by Honda's standards, but a respectable increase by the standards of Sant' Agata, where even double-digit mileage was not always recorded.

With the two roof panels in place, structural rigidity increases by 2000 Nm/degree.

The seven-speed paddle-operated “Independent Shifting Rod” automatic is smaller and lighter than a DSG, Lamborghini says. While one shifting rod disengages one gear, the other shifting rod is already engaging the next, allowing gear changes in as little as 50 milliseconds. It shifts in three modes: strada, sport and corsa. The same console-mounted selector sets the response for trans, throttle and exhaust note. A Haldex center differential can distribute torque to the open front axle or the rear differential with its 45-percent limited slip. The most rear torque you can get is 90 percent when the car's in sport mode.

A pushrod suspension at each corner not only helps keep the roadster lower, but allows more precise spring and damper control, which in turn does a better job of keeping the 255/30ZR20 front and 355/25ZR21 rear Pirelli P Zero Corsas on the ground. 

What is it like to drive?

iAy Chihuahua! With just over 5 pounds of curb weight for each unit of horsepower, this is one of the world's most extraordinary cars in which to mash the throttle. Lamborghini says it reaches 100 km/h in 3 seconds which, of course, means it'll reach 60 mph somewhere in the upper twos. Top speed is listed at 217 mph with or without the roof in place, and indeed, we were impressed with airflow over the open cockpit up to our lead-follow-limited top track speed of somewhere over 125 mph. Chief engineer Maurizio Reggiani said the roadster body creates only downforce, not lift, so we have every reason to believe it would remain stable at terminal velocity.

Reinforcements to the sills, rocker and center tunnel keep the body tight even without the roof.

With the roof in place, the roadster is 1inch lower than the coupe, and you have to adjust your seat accordingly. But we fit our gangly 6'1” carcass in there without scraping our coiff on the suede-lined ceiling, despite a freakishly long torso. 

There are two modes when the transmission is in automatic -- strada and sport -- but we only once managed to engage automatic. Holding the up paddle was supposed to do it, but we weren't having much luck with it in the car we drove back from the track.

The three manual modes of the shifter all exhibit the same traits at different rates: There's a pause with accompanying momentary loss of power, then a sudden engagement in the next gear with a thwack, and off you go. Lamborghini calls it “a highly emotional shift feel.” It's not as bad as those cambiocorsa transmissions in Ferraris and Maseratis many years ago, but it reminded us a little of them. It was not such a problem in a straight line but at high speeds in corners the interruption in power delivery and subsequent effect on balance fore and aft would pull or push the car out of line. The problem was more pronounced in some cars than in others, and some drivers said it wasn't a problem at all, but our earliest laps around the oval and infield road course of Homestead Miami were a bit disconcerting. Lamborghini said it was tire pressures or temperatures and in later sessions the car seemed to exhibit the phenomenon less. Still, for a half-million bucks, we might prefer something more sports car-like than super car.

The interior is the same as the coupe. Until you look up.

But this is a supercar. Living with it is like dating a movie star, or what we'd assume dating a movie star would be like: If you just look at her (or him or whatever) on the silver screen, you don't really know that she snores and can't digest lactose. He/she/this is not perfect. But we could learn to put up with it. Unless we got an inside line on a 458 or a Veyron. 

Do I want it?

What kind of question is that? Everybody wants it! Sure, it's not really light and nimble, but it is wildly efficient in a straight line, whether blasting to terminal velocity or merely cruising slowly through South Beach with -- thanks to our much younger co-driver who understood these things -- booming bass blasting the kidney stones of innocent camera-wielding bystanders. We were stopped regularly during our afternoon in Miami by eager and sudden Lamborghini enthusiasts. German and Russian tourists filmed our every move. This is what Brangelina must experience every day. 

It could all be yours for less than a half-million bucks. Prices start at $445,300, including gas-guzzler tax. You could add somewhere between $60,000 and $70,000 in options, and the personalization program could go well beyond that. But that's a small price to pay for what chief engineer Reggiani calls, and with which we agree, “The most extraordinary Lamborghini ever.” 

She drives as beauty in the night . . .

2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster

On Sale: Now (15-month wait)

Base Price: $455,300

Powertrain: 6.5-liter normally aspirated V12; 690 hp at 8,250 rpm, 509 lb ft at 5,500 rpm; seven-speed automatic

Curb Weight: 3,582 pounds (dry wt., mfg.)

0-100 km/h: 3 sec. (mfg.)

Top Speed: 217 mph (mfg.)

Mileage: 14.7 mpg combined (European cycle EC/1999/100)