With just a week or so to go till its official unveiling, Lamborghini has provided us with an insight into the dynamic highlights of its new LB744 plug-in hypercar. As you might expect, the Aventador’s replacement is certainly not going to want for complexity: its maker highlights the 13 different driver modes now required to juggle the 1,015hp combination of three electric motors and one very large V12.
Needless to say, Lamborghini is keen to stress that despite making space for lithium-ion batteries in its latest supercar, it has given up nothing in terms of agility and effectiveness on a circuit. Not only does it feature the all-new monofusolage we talked about last week - said to be 10 per cent lighter and 25 per cent stiffer than the Aventador’s architecture - its steering ratio has been reduced by 10 per cent, too (mirroring changes introduced on the Huracan STO) and adds much firmer anti-roll bars (by as much as 50 per cent at the back) to the new four-wheel steer chassis.
On newly-developed Bridgestone Potenza Sport rubber, the car’s front footprint increases by four per cent - which is useful when you consider that much of Lamborghini’s development time must have been spent getting its new e-axle to work. Clearly this is the first time the manufacturer has incorporated an electric torque vectoring system into one of its cars, so unsurprisingly it introduces Dinamica Veicolo 2.0 to marshal all the components and deliver a ‘more natural driving style as well as an even higher level of performance’.
It declines to go into much greater detail, but by effectively deploying one motor per wheel upfront, the LB744 will doubtless have access to the kind of capabilities that are well beyond a conventional torque distribution system. Assuming it has achieved an impressive level of synergy with the four-wheel steering, you can expect the car’s lateral performance in tight corners to have increased dramatically. And in fast corners, too, when active aerodynamics are said to have increased downforce by as much as 66 per cent over the Aventador Ultimae.
This is managed in conjunction with the Lamborghini Vertical Control system, which oversees the semi-active wishbone suspension, and can adapt both the chassis response and rear wing position in real-time. The LB744 gets upgraded carbon ceramic brakes, too - 10-piston calipers and 410x38mm discs (in place of the previous 400x38mm of Aventador Ultimae) at the front; at the rear, 4-piston calipers and 390x32mm discs (in place of the previous 380x38mm).
Of course, you won’t be straining them much in some of the newer drive modes. For the first time, Lamborghini has introduced a Città (or City) setting, where (for around 10km if the pictures are to be believed) you can enjoy zero-emission, 180hp functionality. Thanks to the dinky size of the battery, Recharge will have the mighty V12 topping it up in ‘just a few minutes’ meaning there’s no need to stop and find a plug ahead of your final destination. Most of the time though, the more familiar Strada mode is the one Lamborghini expects you to use, where you get 886hp of available power thanks to the always-active V12.
Find an interesting road and Sport ought to be the best bet (putting 907hp at your disposal), while obviously Corsa is meant for the track (where you’ll have access to the full 1,015hp). How does that add up to 13 modes? Well, each setting beyond Città is combinable with three powertrain modes: Recharge, Hybrid and Performance. The V12 is always doing its thing in each, but clearly there are different parameters for the hybrid system, and (we think) it's only in Corsa Performance that the LB744 unlocks all its 1,015hp potential. Expect the net effect to be fairly senior.
Happily, Lamborghini has not forgotten ‘expert drivers’ in what is likely to be a carefully marshalled dynamic experience - it is still possible to fully disable the ESC in Corsa mode, allowing you ‘to experience maximum available power without active controls’. There’s something to ponder on a wet trackday. Elsewhere there’s the obligatory launch control (expect the official 0-62mph time to be something preposterously savage), and ‘unprecedented emotions, control and responsiveness’, which is obviously as it should be from a V12 Lambo. Now we just need to see the thing. Roll on next week.
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