The Aventador makes you feel like a pilot - minus the flight suit
27 May 2014|12,033 views
Like any male child, I wanted to pursue two common ambitions as a kid. One, to be a pilot. And two, to drive really fast cars. On the eve of Vesak Day, I got the rare opportunity to do both. Well, almost.
Yet the real magicians are pilots, the protagonists of the air and gods of fate and destiny at 35,000ft. Especially fighter pilots and, not forgetting, their babes.
In my humble opinion, Lamborghini's all new V12 flagship is more than a million dollar supercar. It is a fighter jet, and at the command is a pseudo fighter pilot - complete with Ray Ban aviators.
The number of similarities between the machines are aplenty, starting with the way they look. Unlike the offerings by its compatriots, the Aventador is not about a mobile art piece or sculpture. A glance at the Aventador and it is evident the car is the lovechild of the limited-run Reventon and Estoque Concept.
In fact up close, the design was so peculiar, it was hard to believe the supercar was penned by Lamborghini's Head of Design, Filippo Perini, at Centro Stile Lamborghini - Lamborghini's design centre back in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy - and not by engineers at Lockheed Martin, the American Military contractor behind the F-22 Raptor airplane.
Like the F-15 with its air brake, the Aventador has a spoiler that rises from the edge of the bonnet for better stability at high speeds and contributes to better downforce for optimised handling and stability at mid-range speeds.
Fighter pilots gain access to the cockpit via a canopy door, while entry to the Aventador's cabin is via the - slightly cooler - scissor doors.
First introduced in Lambo's lineup with the Countach, the scissor door has since become a hallmark feature for V12 Lamborghinis and have earned a distinctive visual signature for the marque.
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Even the power units have a small aviation connection - although from a slightly older era.
Both the Lamborghini Aventador supercar and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft are powered by V12 engines. Of course, the Rolls-Royce built 37-litre Griffon Engine contains more than 2,300bhp (almost twice as much as a Veyron) while Lamborghini's 6.5-litre power unit has a mere 690bhp - more than sufficient even when travelling on the Autobahn.
The car isn't equipped with cutting-edge fly-by-wire technology, but the responsive - slightly weighted steering - planted the car where I wanted it to and I could feel the dark arts of Physics acting against my natural motion.
The car was probably generating 1.5g's at the corners, but I could perceive how amplified the g forces would feel in a muti-role agile fighter jet like the Rafale.
With a sprint time of 2.9 seconds to the century mark, the Aventador is only one-tenth of a second slower than the McLaren P1, and the straight line aptitude was comparable to a F-15 at full thrust.
At the end of the day, I realised there are a number of benefits to piloting a 'four-wheel fighter jet'. Firstly, I do not need a special license or hours of training for precise and sharp eye-hand-foot co-ordination. Secondly, fashion isn't a problem. I was dressed in a comfortable pair of denims, a polo tee and sneakers instead of an olive green flight suit with a helmet and breathing apparatus.
More importantly, the supercar is much more - for the lack of a better word - affordable than a fighter jet. Even repair and maintenance would only cost a fraction in comparison to Boeing's flawless F-15.
Perhaps like the concept of Inception, the Aventador plants a fake but sweet idea of piloting a fighter plane.
Like any male child, I wanted to pursue two common ambitions as a kid. One, to be a pilot. And two, to drive really fast cars. On the eve of Vesak Day, I got the rare opportunity to do both. Well, almost.
Yet the real magicians are pilots, the protagonists of the air and gods of fate and destiny at 35,000ft. Especially fighter pilots and, not forgetting, their babes.
In my humble opinion, Lamborghini's all new V12 flagship is more than a million dollar supercar. It is a fighter jet, and at the command is a pseudo fighter pilot - complete with Ray Ban aviators.
The number of similarities between the machines are aplenty, starting with the way they look. Unlike the offerings by its compatriots, the Aventador is not about a mobile art piece or sculpture. A glance at the Aventador and it is evident the car is the lovechild of the limited-run Reventon and Estoque Concept.
In fact up close, the design was so peculiar, it was hard to believe the supercar was penned by Lamborghini's Head of Design, Filippo Perini, at Centro Stile Lamborghini - Lamborghini's design centre back in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy - and not by engineers at Lockheed Martin, the American Military contractor behind the F-22 Raptor airplane.
Like the F-15 with its air brake, the Aventador has a spoiler that rises from the edge of the bonnet for better stability at high speeds and contributes to better downforce for optimised handling and stability at mid-range speeds.
Fighter pilots gain access to the cockpit via a canopy door, while entry to the Aventador's cabin is via the - slightly cooler - scissor doors.
First introduced in Lambo's lineup with the Countach, the scissor door has since become a hallmark feature for V12 Lamborghinis and have earned a distinctive visual signature for the marque.
Both the Lamborghini Aventador supercar and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft are powered by V12 engines. Of course, the Rolls-Royce built 37-litre Griffon Engine contains more than 2,300bhp (almost twice as much as a Veyron) while Lamborghini's 6.5-litre power unit has a mere 690bhp - more than sufficient even when travelling on the Autobahn.
The car isn't equipped with cutting-edge fly-by-wire technology, but the responsive - slightly weighted steering - planted the car where I wanted it to and I could feel the dark arts of Physics acting against my natural motion.
The car was probably generating 1.5g's at the corners, but I could perceive how amplified the g forces would feel in a muti-role agile fighter jet like the Rafale.
With a sprint time of 2.9 seconds to the century mark, the Aventador is only one-tenth of a second slower than the McLaren P1, and the straight line aptitude was comparable to a F-15 at full thrust.
At the end of the day, I realised there are a number of benefits to piloting a 'four-wheel fighter jet'. Firstly, I do not need a special license or hours of training for precise and sharp eye-hand-foot co-ordination. Secondly, fashion isn't a problem. I was dressed in a comfortable pair of denims, a polo tee and sneakers instead of an olive green flight suit with a helmet and breathing apparatus.
More importantly, the supercar is much more - for the lack of a better word - affordable than a fighter jet. Even repair and maintenance would only cost a fraction in comparison to Boeing's flawless F-15.
Perhaps like the concept of Inception, the Aventador plants a fake but sweet idea of piloting a fighter plane.
Photos by Akram Saheed & Manufacturer
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