Lamborghini Aventador

Aventador LP700-4 key specifications

How the Aventador got its name and shape

Lamborghini unveiled the Aventador privately in Sant'Agata in late 2010 and showed it to the public in Geneva on 28 February 2011. Deliveries began in the second half of 2011. Like many Lamborghinis, the car is named after a fighting bull. Aventador was a bull raised by the sons of Don Celestino Cuadri Vides that won the Trofeo de la Peña La Madroñera for bravery in the arena at Zaragoza.

The code LP700-4 explains the layout. "LP" stands for longitudinale posteriore, an engine mounted lengthwise behind the cabin. "700" is the power in metric horsepower, and "4" means four-wheel drive. The same logic runs through the later LP750-4, LP740-4, LP770-4 and LP780-4.

Filippo Perini led the design. The sharp, angular body follows the line of the Countach and Murciélago and was refined in the wind tunnel. The car stands only 1,136 mm tall, and its scissor doors open upwards in the Lamborghini tradition.

Carbon monocoque, pushrod suspension and ISR gearbox

The Aventador was built around a one-piece carbon-fibre monocoque. According to the old 1cars text, the shell weighs about 148 kg, and aluminium front and rear frames are bolted to it. Only eight moulds were made for production, each expected to last about 500 cycles.

The suspension is mounted inboard and worked by pushrods, with the springs and dampers lying horizontally, as on racing cars. The SV and the later Aventador S added magnetorheological dampers, and the S introduced rear-wheel steering to make the long car easier to place.

The gearbox is Lamborghini's Independent Shifting Rod (ISR) unit, built by Graziano. It is an automated manual with a single clutch. The old 1cars text called it a double-clutch unit, which is wrong; the shift is quick because separate rods move each gear. A Haldex fourth-generation clutch sends drive to the front axle when needed, and a mechanical limited-slip differential works at the rear.

The 6.5-litre V12 engine

The L539 V12 was the first all-new Lamborghini twelve-cylinder since the original Bizzarrini design of the 1960s. It displaces 6,498 cc and has four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing and dry-sump lubrication, which allows it to sit low in the chassis. It has no turbochargers or hybrid assistance in the Aventador.

The old 1cars text quoted combined fuel use of 16.9 l/100 km for the coupé and more than 17 l/100 km for the SVJ. Real-world figures of 25 to 30 l/100 km are common in hard driving.

Every Aventador version with power and performance

By our calculation, power rose by 11 % over the life of the model, from 515 to 574 kW, without any change in displacement. The dry weight of the SVJ is 1,525 kg, which gives about 2.7 kg per kilowatt against 3.1 kg for the first coupé.

Roadster, SV and the facelifted Aventador S

The Roadster was revealed in late 2012 and went on sale in 2013. Its roof consists of two carbon panels of about 6 kg each, which are stored in the front boot. The 50° Anniversario of 2013 marked half a century of Lamborghini with a little more power and special paint.

The LP750-4 Superveloce of 2015 was 50 kg lighter and produced 180 % more downforce than the standard car. Lamborghini built 600 SV coupés and a separate run of 500 SV Roadsters until July 2017.

The facelifted Aventador S, shown at the end of 2016, replaced the LP700-4. It added rear-wheel steering, new front and rear styling, revised suspension and 544 kW (740 PS). The S Roadster followed in 2017. The old 1cars text notes 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels, which the S kept.

SVJ, the Nürburgring record and the final Ultimae

The SVJ appeared in August 2018. "SV" stands for Superveloce, and "J" refers to the Jota, a racing version of the Miura. Its ALA 2.0 active aerodynamics, first used on the Huracán Performante, open and close flaps to change downforce. The old 1cars text reports 40 % more downforce than the S and carbon-ceramic brakes of 400 mm at the front.

In July 2018 Lamborghini test driver Marco Mapelli lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6 min 44.97 s in an SVJ. That was the fastest time for a production road car at the time, ahead of the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Lamborghini built 900 SVJ coupés, 63 SVJ 63 cars marking the founding year 1963 and 800 SVJ Roadsters.

The LP780-4 Ultimae closed the series in 2021 with 574 kW (780 PS), the most powerful Aventador of all. It was limited to 350 coupés and 250 roadsters. Part of the run replaced about 15 cars lost when the cargo ship Felicity Ace caught fire and sank in 2022. The last Ultimae left the factory in 2022.

Special models built on the Aventador

Lamborghini used the Aventador's chassis and V12 for several limited models:

The Veneno was priced at 4 million US dollars in 2013, about €3 million at the time. The one-off Aventador J later sold for 2.8 million US dollars.

Production, prices and the Revuelto successor

Production ran from 2011 to 2022, and the total exceeded 11,000 cars. The Murciélago, which the Aventador replaced, had reached about 4,100 cars, so the new model was more than twice as successful. In April 2022 the last Ultimae coupé sold for over 1.6 million US dollars (about €1.5 million) at an RM Sotheby's auction, together with a digital token.

The old 1cars text quoted US prices for the S and SVJ that we could not verify, so they have been removed. The Aventador's successor is the plug-in hybrid Lamborghini Revuelto, launched in 2023. For the model that came before it, see the Lamborghini Murciélago.

Lamborghini Aventador against its rivals

The Ferrari is front-engined and rear-driven, while the McLaren and Porsche are lighter and use turbocharged engines. The Aventador is the only one of the four with all-wheel drive and a mid-mounted V12. To compare power to weight across these cars, use the 1cars power-to-weight calculator, or set any two of them side by side in the comparison tool.