The latest December 2011 issue of CAR includes an epic supercar twin test: Lamborghini Aventador vs Lexus LFA. Jethro Bovindon referees, and you can watch some quick video clips here. Plus road test editor Ben Pulman gives his second opinion below. Click here for a digital preview of the new issue of CAR
When presented with this £600k pair 458s and 12Cs suddenly look a little limp. Okay, the LFA has /only/ 552bhp, but it’s so unlike any Lexus that’s ever gone before: there’s no GS or LS slop or slack anywhere; the steering and brakes are brilliant; and it’s powered by the best engine this side of Paul Rosche’s masterpiece in the back of a McLaren F1.
Speaking of F1, the LFA’s 4.8 wails like a true Formula One V10 too; at first you’ll change up 6000rpm, then 7000rpm, then 8000rpm, then 8500, then 8600rpm, and then eventually you’ll just pin it until the digital dial flings its needle round to 9000rpm, the whole dashboard flashes red and you won’t know whether it’s you or the engine screaming. Utterly glorious and completely addictive. We averaged 6.7mpg.
That an LFA with the special Nürburgring Package has lapped the Nordschleife in a record-breaking 7:14, and that the Aventador feels (and is) much faster on the road tells you just how ridiculously quick Lambo’s latest and greatest is. It’s got 139bhp more than the Lexus. 139bhp! That’s an extra Suzuki Swift Sport. It’s a monster, but with four-wheel drive traction you can nail that throttle and access all 691bhp almost anywhere. Hence the reason we averaged 5.6mpg.
It’s a big bugger though. Not heavy, but wide, with sloping A-pillars that block your view into corners, while the carbon brakes lack the LFA’s sublime feel, and the 6.5-litre V12 feels like it’s trying to snap the chassis and break gearbox if you use the Corsa shift mode. And if you’ve driven a Murcielago SV (forever etched in my memory as /the/ definition of a supercar) you might find it a little sanitised.
Actually, that’s ridiculous. Wherever we went the usually sniffy French public went mad for it – a bright orange Lambo with scissor doors is still the epitome of a supercar. But if there’s an LFA in your garage then you’re a connoisseur, rejoicing in its rarity and understated looks, and happy in the knowledge that you own one of the world’s best ever cars. Please, drive it everyday and do justice to the decade-long gestation.
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