A new dawn is upon us in the land of super sports cars (supercars), as we are bearing witness to only the sixth new V12 Lamborghini in the past six decades. This is the new flagship for the raging bull, the replacement for the Aventador, and it is the first full hybrid from Sant’Agata Bolognese, not just a mild one like the Sian.
Yes, you read that right: V12. Lamborghini is steadfastly refusing to shrink their engines and add turbos to make them more efficient and friendlier to the environment. They took one look at that proposal and simply went “… nah.” What we get instead is a massaged version of the V12 from the Aventador, the same big 6.5L chunk of metal behind the cabin, but with some very important differences.
The first is that those 12 angry bulls rampaging around behind the driver are backwards, as the engine has been spun 180 degrees around. This is so that the new, dual-clutch, hybrid-boosted 8 speed transaxle can sit in line with the rear wheels. It also frees up the space in front, where the transmission used to be, for the Revuelto’s hybrid battery to sit low and centered.
The second is that the V12 is now chucking out just about 814 HP and 535 lbs-ft of torque all on its own, making it the most powerful road-going engine from Lamborghini to date, and even more importantly, it is driving the rear wheels only. It is much more powerful than the version in the Aventador Ultimae, by the way, which only managed a meager 780 HP.
That engine is accompanied by a trio of electric motors, two of which sit on the centerline of the car at the front and drive a wheel each, with the third top-mounted but integrated in with the transaxle at the rear. Each of these motors can provide 148 HP worth of grunt, meanig that the Revuelto’s AWD is provided by the hybrid motors up front and the big angry engine in the middle.
The transaxle mounted hybrid motor is there to torque fill during shifts, as well as serve as a generator to charge the battery back up. The two front motors are independent, which allows for torque vectoring to help the car turn on a dime and nail every apex it approaches.
When running combined in Corsa mode, the V12 and trio of hybrids will provide 1,001 HP, in that just oh-so-Italian way. “No, we cannot have one thousand! We need one thousand and one!” You can also run the car in “City” mode, which is full EV and only 178 HP from the front two hybrid motors.
Speaking of that glorious V12, it’s on full display. No engine cover here, just appreciation of automotive art in a way that just works.
There is a ton of under- and over-body active aerodynamics, which is the reason that Lamborghini have moved the exhausts up to sit just below the dynamic wing. That allows for the massive diffuser to take up all the space it needs, while also not interfering with the pop-up wing.
We never expected to see another V12 from Sant’Agata Bolognese, so we’re happy that despite having sensible German parents that are all about efficiency and electrification, Lamborghini is still running around in circles banging pots and pans together. Very high tech pots and pans, mind you, but we digress…
You can visit out sister site, Supercars.net, and read about the Revuelto in depth.
