Lamborghini Revuelto review: Effortless 1015hp hybrid supercar

Superlative after superlative is all I could mouth after driving the revolutionary Revuelto for ten hard laps at the Valellunga circuit outside Rome. Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing prepared me for how amazingly good it is. So can Lamborghini’s latest be its greatest? It may seem a bit premature to make that claim, but what is without a shadow of a doubt is the fact that this super sportscar is a defining moment for the legendary Italian brand and its ticket into a future that’s increasingly electrified.

No, it’s not fully electric but a plug-in hybrid, which means it can run on pure electric power for short distances; in the case of the Revuelto, a rather meaningless 8-10km. However, the range is hardly an issue because no one in their right mind would buy a Revuelto for silent, pure electric driving, except when they want to sneak out of their homes for an early Sunday morning drive without waking up the neighbours. The real purpose of the hybrid system that consists of three electric motors is to play a support role for the star of the show – the glorious 6.5-litre V12 engine that Lamborghini, true to a long-standing tradition, has retained.

Lamborghini Revuelto engine, specifications 

Lamborghini’s flagship models, right from the legendary Miura 60 years ago, have all had V12s and the Revuelto gets the latest 6.5-litre version that’s lighter, more powerful and revs to a dizzying 9,500rpm. However, the Revuelto’s V12 is not an evolution of the Aventador’s but an all-new engine with the same cubic capacity. “We stuck to the same engine size because we are familiar with it and there’s no need to change the displacement,” said Lamborghini CTO Rouven Mohr.

The new V12 is significantly lighter (by 17kg), gets new pistons, a brand new cylinder head, revised intake and exhaust manifolds, and a higher compression ratio that results in a bump up in power to 825hp; and that’s for the engine alone. The engine is rotated 180 degrees, and hence, the brand-new 8-speed twin-clutch gearbox is bolted behind it. This has freed up space in the transmission tunnel for a 3.8kWh battery, which, to put it in perspective, is smaller than my Ola S1 Pro’s.

Packaging a hybrid system is a challenge and everything has to be compressed, including the gearbox, which now fits transversely behind the engine and loses reverse gear. No, you don’t have to get out and push. One of the three axial flux electric motors does the job of moving you backwards.

Three electric motors producing a combined 190hp and the naturally aspirated V12 engine come together to belt out a gobsmacking total output of 1,015hp and 807Nm of torque. Though these numbers give great bragging rights, they don’t tell the whole story. It’s the artful way electric power and the purest form of internal combustion have been integrated into a brand new carbon-fibre chassis that is 10 percent lighter and 25 percent stiffer, that makes the Revuelto a technological marvel and the Aventador a dinosaur in comparison.

In fact, the Revuelto was conceived by picking off, one-by-one, all the flaws of the brutal and archaic Aventador, some of which ironically were a big part of its appeal. What you couldn’t fault though was the Aventador’s design, which, even after 12 years, didn’t lose any of its drama or shock value. This is why Lamborghini hasn’t strayed too far from the same wedgy design template, and hence, the only thing that isn’t revolutionary about this new ultra-high-tech supercar is its looks.

Lamborghini Revuelto exterior design

You know the Revuelto is a Lamborghini through and through with its signature angry ‘shark’ nose, wide haunches and scissor doors that dramatically swing open skywards. The design is  smoother, more organic and a suitably modern take on the Aventador that will keep turning heads throughout its life cycle that should last well into the next decade.

Like with other modern Lamborghinis, you just can’t miss the signature ‘Y’ design theme, which is now even more prominent on the Revuelto. The side ducts have the Y motif in a contrasting colour and the tail-lights have a cluster of Y elements that look like arrows. However, it’s the extra large Y-shaped Daytime Running Lamps that are particularly stunning and impossible to miss. At night, they are an easy way to identify the Revuelto, even if it pops into your rear view mirror for a fleeting moment.

What is also very Lamborghini is the way the side glass area tips forward and the alloy wheels (also with Y-shaped elements) tightly fill the wheel arches, giving a beautiful balance to the design. In fact, Lamborghini’s design chief Mitja Borkert says that the Revuelto “has the best fitting shoes”. That’s one reason why the front and rear wheels have different sizes. Our test car had 20 inchers in the front and 21 inchers at the rear, but owners can also opt a size up – 21- and 22-inch alloys at the front and rear, respectively.

The engine has been neatly framed between the buttressed flanks like it’s a work of art, which it is. A V12 isn’t just an engine for Lamborghini, it’s a part of its DNA. And in a world where V12s are fast disappearing, its very existence is a reason for celebration. It sits totally exposed with not even a glass panel, but Mohr says it’s been weather proofed sufficiently. However, as an owner in India, I would be uncomfortable having it so exposed to our monsoons. But again, this is not a car owners will want to drive in lashing rain. The twin exhaust pipes have moved up from below the bumper to just under the spoiler for better airflow.

Again, I can’t help but imagine a typically Indian situation of pedestrians swarming in between stationary cars whilst crossing the road and possibly getting singed by the V12’s hot exhaust radiating out at waist level. Well, that’s a good cue to cut the engine by switching to pure EV mode.

Lamborghini Revuelto interior

Owners no longer have to lump the Aventador’s uncomfortable and impractical cabin, and right  from the moment the Revuelto’s scissors doors pivot up, it’s immediately obvious that Lamborghini has taken customer feedback to heart and learnt from past mistakes. Aventador owners had to practise yoga to easily get in and out of their cars but they won’t have to contort as much in the Revuelto because the rocker panel, which you earlier had to hurdle past, is much slimmer. Also, the doors tip outward when opened creating more space and making it easier to slip in and out.

Revuelto cabin completely modernised with three screens, more equipment and storage space.

Drop down into the cockpit and the pleasant surprises continue. The Aventador’s hard seats, which were even harder to adjust, are replaced by a bigger, softer pair that are infinitely more comfortable. There’s more storage space to keep bits and bobs, and a particularly useful addition is a wireless charging pad with a grippy base that can hold your phone. The deep frunk can take two soft bags, which is pretty good by supercar standards. What’s not good is rear visibility, but again, that’s par for the course for a mid-engine supercar.

No complaints about the driving position, which greets you with a not-too-chunky steering wheel swamped with buttons that are logically laid out and quite intuitive to use. There are myriad drive mode combinations you can play with because, in addition to Citta (which is EV only in the Revuelto), Strada, Sport and Corsa modes, which you can easily select via a rotary controller on the top left of the steering wheel, there’s an additional controller on the top right for managing the hybrid system with Recharge, Hybrid and Performance modes. Controls on the lower left control the damping and the all-important (for India) front nose lift, and the lower right knob adjusts the active aerodynamics. Yes, there is a lot for the driver to play with!

Born in the digital age, there are no analogue dials and you get three screens – a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, an 8.4-inch vertical infotainment touchscreen and a 9.1-inch landscape interactive display for the passenger. The system is highly configurable and you can even move icons and functions from one screen to another.

Cabin quality feels two steps up from the Aventador, and plush materials and hexagonal design elements all-round are another nod to Lamborghini’s rich past.

Lamborghini Revuelto performance

Expectations from a car with over 1,000hp were naturally sky-high, but I have to say the first few moments were a bit of an anti-climax. What I didn’t expect is how smoothly the Revuelto gets off the line, trundling down Vallelunga’s pit lane with the docility of a hatch. Ultra high-performance cars don’t like being driven slowly. They feel clunky, fidgety and out of their comfort zone, and this was more true in the Aventador with its jerky single-clutch gearbox and coarse four-wheel-drive mechanicals.

The way the Revuelto seamlessly blends electric power and the glorious V12 engine is absolutely transformational, and it’s this overarching refinement and finesse that defines Lamborghini’s new flagship.

However, this new found polish doesn’t take away anything from performance which is simply biblical. The 0-100kph time is obliterated in 2.5 seconds, and I was nudging 250kph down Vallelunga’s short straight before I knew it. This is a ridiculously fast car and the speeds it gets up to on this tight circuit defies belief. Because it’s a hybrid, the response is instantaneous and the electric motors brilliantly fill the gap in the lower reaches of the engine’s powerband.

The V12 though still sounds absolutely glorious and flies to the 9,500rpm redline with such absurd ease that you inadvertently keep headbutting the rev limiter. Adding polish to the driving experience is the super-quick and super-smooth 8-speed DCT, which is a universe away from the whiplash-inducing single-clutch unit in the Aventador.

What makes the Revuelto’s pace and performance so accessible on a track is the torque vectoring, which really is the secret sauce of this hybrid Lambo. The electric motors do a brilliant job of cancelling understeer and give that instant shot of power to slingshot you out of corners. The ESC too is perfectly calibrated and in Sport mode, the torque vectoring system encourages you to get the tail out in a very controlled way. The steering is precise, linear in response, but could do with a bit more weight for track use. In fact, the Revuelto has a lightness to it, and eases through corners at speeds that you can’t imagine for a car that weighs a considerable 1,772kg dry.

Though hybridisation has made the Revuelto more civilised, purists will be pleased to know this hasn’t dulled its core character. You still have the noise and drama only a naturally aspirated V12 can offer, performance is even more shattering and so are the looks.

Above all, there’s a newfound practicality and refinement that makes the Revuelto much more useable and comfortable than before thanks to hybridisation. But that has come at a cost. The Revuelto will be launched in India next month at an ex-showroom price of Rs 8.9 crore. Spec the car decently and on-road prices will breach the Rs 10 crore mark. The future of Lamborghini is no doubt exciting, but it’s very expensive too.

Also See:

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