The pace car heads out. I pull into first and gingerly set off; revs building in the massive engine behind me. Just 2,500 RPM and it sounds like fairies drilling into my brain with a jet turbine; it’s as if the crankshaft spinning is the most dominant sound. Up to 4,000 in second and we’re at the pit-exit. Get on the throttle and the V12 piles on revs, before I have to brake hard into the first corner. It’s so urgent, so emotive, essentially a deeper engine, philosophically speaking.
The back straight beckons and I step on it. The climb to 200 is dismissed like the wave of the hand to a fly. So focused was I on the car in front, I didn’t even see the top speed, only taking in the hypnotic roar from the glorious 12-cylinder orchestra. Hard on the brakes, into the right-hander and the parabolica and I’m nervous. The Aventador changes direction simply, with every movement of the steering wheel eliciting a precise, yet unhurried response. The feedback is phenomenal. Through the S and approaching the main straight. I’m curious to see what a certain Hamster in the same car sometime ago was on about: ‘Corsa’ mode on.
The engine howls, the car shudders a bit, and, again, it’s foot hard down. The shift from second to third was like a mule-kick to the kidneys. Violent! The Aventador in ‘Corsa’ mode with that V12 screaming at physics at the very top of its lungs was a landmark moment in my life. Up to fourth, and another kick to the senses, ensuring they’re wide awake and running hard. I was so glad I had a helmet on.
The back straight approached as the Aventador dismissed the two corners in between almost involuntarily, as my nervous system recovered from the voluntary drive-mode change. Flat out, the 12-into-4-into-1 exhaust relegating my favourite heavy metal band to second place, I charged forward. Somehow, it was another 266 km/h. The acceleration is relentless. With launch control, the Aventador will sprint from standstill to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds. Very believable.
In the corners, the ‘dash four’ is telling. Flat, hard, and with G-forces dynamically reorganising my face, I enter the left-hander leading to the parabolica; the seats cuddling me tight. A slight wiggle as I get back on the throttle, and soon it was time to head back. I revere my last moments with this reality-altering experience packaged on four wheels. It’s a completely different level.
The Aventador is an instrument that stirs the emotions and taps on the door of your soul. It’s automotive art of the highest exotic order and has few equals. Only the futuristic engine plus batteries and techno-wizardry on a silicon platter can outdo what it brings to the table, no less on an old-school chopping board. It’s not for everyone. It commands respect, yet it’s the wild one, pushing the limits of automotive creation minus the spoiled, rich get-up. It’s not James Bond. It’s Ozzy Osbourne.
NEED TO KNOW: LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR LP 700-4
Price: Rs 4.84 crore (ex-Delhi)
Engine: Petrol, 6.5-litre, V12, naturally aspirated
Max Power: 700 PS at 8,250 RPM
Max Torque: 690 Nm at 5,500 RPM
Transmission: Seven-speed, automatic, all-wheel-drive
Weight: 1,575 kg
Power-to-weight: 444 PS/tonne
