Thirteen different driving experiences including EV mode for Lamborghini’s Aventador replacement
- Tyres and brakes
- Suspension and chassis
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The upcoming Lamborghini LB744 will use the three electric motors to give the V12-powered hybrid hypercar extra performance in both corners and a straight line.
The Italian sports car brand today revealed that the replacement for the Aventador V12, due on sale later this year, will use its three electric motors to deliver full torque vectoring in a package with 60 per cent better aero efficiency but 70 per cent more downforce.
It has included 12 different driving modes in the LB744’s 757kW powertrain – including (very short lived) full electric modes, but Lamborghini has gone radically against the supercar flow by not changing the way the controls feel in each mode.
The all-wheel drive LB744 hypercar, which is yet to be named but is already sold out until 2025, will have four-wheel steering as well, helping it in cornering at both low and high speeds, and is all based around a far stiffer carbon-fibre chassis.
It uses electric power steering and, as a counter to some of its rivals, the LB744’s steering, braking and throttle response will be the same in every one of its driving modes.
“It’s all-wheel drive in every mode and a big part of that is to keep constant steering support, so the weighting and feedback are always the same,” said Lamborghini’s powertrain head, Davide Bizzarini.
“Changing [steering] weight is a gimmick for driving modes and we don’t do that. We want a car that is consistent in each mode.”
Featuring radical evolutions in carbon-fibre manufacturing, the LB744 will use forged carbon-fibre for the chassis tub, delivering a four-motor hypercar that is around 130kg heavier than the Aventador, despite the addition of 200kg of plug-in hybrid hardware and a heavier eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
Lamborghini chief technical officer Rouven Mohr insisted the 13 modes included different hybrid modes and a full stealth mode, plus maximum comfort in Strada mode, an urban Citta mode and maximum attack in its Corsa mode.
Within the handling mode, Lamborghini has given its flagship model both EV and recharging modes, as well a range of hybrid modes depending on performance requests.
“Strada gives it smooth behaviour and shifting, perfect for long-distance travelling, and there’s even adaptive cruise control for the first time,” Mohr said.
“Sport is more fun. It’s more rear-driven and you can drift with it. And it is the maximum attack for Corsa. It’s for a hot lap and that performance level is very, very high, and much faster longitudinally than the other modes, with the most power – out to 1017cv [hp].”
The 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 delivers 607kW of power and 725Nm of torque alone, but the LB744 adds 110kW/350Nm from each of its two front electric motors and 110kW/150Nm from another electric motor at the rear.
“The type of motors we use give us high power density, high recuperation and torque vectoring,” Mohr said.
“Not torque vectoring by brakes, like you’ve seen others do, but real torque vectoring with the torque of the e-motors adding torque or recuperating torque in five milliseconds to help the handling.
“The reactiveness of turn-in in handling, that kind of turn-in has not been seen before, especially with a car this size.”
Tyres and brakes
Another key to the handling envelope is that Lamborghini has ditched founding supplier Pirelli in favour of Japanese tyre-maker Bridgestone.
The LB744 runs Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres, with a four per cent bigger footprint than on the Aventador Ultimae – 355/25 R22 tyres at the rear and 265/30 R21 rubber at the front.
But it took some convincing to break with the supplier that put tyres on every Lamborghini, from the 350GT to the Miura to the Countach and even the LM002 4×4.
“The tyre does not have to do something for you. It has to give you what you want,” Mohr explained.
“I care to do the best car and the best solution for that is Bridgestone.
“The most important criteria for us is the steering feel, and Bridgestone had an advantage there.
“We want some level of consistency in lap time, too, without falling off, and it was better with that, too.”
The LB744 has a narrower rear tyre than the Aventador, but a wider front one, to manage the extra weight of the front electric motors and the car’s 44/56 per cent front/rear weight distribution.
Brakes have also been upgraded, with an enormous 10-piston Brembo calliper on each front hub and four-piston units at the rear.
The carbon-ceramic discs are up from 405 to 410mm at the front and from 380 to 390mm at the rear, and are engineered to be all the LB744 ever needs, despite the extra help from the e-motors.
Suspension and chassis
The Lamborghini LB744 is based around an all-new monofuselage chassis, with a carbon-fibre structure that’s 10 per cent lighter than the Aventador’s and 25 per cent stiffer in both torsional and bending rigidity.
It’s more efficient aerodynamically, with 30 per cent more front downforce and 66 per cent more downforce overall, while being 61 per cent more aerodynamically efficient.
Perhaps the biggest notable difference between the LB744’s suspension and the Aventador’s is that Lamborghini has abandoned the inboard pushrod suspension set-up for a more conventional-looking arrangement.
Accompanying its full electric power steering is Magna-ride active BWI dampers.
“Damper technology has made so much progress in the last 10 years that we don’t need the pushrods any more,” Mohr said.
“And the steering is only electric to improve the feedback and performance.
“I personally hate cars that are inconsistent in their feedback and I hate tyres that destroy the behaviour of the front-end.”
Lamborghini added to this with a rear anti-roll bar that is 50 per cent stiffer than the Aventador’s, and an 11 per cent stiffer front anti-roll bar, while the steering ratio is 10 per cent quicker than before.
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Keyword: Lamborghini reveals V12 hypercar performance tricks