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| Sleeker
in the flesh, the Murcielago's pop-out air-vents are a new cutting-edge
feature. |
|
A
number of vital differences between this car and its predecessor become
apparent the instant you’ve successfully inserted yourself: first
- only a small thing - the steering wheel, made by Momo, houses a full-size
airbag. Though there’s no more than a few extra inches here and there,
the cabin feels noticeably bigger than before. The pedals are also very
nearly dead ahead, and although the steering wheel is still offset towards
the centre slightly, the driving position is considerably better than
the Diablo’s.
You still sit very low in the car and at an acutely raked angle: it still
feels and looks and even smells very supercar in other words. But the
basics in terms of ergonomics are now so much better, you no longer need
to be a particular shape to drive this car comfortably, namely 5ft 10
or less. Robinson is well beyond 6ft and he fits in just fine.
The other really encouraging thing about the cabin is that there is, as
far as I can tell, no sign of Audi parts bin sharing. All the switches
and columns and buttons are bespoke Lamborghini items; even the air vents
aren’t recognisable. Yet the good looking dials, traditionally illegible
in most Lamborghinis, are as clear as day after the Diablo’s.
What
owner Audi has also done with the Murcielago is to dramatically improve
all the bits you can’t see, such as the air-conditioning, the anti-lock
brakes, all the car’s electronic systems and cabin ergonomics, so
subtly that the traditional Lambor-ghini customer won’t actually
notice. All they’ll be aware of, Audi hopes, is that their new Lamborghini
feels more comfortable and spacious and is safer and more reliable than
the Diablo. And faster, of course. Ever since Ferrucio Lamborghini decided
to try to build swifter and more exciting road cars than his mate Enzo
Ferrari just up the road in Modena, Lamborghinis have been engine-led
motor cars. This time it’s no different: at the core of the Murcielago
sits yet another incarnation of the V12 that first appeared in the Countach
in 1973. And this time it has a 6.2-litre capacity dishing up 571bhp at
7500rpm and 67kgm at 5400rpm.
But whereas virtually all the Diablo’s marketing thrust surrounded
the engine, leading you to believe that the rest of the car was merely
a receptacle for the beloved Sant’ Agata powerplant, this time the
four-wheel-drive chassis, the new six-speed gearbox and the better-balanced
anti-lock brakes and steering get equal billing. The Murcielago is, therefore,
in chief test driver Giorgio Sanna’s words, the most complete Lamborghini
so far, as well as the fastest.
Sanna reckons it is so much more composed during cornering and under braking,
and just simply faster in a straight line everywhere, that it will lap
the old Nürburgring nearly a whole minute faster than the old 6.0-litre
VT. The overall lap time, he says, is “maybe a little bit less than
eight minutes”. For a car that weighs 1650kg this is astonishingly
rapid considering a Caterham 500R, usually untouchable around any circuit,
managed only 7min 55sec in the hands of a professional.
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| Cabin
roomier than Diabl's; driving position improved; no Audi parts
on show. |
|
I can wait no longer, so I turn the key. The explosion of sound behind
me is familiar, but more controlled somehow. I blip the throttle and depress
the clutch to move away and two things strike me. The accelerator is more
responsive and the clutch lighter than of old. Engage first gear and the
gearchange is also much more manageable. Already this car feels easier
and a lot less intimidating than any other Lamborghini I’ve driven.
I let the clutch out gently and we start to roll and the ride feels incredibly
soothing for a Lambo. As I rumble out onto the circuit over a couple of
nasty looking expansion joints the suspension copes beautifully. And I
don’t have to concentrate to drive it smoothly as you do a Diablo,
either.
|
January 2002
