When it comes to its competitors and Newtonian physics, the Lamborghini Revuelto is both a racecar and a war cry. When Lamborghini released the Aventador in 2011, it had 691 horsepower, which was 30 horsepower more than the previous Murciélago LP670-4 Superveloce. But the blended V-12 engine in even the base Revuelto will make an amazing 1001 horsepower, which is 30 percent more than the 770 horsepower of the last Aventador Ultimae. The Revuelto feels even more exciting than the numbers make it sound. We know this because we drove it for the first time.
The Revuelto’s huge power is made without using turbochargers at all. Lamborghini chose to use hybrid help to extend the life of its naturally aspirated V-12 engine for another model year. It still has a 6.5-liter combustion engine, but the valvetrain now has finger followers, which make the revs go as high as 9500 rpm, just like in the Corvette Z06. The engine has been turned 180 degrees and now powers the back wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, which is placed behind the engine. This is the biggest difference between the two cars.
The V-12 engine has 814 horsepower on its own, and three electric motors help it. The one in the back is stored inside the engine and also works as a starter generator. Each of the front wheels is powered by an axial-flux motor. There is no mechanical link between the engine and the front wheels or between the front axle and the wheels. Each of the three motors can produce up to 148 horsepower, but the 3.8-kWh battery pack in the middle tube between the seats has a peak flow rate equal to 187 horsepower, which is the maximum amount of electricity that can be sent.
We drove production-spec cars at Porsche’s Nardò testing ground in Italy. (The weird little warning stickers must be on every car at Nard that has high electricity in it.) We also had the chance to drive the Revuelto next to an Aventador SVJ. The Aventador SVJ set a new production car record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2018.
Lamborghini says that the tight cockpit was one of the few things that Aventador owners often worried about. The Revuelto’s cabin isn’t a palace, but it feels much bigger in terms of legroom and shoulder room. If the driver is six feet tall, the helmet won’t constantly hit the roof. The new car has new technology, like three digital screens and a big air vent that was 3D printed in the middle of the dashboard. It is possible to set up the screen in front of the passenger to show shocking performance numbers. There is also storage room inside the Revuelto, which is another first for a Lamborghini sports car. There are also two pop-out cupholders that look like they belong in a Porsche that are located above the glovebox.
All plug-in supercars have an EV-only mode, and the Revuelto is no different. This mode is called Città. This is different, but not very interesting: a quiet, slow Lamborghini that feels about as fast as the first-generation Nissan Leaf. The EV’s range will only be about six miles, so Città is more of a “sneak away” mode than a feature that will be used often. After that, there is a Hybrid mode that starts and stops the V-12 as needed. However, we spent most of our time with the car in the Performance mode, which leaves the engine running all the time.
Getting the Revuelto going
Performance is very good. The Revuelto beat the Aventador SVJ when we chased one down the kilometer-long main straight, but we have to wait for acceleration numbers to come in now. If you put Lamborghini’s top test driver, Mario Fasanetto, behind the wheel of the older car, the Revuelto would have caught it like a GTP hypercar would a GTD backmarker. Lamborghini says the Revuelto can go from 0 to 124 mph in 7.0 seconds. Bugatti says the Chiron can do the same thing in 6.2 seconds, which is only half a second slower. Based on the power-to-weight ratio, the quarter-mile time will be in the high nines after a jump to 60 mph of less than two seconds.
More importantly, adding electricity hasn’t taken away any of the V-12’s physical experience. When pushed, the engine sounds so wild that it makes you want to shift up before the 9500-rpm rev cutoff. But if you keep going, the engine will pull harder and harder until it reaches its very high redline. Plus, the Aventador didn’t have the low-down power of its turbocharged competitors. But the Revuelto’s electric motors give it fast power even when the engine speed is low. The accelerator felt as sharp in Sport and Corsa modes as it does in a quick EV. Lamborghini is also proud of having two different launch control functions. The more flexible one can be used by pushing on the gas while the car is still and then slamming on the brakes hard. This lets the back wheels spin a little.
What the Revuelto is like changes a lot when you switch between its active modes. Strada is the softest setting. It doesn’t make it a plush grand tourer, but it does make the transmission and engine response smoother and the adaptive dampers softer. Lamborghini says Strada also has a maximum output of only 873 horsepower, but you probably won’t be able to tell the difference in real life. When you select “Sport,” the engine’s output rises to 895 horsepower, the suspension gets stiffer, and the stability control setting becomes much less restrictive, letting the car spin at low speeds for longer periods of time before stepping in. It also speeds up the shifts and gives full-throttle upshifts a torque bump that makes you nod your head. The max-attack Corsa mode lets you use all 1001 horsepower and is meant to get the best track performance.
According to Lamborghini, the Reveulto weighs 490 pounds more than the Aventador. That’s just over 4400 pounds, but when you’re driving it, it doesn’t feel as heavy as that sounds. Instead, when they are driven next to each other, it seems more flexible and quick than the last one. To keep the SVJ from understeering badly, you have to wrestle it into slower turns and be careful with the throttle. Because the Reveulto can bias power from side to side and have rear steering, it turns in much more sharply, finds apexes more easily, and has better grip on the way out. It stays much more stable when you brake hard too.
