Rear-steer Revelation

We’re only talking about a few degrees of rear axle steering angle but the end result is an altogether more inspiring V12 Lamborghini.

- Ben Barry

THE LAMBORGHINI Aventador looks much like the original Aventador from 2011. Spotters might notice the fanged bumper that contributes to 130% more front down force, the wider vents for extra cooling, maybe the new TFT digital driver’s display, but most people won’t. This is deceiving, because the S feels completely different.

Lamborghini technical director Maurizio Reggiani remembers the first time he tried its new rear-wheel steering system. ‘I said to my team, “you f**k with me”, this is an Aventador SV!’ he says laughing. ‘It felt so much lighter, so much more agile.’

This is good news, because while I fell completely for the lighter, more hardcore SV, I’ve never gelled with an entry-level Aventador. It needed a reinvention. In the hope of making us swear like Reggiani, Lamborghini is letting us back-to-back the previous Aventador and the new rear-wheel-steer S at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, near Valencia. They’ve set up a short slalom, but it takes just one run in each car before you’re spluttering asterisks. The original Aventador feels inert, more nose-led, and requires so much wheel-twirling you wonder if the rack hasn’t been swapped for something even slower.