Aventador SVJ - V12 Lamborghini Insanity

Peter Anderson

Aug 26, 2018 — 4 min read

The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ has had its official world debut during Monterey Car Week. It’s wild, it’s limited and it’s expensive. It’s also incredibly quick, bowel-emptyingly expensive but bound to be the greatest V12 supercar from Sant’ Agata.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFXt7BLB0IM

We drove the Lamborghini Aventador for the very first Redline video. Its colossal V12 and old-school Lambo feel mixed with impressive tech made it an imposing proposition.

And like the Huracan Performante we drove, the Aventador SVJ takes the already-excellent package and ramps it up. Right up.

The SVJ takes two classic Lamborghini names and mashes them together – SV for Super Veloce and J for Jota. Which is how you say J in Spanish. Because years ago oh never mind.

It is also worth knowing that the full name of the car is Lamborghini Aventador LP770-4 Super Veloce Jota. Catchy.

Drivetrain

Like the Aventador S, the SVJ carries Lamborghini’s 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12. Oh, the revs. The revs!

Power rises to 566 kW (770PS), up from 544kW (740PS) and arrives at 8500rpm. Torque also rises, with 720Nm arriving at 6750rpm, an increase of 30Nm. Like the Performante, these aren’t huge increases, just useful.

100km/h (62mph) arrives in 2.8 seconds courtesy of all-wheel drive and Lambo’s ancient single-clutch ISR seven-speed transmission. The sprint from rest to 200km/h (124mph) is over in 8.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 350km/h. Well, the press release says, “more than 350km/h”. Gulp.

The extra power and torque come courtesy of a new titanium intake valve with a new-shape intake runner and length as well as a freer-flowing intake cylinder head duct. The V12 is even louder as a result of a new lightweight exhaust system.

Chassis and Aero

The SVJ’s chassis weighs just 1525kg (dry), a drop of about 50kg. The SVJ shares the standard car’s carbon monocoque.

Once again, a litany of detail changes contribute to the car’s improved performance. More torque heads to the back, the LDVA on-board systems have been recalibrated and the all-wheel steer has a few tweaked settings.

Anti-roll stiffness has increased by half – that won’t help the bone-shaking ride – and the magneto-rheological suspension also further improved.

The aero, though – that’s where the action is. The SVJ has what Lamborghini calls Aerodyamica Lamborghini Attiva (ALA) 2.0. This active aero system was very effective on the Hurcan, propelling it to a Ring record.

Lambo reckons that the Aventador’s aerodynamics have improved by 70 percent, which isn’t mucking around. Downforce has increased by a staggering 40 percent. That’s deadly serious. That’s teacher-hit-by-a-spitball-in-maths-class serious.

The system uses movable aerodynamic elements to reduce drag in a straight line and increase downforce in corners.

When the front flaps open, the air is channeled into a vortex generator in the modified floor for increased stability.

The rear wing features aero vectoring. The system reads the steering input and stalls the outside of the wing to increase downforce on the inside. ALA 2.0 apparently increases the aero loading by 30 percent compared to the Huracan Performante.

The front wheels are 20-inch lightweight forged alloys with 255/40s, with 21-inch rears wrapped in 355/25.

The result? A Nurburgring lap time of 6:44.97, bettering the 911 GT2’s 6:47.25.

For the record run, the SVJ was fitted with a roll cage, Pirelli P Zero Corsas (the standard tyre) and driven by Marco Mapelli. P Zero Trofeos are optional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRsq35Et-EY