2005 Lamborghini Murcielago Reviews

Paul Gover road tests and reviews the 2015 Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

While Australian new-car sales may be heading for another record and most Top 10 brands are up, the latest figures show prestige marques are outpacing the rest of the market.

Luxury brands vie for attention with opulence and drop-tops.

If you need to feel the wind absolutely tearing - not just rustling - through your hair, Lamborghini has the thing.It’s the fastest open-topped car in its history, with a 350km/h top speed - that's 217 miles-an-hour in pre-metric measurements - and the potential to fire itself to 100km/h in just 2.9 seconds.There’s just one thing - it’s going to cost you $916,950 in Australia.The car is the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce Roadster and it was unveiled this week at the world’s most exotic motoring event at exclusive Pebble Beach in California. Apart from the Lamborghini unveiling, the Pebble Beach Concours Classic car show was won by a 1924 Isotta Fraschini worth in excess of $10 million and the Porsche 956 driven to victory at Le Mans in 1983 by Australia’s Vern Schuppan sells at auction for $13.7 million.Lamborghini says its new open-air hero is the first roadster to earn the Superveloce badge reserved for its quickest cars.It comes with a 750-horsepower V12 engine that contributes to its name, producing a whacking 552 kilowatts at 8400 revs and 690 Newton-metres from 6.5 litres without any help from supercharging.Mechanically, there is also a seven-speed Independent Shifting Rod gearbox that is claimed to change 50 per cent quicker than a conventional double-clutch gearbox with far less weight.‘‘The Superveloce is the purest, most sports-oriented and fastest series-production Lamborghini ever. The Roadster version represents our commitment to satisfying our passionate clients with immensely emotional driving dynamics combined with an extraordinary open-air experience,’’ said Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.Only 500 cars will be built and deliveries will begin early in 2016.Confirmation of the price means the car is available for Australia, although there is no confirmation yet of any order.“There is no set allocation for Australia or any other country. All orders are taken upon request,” a Lamborghini spokesperson told CarsGuide.The Lamborghini factory is already building the Superveloce Coupe versions of the Aventador, although they’re not exactly rocketing out the door.“The Aventador production rate is four cars per day. On the other hand, we produce 13 Huracans per day, the spokesperson says.“From the production numbers you can see Aventador is more limited and, therefore, we sell less than the Huracan in general.”The timing for the Roadster is still only provisional, but it is definitely in the pipeline.“The Roadster will be built following the production of the Coupe version, which was announced earlier this year. Next year."Outside the engine, the car has a fourth-generation Haldex all-wheel drive system, with Magneto Rheological dampers similar to the ones fitted to some Holden Special Vehicles cars, pushrod-activated suspension and Lamborghini’s dynamic steering.On the roof front, the car has a two-piece carbon fibre hardtop - each piece weighing less than six kilograms - with an electrically operated rear window that can be dropped to allow extra engine noise into the cabin.

Lamborghini's Huracan shows just how far supercars have come. I suspect very few baby boomers would own up to having a poster of Gary Glitter on their bedroom wall when still in their formative musical years. But if you were a motorhead - lower-case "m" - chances are there was some choice duco up there between the

The Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce — let's just call it the SV — officially claims 2.8 seconds for the 0-100km/h sprint with the promise of a top speed beyond 350km/h.Neither performance stat is likely to be seriously tested in everyday conditions in Australia but the bottom line of $882,560 definitely will sort the dreamers from the drivers.Just 600 examples of the limited-edition model will be built, but it's still unclear how many will make their way down under.Cars for Australia could arrive by December"Yes, it will come to Australia. The number is not determined, but we are already receiving some inquiries," says Lamborghini Australia manager Eginardo Bertoli at the Aventador SV's preview at the Shanghai motor show, teasing Chinese buyers who are expected to snap them up.Bertoli says the first cars will be in production within six months and cars for Australia could arrive by December.The history of the SV models in the Lamborghini line stretches back to the Miura, which was built by Ferruccio Lamborghini — the tractor magnate who built his own cars after falling out with Enzo Ferrari — from 1966 to 1973.The Miura SV was produced with more power and tweaked bodywork, a pattern repeated with the more recent Diablo and Murcielago.Aventador SV development has focused on weight reduction and extra power, which means the car tips the scales at 50kg under the regular car and barks with a tweaked 6.5-litre V12 (552kW/690Nm). the most exclusive, pure and emotional car in our current model rangeInevitably, carbon-fibre figures in the weight-loss program. Further savings come from deleting the standard satnav and stripping out all sound proofing.Tech tweaks include sports-tuned magnetic dampers — similar to those used by Holden Special Vehicles — and sharper steering matched to more aggressive settings in the Haldex all-wheel-drive.Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann describes it as "the most exclusive, pure and emotional car in our current model range".In Australia, that means buyers will pay a premium of $121,000 on the "regular" Aventador coupe's $761,500 (the Roadster is $795,000).The Italian company sold 30 cars here in the first quarter of this year, up from a lowly four at the same time in 2014, thanks almost entirely to the arrival of the all-new Huracan.Priced from $428,000, the Huracan picks up a lot of technology from Audi, which owns Lamborghini.

It is the biggest motor show on the planet, in every sense of the word.The site map for the Shanghai motor show looks straightforward enough. With its simple clover-leaf design, at first it appears there are four halls to cover.Then you discover the floorspace of each hall is the size of the MCG – and split in two sections under one enormous roof. So, eight enormous halls then.But if you fold out the map – as I did, on day two – you then learn there are two levels to every hall.So instead of covering two of eight halls on day one, it turns out I only made it to two out of gigantic 16 halls. Needless to say, the joint is huge.China overtook the US car market in 2009 and hasn't missed a gear since.So many Chinese can now afford a car that it has caused instant gridlockMore than 24.8 million new vehicles were delivered in China last year (compared to 1.1 million in Australia and 16.5 million in the US) and sales are still powering, up by more than 13 per cent in 2015.The country with 1.35 billion people is rapidly developing a middle class, and they want to switch from two wheels to four.So many Chinese can now afford a car that it has caused instant gridlock; the government often alternates days which allow cars with odd or even licence plates on the road.In Shanghai, a city of more than 23 million people, equivalent to the entire population of Australia, the traffic is so bad that the best way to get to the motor show is by train.We found this out the hard way, having taken more than two hours to travel by bus from the downtown hotel to the motor show site on day one; the train ride the next day took 20 minutes. So much for celebrating the car.But even the Shanghai train system, although infinitely more efficient than Australia's network, is suffering from growing pains.The local transport website helpfully points out that an English translation version of the train map is not available as a PDF because the city is adding so many new lines that it doesn't fit on an A4 sheet of paper.China is a place with big ambitions. While the Chinese auto industry is booming, that is largely because each of the top-selling brands have their hands held by a foreign car company.If you want to build and sell cars in China, the government mandates you must partner with a local manufacturer – and split the profit down the middle.You name the brand, and they're either already in China, or about to set up shopIt's one of the reasons China's middle class economy is growing so fast, the government ensures the wealth is distributed far and wide.When a foreign auto company turns up to start building cars, they are told which provinces they will set up their factories in, and which company will partner them.That's why you see some unusual acronyms after household names such as General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.The list goes on. You name the brand, and they're either already in China, or about to set up shop.Meanwhile, demand for imported luxury cars is so strong that brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Rolls-Royce now list China as their biggest market.At a previous motor show, Rolls-Royce had to install a credit card machine because so many cashed-up Chinese buyers wanted to drive home in the display cars on the spot.Just as Chinese have had to adjust to understanding the difference between a motor show and a dealership (Rolls-Royce took their deposits but delivered the cars later), the global industry has had to change its approach to such an important market and has developed models exclusively for sale in China.At the other end of the scale, dozens of China-only car brands are trying to leave their mark on the local market and, eventually, the world.Many of these brands are the ones responsible for the copycat cars that have been the butt of jokes in recent years.There was the fake Mini, the sincere form a flattery to the Range Rover Evoque, the BMW X5 nose that appeared to be grafted onto what was apparently a tribute to the Toyota Prado.However, apart from a handful of cars (one that had a Ferrari nose and a Porsche Cayman rear end, and another that looked like a Volkswagen Touareg SUV, except it wasn't) this year's show stood out for its lack of counterfeit cars.Indeed, the domestic Chinese car makers are showing signs of maturing.Would I rush out and buy a Chinese car? Not yetThe similarities in foreign design are still there, but they are much more muted and on their way – hopefully – to their own look.The smart brands are hiring foreign design talent (there appears to have been a raid on Audi, BMW and VW designers recently) to help nurture the extremely creative Chinese designers coming up through the system.But would I rush out and buy a Chinese car? Not yet. Probably not for several years. Maybe even a decade.It should be pointed out that, just as with big foreign brands, not all Chinese cars are created equally. Some are most certainly better than others.The Chinese automotive industry absolutely knows how to manufacture every single part that goes into making a carThat said, even the big improvers of the Chinese domestic brands are still a long way from challenging the German, Japanese, North American and South Korean brands on quality, safety, refinement and efficiency.The Chinese automotive industry absolutely knows how to manufacture every single part that goes into making a car – and give it the appearance of quality.But the world's biggest car market is still yet to hone the skills to design and engineer vehicles from the ground up to truly international standards.In the meantime, foreign design and engineering talent will be able to enjoy the China boom.Indeed, even Australia is getting a slice of the action.The new China-only Ford Taurus unveiled this week was created from the ground up in Australia.Ford employs 1500 designers, engineers and mechanics (twice as many employed on the production line that will fall silent next year) at Broadmeadows to develop cars for Ford of China.The only difference is the factory is 8000km away, rather than next door.

The race to build the world's costliest and most outrageous SUV just shifted into high gear.

Peter Barnwell track tests the Lamborghini Huracan at Sydey Motorsport Park.

It was here Jaguar unveiled its legendary E-Type in the early '60s and the top end of town has revelled in revealing outrageous — and outrageously priced — supercars since then.Apart from the mainstream luxury brands, there is a host of boutique car builders who like to rub shoulders with, and occasionally outdo, the elite.Only 24 Vulcans will be made and, as the saying goes, if you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it. You will need especially deep pockets given this is a race car, and spare parts won't exactly be "off the shelf". The entire body and chassis are handmade from lightweight carbon-fibre. And the U-shaped steering wheel looks like something from a fighter plane. The Vulcan is Aston Martin's latest track weapon, said to have a handy 600kW from its 7.0-litre V12. This is Aston's answer to a one-make racing series for the super-rich.The EXP-10 Speed 6 is a new two-seater sports car concept from the German-owned British brand. It will sell alongside the Bentley coupe and sedan that are already on sale and the SUV that is a few years away from showrooms. It signals a new, sportier design language aimed at younger buyers who may shun the brand as being a bit stuffy. In the same vein as Mini, Bentley's designers have been locked in to variations on a distinct theme for years. Now they've cut loose. The brand hasn't nominated what kind of engine will power the car.The 488 GTB is the first turbocharged mid-engined Ferrari since the epic F40 supercar (built from 1987-92 and producing 351kW/577Nm)) and is only the second turbo V8 in the company's modern era after last year's California T. As with almost every brand, Ferrari is moving to turbocharging because it can extract more power from smaller engines that burn less fuel. A sign of the times, the 488 GTB (reviving the 40-year-old badge from the 308 GTB) easily eclipses the F40's output with an impressive 492kW/760Nm pushing it from rest to 100km/h in 3.0 seconds.British F1 firm McLaren joins the long list of supercar a 750kW twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8. The show car is finished in the same colour scheme as McLaren's LeMans winner from 20 years ago. McLaren's one-make racing series for the well-heeled kicks off later this year.Lamborghini has extracted extra kilowatts and trimmed 50kg from the regular V12 Aventador to produce its limited edition lightweight model. The LP 750-4 Superveloce has 750hp (560kW), can reach the speed limit in just 2.8secs and will likely cost more than $800,000 when it arrives in Australia late this year. Lamborghini, unlike Ferrari, has no immediate plans to adopt turbo engines.Switzerland has the highest per capita Porsche ownership in the world, so it's only fitting the brand should release two new sports cars at the show. The Cayman GTS 4 is a manual-only, track-focused baby 911 that will sell in Australia for $190,300. It is powered by a 283kW flat-six engine capable of launching it to 100km/h in 4.4 seconds.The 911 GT3 RS ups the ante to 368kW for a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds.This wild, track-ready supercar has no connection to cricket's hallowed turf. SCG in this case is short for Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, a company founded by a former Hollywood film director and avid collector of Italian supercars. Glickenhaus, who worked on Wall St for a while, lives in New York but spends most of his time building road-registrable track cars in Turin, Italy. The all carbon-fibre supercar weighs only 1350kg and is powered by a Honda 3.5 litre V6. Glickenhaus says it can lap Germany's famed Nurburgring in 6 minutes 40 secs "for 24 hours straight". And it can be custom-built and delivered to your doorstep for about €2.3 million.The Danish supercar maker shot to fame after being monstered by Top Gear. Clarkson and co gave the maker a hard time after one of its cars broke down, caught fire and then clocked a lap time slower than a BMW M5. The maker cried foul, saying the time had been set in wet weather.Undeterred by the negative publicity, the maker has shown its mid-engined two-seater, powered by a 6.8-litre V8 that puts out 810kW and is capable of 0-100km/h in 2.6s.Spano, a low-volume supercar builder, started in Valencia 10 years ago. The latest incarnation has a twin-turbo 8.0-litre V10 (690kW/1220Nm) and the maker claims it will reach 100km/h in 2.9s on the way to 370km/h. The monocoque chassis is made from carbon-fibre, titanium and graphene — said to be the thinnest, lightest and strongest compound known to man. Just 99 will be built.