Lamborghini Reventon

Tags: production cars, lamborghini, frankfurt 2007 Published on 12 September 2007 | 50,003 views

At the Frankfurt Motor Show Lamborghini has unveiled the Reventon, an extreme and exclusive sportscar with an aeronautics-inspired design and a 650 hp 12-cylinder engine. It will be produced in 20 units with a price of 1 million Euros.

The Concept

Although it is based on the Murciélago LP640, the exterior design of the Reventón is completely new.

It represents the ultimate symbol of Lamborghini's philosophy of creating extreme super sports cars without compromise.

Although sensuality and provocation characterise every Lamborghini, “however, the Reventón is the most extreme of all, a true automotive superlative.

"Our designers at the Lamborghini Style Centre took the technical base of the Murciélago LP640 and compressed and intensified its DNA, its genetic code,” affirms Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

The Lamborghini Reventón has been entirely designed in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the original birthplace of the Lamborghini and the native home of every super car born under the sign of the bull.

The design drawn up in Lamborghini’s Centro Stile (Style Centre) is fine-tuned in close collaboration with the Lamborghini Research and Development Department.

Thus, the Reventón is not only “haute couture” but it also stands out for its elevated dynamism whilst being entirely suitable for every day use.

The Lamborghini Reventón is not destined to remain a one-off. A total of 20 Lamborghini friends and collectors will be able to own this extraordinary car and, naturally, enjoy the incomparable pleasure of driving it.

The name Reventón has been chosen according to Lamborghini tradition. Reventón was a fighting bull, owned by the Don Rodriguez family. It is included in the list of the most famous bulls ever and is known for killing the famed bullfighter Felix Guzman in 1943.

Airplane inspiration

"The present day Lamborghini models are distinguished by the clear language of their shape: sharp edges, precise lines and clean surfaces, which are iingredients of a style reduced to the essential. Each element is created exactly according to its function".

With the Reventón the Centro Stile designers have coherently developed this philosophy, inspired by another sphere where speed and dynamism reign absolute: modern aeronautics.

This has created an extremely precise, technically striking style with a new vitality: interrupted lines and contorted surfaces create a fascinating play of light, giving the car incredible movement.ù



Above: the debutof the Lamborghini Reventon at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show

Just like the Murciélago LP640, the exterior is made of CFC, a composite carbon fibre material, which is as stable as it is light. The exterior components are glued and fixed to the body comprised of CFC and steel.

The front is characterised by the acute angle of the central ‘arrow’ and by the powerful forward-facing air intakes supply a lage of bolume of air, necessary to cool the carbon brake disks and the six cylinder callipers.

In Lamborghini's 12-cylinders tradition, both doors on the Reventón open upwards.

With their asymmetric configuration, the large air intakes below the doors provide an example of the extreme coherence with which a Lamborghini fulfils its function: on the driver's side it is large to increase the flow of oil to the radiator. On the passenger’s side of the vehicle, the air intake is flat because in this case, it only has to ensure the flow below the floor.

The aerodynamically optimised flat floor structure terminates at the rear with a diffuser featuring an accentuated shape. This guarantees excellent road grip and stability even at 340 km per hour.

Design details

The engine hood is made of glass laminate with open ventilation slits that offers a glimpse of the twelve cylinders. The glass also features the marked arrow angle that characterises the design from the front to the rear spoiler. The Lamborghini designers’ love for detail is beautifully illustrated by the fuel tank lid: a small mechanical work of art, achieved by milling a solid aluminium block.

The combination lights transform the incisiveness of the design into light: the front features the most modern light-emitting diodes alongside Bi-Xenon headlights. Seven LEDs ensure continuous daylight while there are a further nine diodes for the indicator and hazard lights.

Another technical innovation is found in the rear light LEDs. Because of the high temperature in the rear low part of the car, special heatproof LEDs are used for the indicator and hazard lights, stoplights and rear lights with a triple arrow optical effect.

The 20 units of the Reventón will be painted with a new homonimous hue: a mid opaque green/grey without the usual shine. However, thanks to the metallic particles, in the daylight this colour tone features surprising depth.

The specific wheels feature opaque carbon fins that are screwed onto the black aluminium spokes, creating a turbine effect and ensuring effective cooling for the ceramic brake disks.

Interior Design

The same innovative force applied to the exterior design characterises the cockpit of the Reventón. Designed and created using Alcantara, carbon, aluminium and leather that comply with the top quality standards, the interior is inspired by the next generation cockpits: just like in modern airplanes, the instruments comprise three TFT liquid crystal displays with innovative display modes.

At the touch of a button, the driver can choose from two vehicle information display modes. The instruments are housed in a structure milled from a solid aluminium block, protected by a carbon fibre casing.

The G-Force-Meter is also completely new: this display shows the dynamic drive forces, longitudinal acceleration during acceleration and braking, as well as transversal acceleration around bends.

These forces are represented by the movement of an indicator on a graduated 3D grid depending on the direction and intensity of the acceleration. A similar instrument can be found in the airplanes. Formula One teams also use a similar device to analyse dynamic forces.

The instrument on the left of the speedometer associates the number of revolutions in the form of a luminous column with the display of the selected gear. Finally, every Reventón is equipped with a robotised e.gear controlled by two small levers under the steering wheel.

By simply pressing a button, the driver can switch to the second, quasi-analogical display, where the classic circular instruments, speedometer and engine speed indicator are configured in an equally innovative way and transformed into luminous pilot lamps with varying colours. The G-Force-Meter naturally remains at the centre in this display mode.

In-house developed electronic systems

All this is possible thanks to the fact that the entire electronic platform of the Reventón, together with all the control devices, has been autonomously developed by the Lamborghini experts.

The same process for integrating the electronic displays in the car was applied to the Lamborghini Engineering Department.

About the Lamborghini Centro Stile

The Reventon was entirely developed at Sant'Agata Bolognese: from CAD design and development, to the creation of the prototype in the Prototype Department.

Inaugurated in 2004, the Centro Stile is dedicated to design and characterised by a high degree of efficiency: an “atelier” of creators, designers and prototype constructors, who encapsulate the Lamborghini culture and spirit by using their remarkable skills to create aesthetic innovation.

The Centro Stile is located in a 2,900 square two-storey building.

The large pavilion houses two test floors and related production and analysis equipment, while other rooms are set aside for the most advanced computerised workstations for designers and a style-model construction workshop. The Centro Stile is also closely linked to the nearby Engineering Department: the direct line between the Lamborghini development departments guarantees that ideas rapidly become reality.

The Lamborghini Reventón is a practical illustration of the streamlined functionality and efficiency characterising the Centro Stile: it took less than a year to progress from the first ideas to the finished car.

The complete design process from the first sketches on paper, to three dimensional computer models with 1:10 or 1:4 scale, right up to the real size prototype is organised around streamlined, fast, efficient work groups.

Thanks to the Centro Stile, for the first time in its history, Lamborghini is now able to create its own style philosophy in-house without having to rely on any external collaboration.

The 20 units will be manufactured in Sant’Agata, using a production process characterised by expert cfraftmanship and rigorous quality standards.