It proves a good decision. A couple of
miles away it’s like a different country – the Italy basked in sunshine that
you dream of. I keep going until the squiggles run out, do a three-point turn,
switch the ESC off and retrace my tracks back up the hill. There is an amazing
set of bends that you can see all the way through, and here on warm tarmac the
F12 is an absolute over-steer king. The front end simply jinks into a turn
without question and then you can post the car sideways at will the throttle.
The E-diff is sensational in the control it gives you over the rear axle, and
once you’re got the rear tires spinning, it feels like you can just keep them
over-speeding all the way up the road, even swinging through direction changes,
as Jethro proves later. It does feel like a leap of faith the first time it cuts
loose, because you fear the back end could be as spiky as the front, but the
rear is actually beautiful to control once it’s moving. The only thing is that
the super-quick steering means it’s very easy to end up overcorrecting the
slide until you get used to it.
There
is an amazing set of bends that you can see all the way through, and here on
warm tarmac the F12 is an absolute over-steer king.
Once I’ve reached the others and relayed
the jolly news about the sunshine just down the road, I nab the key to the
Aventador. Pull down the door, flick up the red cover, press the button and
hear the starter spin for approximately twice the length of even the Ferrari’s
before the V12 erupts. A riot of bright graphics appears on the previously
black dash (with the rev counter dominating everything), then one pull back on
the angular right-hand paddle and you’re away. Strangely, it’s easier to get
into a relaxed flow with the big, low Lambo than it is with the F12, linking
turns with minimal fuss as you short-shift and bring the fluids back up to
temperature.
The
Ferrari feels much smaller than a 599 but it’s still wide
By the end of yesterday we’d all agreed
that Sport mode for the gearbox is perfectly judged and the only setting you
need (Strada being too slushy, Corsa too harsh). It also has the added bonus of
giving the most rear-biased torque distribution of any of the settings, with a
10:90 split. Likewise, the ESP needs to be turned completely off as (possibly
because of the winter treads) ESP Sport still snatches power away like an
over-cautious parent.
Rather like giving a polar bear a hug,
turning the stability control off on a V12 Lambo is not something you do
lightly, but very quickly it’s obvious this Aventador is different. Gone is the
subtle but persistent initial under-steer that used to prevail, replaced by a
front en that just grips and turns. It’s a revelation that instantly makes the
Aventador feel smaller, more positive and more wieldy.
There is, however, an obvious knock-on
effect of this alacrity at the front: the big weight behind your shoulders is
also pitched into corners faster. With the road opening out in front of you
through the pillar box windscreen, so the speed increases. You brake later,
turn in harder and you feel the car start to sway a little behind you. It’s
subtle, but your heartbeat quickens nonetheless and you rein things in.
Inevitably the speed pick up again and a couple of turns later you carry a bit
more speed into an appealing right-hander and the back definitely moves this time,
so that you have to dial in a quarter-turn of opposite lock to catch it. But
amazingly, it’s not terrifying and you find that you aren’t even close to
rolling down a hillside. This is good. No, this is better than good. This is
brilliant.
Aventador
is the only-engined car of the trio; its V12 produces 690bhp
Before you know it, you’re using the weight
behind you to set the car up; turn in hard, feel the rear sidewalls squirm as
the inertia of the 6.5-litre V12 pushes them sideways, apply a smidgen of lock
to out of the corner with the car squatting and straightening as you do. Easy.
Esses are even better as you can get the weight to transfer one way then the
other, the Lambo staying flat and controllable throughout. It’s all very subtle
despite the masses at work, and almost in slow-motion coming after the ADD
Ferrari, but it’s an utterly bewitching experience and one I can categorically
say I never thought I’d have in a 1575kg Lambo.
There are only downsides. One is wondering
how much difference the winter tires are making and whether it would retain the
same balance on a set of summers (if not, then all Aventadors should wear
Sottozeros year round!). The other is a brake pedal that, although initially
great, seems to go unexpectedly long towards the end of a decent gallop down
the road. It’s by no means complete brake fade, but it’s unnerving to have to
press harder and harder to access the retardation (we all notice a lovely sweet
smell, a bit like Castrol R, wafting up from the brakes after a hard run, which
none of us have smelt before). Overall, though, if I enjoyed the theatre of the
Aventador yesterday, then I think I’ve just fallen in love with the way it
drives today.
