Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae

Essentialssentials

LamborghiniAventador LP780-4Ultimae Roadster

Price: £400,000-plus

Engine: 6.5-litre V12 Power/torque: 769bhp/720Nm Transmission: Seven-speed automatic, four-wheel drive 0-62/max: 2.9 seconds/221mph

Economy: 15.7mpg CO2: 442g/km ON SALE Now

Alex Ingram

Alex _ Ingram@autovia.co.uk @AxleIngram

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Lamborghini’s history, and almost without fail there’s a trend running among Sant’Agata’s iconic vehicles: the final examples of the breed are always the most extreme and thrilling of all.

The run-out models of the Countach, Diablo and Gallardo were all deeply special. Even as recently as the Huracán, it’s the latest Tecnica edition that’s the best of a very talented bunch.

The brand’s iconic Aventador is no different. This is the LP 780-4 Ultimae, which here we’re driving in Roadster form; it’s one of 250 to be produced alongside 350 coupés. Ultimae, for those of us not fluent in Latin, means “the last” .

It marks a final chapter in another way, too. While Lamborghini has vowed to carry on with its V12 engine, the Ultimae is the last without hybrid tech. So has Lambo quite literally saved the best till last?

The Ultimae takes the know-how learned from an 11-year production run and rounds it all up into one package. The carbon-fibre monocoque provides a rigid structure from which to hang motorsport-inspired pushrod suspension, but also the rear-wheel steering system from the Aventador S.

The Aventador’s dramatic looks have been tweaked with a downforce-boosting front bumper; at the back, a three-stage active wing aids stability. Of course, the Aventador provides wonderful theatre before you even move off. The scissor doors rotate towards the sky to reveal a cabin as low and dramatic as the exterior. The Roadster opens up to the world courtesy of a pair of carbon-fibre roof panels that slot into the front boot when they’re not needed.

On to the engine, then. The 6.5-litre unit has been tweaked from the already-extreme SVJ to liberate an extra 10bhp, up to an astonishing 769bhp, making it the most powerful naturally aspirated production V12 in Lamborghini’s history. For such a large unit, it isn’t afraid to rev, either; that peak is produced at a heady 8,500rpm.

Lift the fighter jet-style flap covering the starter, prod the big red button, and the engine roars into life before settling into a bassy idle. Blip the throttle and the exhaust barks, sending passers-by ducking for cover.

Move away gently to let everything warm up, and the first thing you notice is the gearbox. Compared with the slick dualclutch systems you’d experience in a Ferrari, Porsche or even the smaller Huracán, the single-clutch seven-speed unit here feels almost archaic. Each ratio thumps home quite ungraciously if you’re just cruising about; the best way to deal with it is to gently lift off the throttle during each upshift. Admittedly, doing this doesn’t make the process any quicker, but it certainly does smooth out the process.

Still, at full-bore acceleration you won’t complain – partly because the gears slot home much more keenly when the throttle pedal is pressed to the bulkhead, but also because the acceleration is so violent, a little jolt marks a brief respite from the forces acting on your neck.

Assess the V12 any way you like –performance, throttle response, noise – and it’s simply astonishing. We’ll start with the first of those, though; it takes just 2.9 seconds for the Ultimae to hit 62mph, and it’ll keep going to 221mph. It doesn’t matter what revs you’re at, the engine responds instantly and pulls relentlessly.

The noise is truly wonderful when you open it up, aggressive and guttural with a spine-tingling crescendo, unlike Ferrari’s