2019 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster: A Topless Nürburgring Destroyer
Because smashing lap records with the top down is a lot more fun.
Year, Make, Model: 2019 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster
Top Line: On the eve of the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Lamborghini unveiled the drop-top version of its most extreme Aventador yet: the Aventador SVJ Roadster. It's a convertible, track-bred, V12 Lambo. Long story short, introverts need not apply.
What's New: The SVJ Roadster's removable roof is made out of carbon fiber and can be hand-removed and stuffed inside the car's frunk. No heavy, complicated retractable roof motors here. Hence, the whole thing only adds 110 pounds—only a bit more than the weight added by the supermodel typically found in this car's passenger seat—to the SVJ's curb weight and as a result, gets to 60 mph 0.1 seconds slower than its fixed-roof brother: 2.9 versus 2.8 in the coupe.
While the SVJ coupe was limited to 900 units, the Roadster is even more limited as just 800 will ever be produced.
Quotable: "The Aventador SVJ Roadster inherits all the power, performance and groundbreaking aerodynamic technologies of the coupé, but with its own iconic presence and prowess," said Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali. "With the same extraordinary performance roof on or off, the Aventador SVJ Roadster incorporates the dynamism of the coupé with the unique spirit of a Lamborghini roadster."
What You Need to Know: Bar the removable top, everything here is pretty much the same as the hardtop, Nürburgring production car lap record-holding SVJ. A big 6.5-liter naturally-aspirated V12 banging out 759 rampaging horses and 531 pound-feet of torque resides in the middle. Power goes to all four wheels through the same single-clutch, seven-speed automatic transmission that's garnered its fair share of criticism over the years.
The car uses the second generation of Lambo's ALA active aerodynamic trickery that can electronically switch between high downforce and low drag in under 500 milliseconds. Some cars have torque vectoring. This one's got aero vectoring.
Rear-wheel steering, horizontal push-rod magnetorheological active suspension, and super sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires should help it get 'round your local race track in a jiffy.
It'll weigh 3,472 pounds dry, reach 124 mph in 8.8 seconds, and come to stop from 62 mph in under 102 feet. The SVJ Roadster's top speed remains "in excess of" 217 mph.
The wild, topless Aventador will cost $573,966 before taxes and join its Huracán Evo Spyder sibling at the Geneva Motor Show.