Road Test
Lamborghini Murciélago (02-) LP640 2dr Coupe
Test date 01 November 2006
Price as tested £197,460
For Spectacular presence, towering performance, dry grip, noise
AgainstPracticality, fuel economy, uncompromising on the limit
The LP640 is the car Lamborghini was never supposed to make. Three years ago, the company decided that the Murciélago’s thunderous 6.2-litre V12 engine had had its day and therefore needed replacing by an all-new powerplant. At the same time, an all-new car would be required in which to house the new V12. Which meant the big, bad Lamborghini as we knew it would be no more.
Understandably, this was not a view held universally by the staff at Lamborghini. Some of the engineers reckoned that, having evolved the V12 so effectively since the ’60s (it first appeared in the Miura in 1967), there was no reason why they couldn’t cajole it into one last great performance. So they started work.
Two-and-a-half years later, and in the face of some stiff internal opposition who claimed the old V12 had too much vibration and nowhere near enough refinement to cut it in 2006, the LP640 was born. Its V12 engine was indeed yet another version of the original Lamborghini motor, this time stretched to 6.5 litres and featuring everything from a new crank and heads to a completely revised intake system and no fewer than four new ECUs. And in styling terms it was very much business as usual. And therefore very much the business, as usual.
The name of the car – LP640 – is a direct reference to the engine itself. L stands for longitudinale, P for positore (longitudinal position), while the 640 tells you how much power it has (640ps, or 631bhp). In case you were wondering, that’s 51bhp more than before and, as anyone who has ever driven a Murciélago will tell you, poke was not something this car was ever short of.
All this comes at a price, of course, and in the LP640’s case that means £190,000. Compared with a Ferrari F430 that seems wildly expensive, but compared with a Mercedes SLR McLaren (which the LP640 is significantly quicker than where it counts) it’s a bargain. You pays your money…
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