Lamborghini Murciélago SV

What is it?

This is Lamborghini’s mouth-watering new range-topping supercar, and although it may have taken the company some 14 years to produce a successor to the raw and outrageous Diablo SV of 1995, Sant'Agata’s favourite car maker has surpassed itself in the “how far can we push it” school of car design this time round.

The SV excels and is utterly excessive in just about everything it does. It costs £270,000, has 663bhp and can top 212mph without the rear wing fitted to the car you see in these pictures.

It is a monster of a supercar if ever there was one - perhaps not the fastest outright, but very possibly the ballsiest there has ever been.

What’s it like?

The SV’s personality is akin to that of the bloke who turns up a party with two supermodels on each arm, and leaves with another three in tow.

Yet beneath its He-Man exterior, bolstered in the case of the test car by a comically enormous optional carbon fibre rear wing, the SV also showcases how hard Lamborghini is thinking technically nowadays.

Despite its seemingly vast dimensions and aspirations, this car weighs little more than 1600kg, thanks to the extensive use of carbonfibre and other lightweight materials.

So given that the 6.5-litre engine produces a thundering 663bhp at 8000rpm and 487lb ft at 6500rpm, it’s hardly surprising to discover that the performance is quite a long way the other side of impressive. Think 0-60mph in 3.2sec and 0-100mph in under seven and only then will you get an inkling of what it feels like to open the accelerator in second gear and hold it there for a while.

On the road the SV feels suitably terrifying and has a pretty uncompromising ride, even for a Lambo. But it’s also one of the most exciting experiences you’ll ever have on four wheels.

The steering is notably sharper than in a regular Murcielago, and the extra agility during direction changes makes it feel both lighter and less clumsy when you’re really going for it.

You can sense the reduction in weight more than the increase in grunt in virtually everything the SV does, right down to increased power and response under brakes. Dynamically it takes the game at least one notch forward compared with the LP640. Which is no mean achievement.

Should I buy one?

If you are the sort of person who a) has the financial clout to do so and b) prefers the idea of cars like the Ferrari F40 as opposed to the Bugatti Veyron, then yes.

The new Murcielago SV may not quite be the fastest or most civilised supercar on the road, but it one of the most exciting there has ever been. It’s a fantastically gutsy statement from Lamborghini. Warts and all (and there aren’t that many this time round), we love it.

Steve Sutcliffe