Lamborghini's 700HP Supercar Coming to Geneva, Gets F1-Style Pushrod Suspension

Good news, Lamborghini fans! It looks like the much-anticipated successor to the Murcielago will be unveiled sooner than we would have imagined, namely at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show in early March. As well as confirming the supercar’s unveiling, Lamborghini also revealed details of its new pushrod suspension. The new Italian supercar (reportedly called the Aventador) will come with a motorsport-inspired spring and damper configuration, tuned to "meet the needs of a high-performance road-going vehicle." The springs and dampers are connected to the body shell of the car, in a transversal position (under the windscreen in the front and close to the engine in the rear), instead of the wheel mounts. Pushrods and relay levers/rockers transmit the forces from the wheel mounts to the spring/damper elements, offering improved handling and better reaction times from the springs. This allowed Lamborhini engineers to use less stiff springs, thus increasing comfort. Up front, the shock absorbers are equipped with a hydraulic lifting system that raises the front end of the car by 4 centimeters (1.57 inches), so you don’t scrap the nose on speed-bumps. The new Lambo’ will also feature an aluminum double wishbone suspension and carbon ceramic brake system, which will both boost performance significantly. As we previously reported, the model will come with a 6.5-liter V12 engine that develops 700 horsepower, while stopping power comes from 400mm 6-pot caliper ventilated front and 380mm 4-pot caliper rear carbon ceramic brakes. The LP700-4 will use 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels, wrapped in 255/35 and 335/30 tires respectively. autoevolution will be attending the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, so stay tuned for some real up close and personal shots of the vehicles, as well as for first-hand details of the motorized contraptions presented at the event.