Performance vehicles with any kind of electrical assistance sometimes get criticized for being too easy to drive. That's not the case with the Revuelto, a plug-in hybrid V12 supercar with two electric motors driving the front wheels. Pictured at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Aventador's replacement is a bit twitchy, which is natural given the damp conditions.
Although we're used to more sonorous naturally-aspirated V12 engines, the 6.5-liter leviathan of the Revuelto is adequately loud for a car that meets current noise and emission regulations. Like the Aventador S and Aventador SJV, the all-new Revuelto sports gasoline particulate filters in the EU and UK markets.
The newcomer's dynamic debut also treated us to some rear-wing action, an element designed to come up or down automatically or manually. While in all-electric mode, said wing defaults to the closed position for minimal drag. The Revuelto doesn't have only two electric motors, though. A third is located above the dual-clutch transmission, a motor that supplies power to the rear wheels under hard acceleration. All told, Lamborghini promises 1,015 ps, which is 1,001 hp.
Let that sink in for a minute. Nearly two decades ago, back in 2005, the Volkswagen Group cracked into the 1,000s with the Bugatti Veyron. The French automaker's hypercar uses an 8.0-liter W16 augmented by four spinny lads. How times have changed, huh?
The 5.2-liter V10 of the Huracan is going the way of the dodo next year. Lamborghini has been recently spied testing its replacement, with said prototype making faint V8 noises. The prototype in question also sported high-voltage stickers because it's a plug-in hybrid, just like the Revuelto. It's not known how closely related its V8 is to the twin-turbocharged mill in the Urus, but from the sounds of it, the supercar's V8 is turbo'd as well. Many boos and hisses, right?
It's amazing that Lamborghini resisted the temptation to add turbochargers to the V12 of its flagship, but then again, turbos would've taken away even more of the induction and exhaust sounds. The Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese couldn't afford to play second fiddle to Ferrari either, not after the Prancing Horse of Maranello shoehorned its 6.5er in the Purosangue.
As expected from a plug-in hybrid, the Revuelto is heavy. Despite featuring a whole lotta carbon fiber, Lamborghini's halo supercar weighs a whopping 1,772 kilograms (3,907 pounds). With a full tank of gas and the dry-sump lubrication system filled with oil, make that in excess of 4,000 pounds (1,814 kilograms).
Capable of 9,500 revolutions per minute, the Revuelto is much obliged to reach 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 2.5 seconds. Lamborghini advertises it with a top speed of more than 350 kilometers per hour (217 miles per hour), whereas e-range is estimated at… wait for it… 10 kilometers (6 miles).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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