November 2018 Issue #23 November 2018 Issue #23 | Page 91

What’s a 759-horsepower psychopath like on an unfamiliar racetrack? Quite the handful! The
biggest improvement to me going from SV to SVJ is the engine’s increased torque. Not only
is there more of it, but the extra twisting force also shows up earlier, as it’s very easy to keep
the big V-12 over 4,500 rpm. Perhaps too easy. Previous Aventadors were always fast cars,
but unless you were using Thrust mode—the brand’s hysterically named launch control—it
took a few moments for the car to engage. Not anymore. Although not quite electric, the SVJ
scoots. This proved to be quite a handful on what was the equivalent of a slick track. Does the
SVJ oversteer? Understeer? Track true? Based on what I experienced at low speeds, all of the
above. But again, the surface was awful.
High speeds are an entirely different matter. I’m lucky enough to have driven the Centenario LP
770-4, Lambo’s super-limited, $2.2 million USD big-downforce hypercar, which can and should
be thought of as a predecessor to the SVJ. The Cent also produced 759 horsepower (though it
got there more through exhaust rerouting), came with rear-wheel steering, used nostrils on the
hood to divert air up and over the car, had underbody smoothing and a massive rear diffuser,
and had active aerodynamics in the form of a massive, hydraulically controlled carbon-fiber
rear wing. “Now,” I said of the Cenenario, “you have to learn to trust the car, to trust the aero.
The quick steering and revised suspension allow you brazenly to toss the two-ton monster
into a corner. Then, for a brief moment, the Centenario feels as if it’s going to continue sliding.
However, in a beat the aero catches the car, and you find yourself glued. The aero in conjunc-
tion with rear-wheel steering is a game changer.” You can nearly apply that entire quotation to
the Jota, with one big caveat.
Here’s the difference between the Centenario and the SVJ: The Jota’s active aero works much
quicker. This sentence—”Then, for a brief moment, the Centenario feels as if it’s going to con-
tinue sliding”—does not apply. Entering the kink at speed that makes up Turn 5 at Estoril is a
revelation. The SVJ doesn’t just feel stable. It feels battened down, rooted, anchored. Even
on such a low-grip surface. To me, it’s a shocking sensation to experience in a street car. It’s
instant, too. Even though you’re turning the wheel, the SVJ feels like it’s riding a roller coaster
track.
The big bull does have a weakness, and it’s braking, specifically the feel of the brake pedal, as
well as diminishing downforce as speeds decrease. In other words, the pedal is wooden and
the rear end squirms around a tad too much, especially when you’re get the beast whoaed
down from 177 mph (285 km/h) in time for a second-gear right-hander that constitutes Esto-
ril’s Turn 1. Part of the problem is ABS tuning, but the other part is Lamborghini’s insistence in
keeping the brakes feeling like a street car despite the SVJ’s track prowess. Hey, no car is per-
fect, and the Jota’s high-speed stability more than makes up for the less than perfect brakes.
The stability is incredible, actually.
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