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Valentino Balboni launches Lamborghini parts company

After 40 years of helping Lamborghini develop some of the greatest supercars on the road, former test driver Valentino Balboni is going back to work. Balboni recently unveiled his own company, aptly named VB, which will specialize in aftermarket components for Lamborghinis. VB's first matter of business is to give Lamborghini's most hardcore supercar a better sound. Set to launch at the Concorso Italiano during this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance week, VB's first aftermarket part is a titanium exhaust system for the Lamborghini Aventador LP-750 SV. The titanium exhaust system weighs in at 13.8 pounds and is a bolt-on part that uses OEM mounts. Each exhaust system takes over 350 hours to make and will be limited to a production run of 30 units. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Pricing for the exhaust system hasn't been announced, but drivers with the means to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for an Aventador SV should be able to afford some aftermarket goodies. Balboni has an extensive history with Lamborghini. After starting as a mechanic's apprentice, Balboni went on to become a test driver at Ferruccio Lamborghini's request. Before retiring in 2009, Balboni was said to have driven roughly 80 percent of the automaker's entire production. Lamborghini even named a supercar after him, the 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, as a way of saying thank you. It looks like Balboni isn't done with Lamborghini, yet, and VB's titanium exhaust system for the Aventador SV should be an aural delight. Related Video: Featured Gallery VB Lamborghini Aventador SV Exhaust System Related Gallery Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce: Geneva 2015 View 21 Photos News Source: Facebook, Valentino BalboniImage Credit: Valentino Balboni Auto News Aftermarket Lamborghini Performance exhaust system valentino balboni lamborghini aventador sv lamborghini aventador lp 750-4 superveloce

2015 Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 Review

For seven years, Lamborghini sold the Gallardo alongside the Audi R8. And despite sharing more with the Audi than most Italians would like to admit, the Gallardo was a true Lamborghini. Meanwhile the Audi R8 was every bit the stoic German. How did the Gallardo do it? Emotional distance. As cliche as it sounds, the Lamborghini felt more temperamental, although not always in a good way. That fiery disposition made it salacious at mere idle and a baying brute at the limit. The Gallardo's successor, the Huracan, incredibly is even closer to the R8 under the skin, but is galaxies apart from the Audi in terms of impression and intent. The R8 already has a reputation as an everyday supercar, faster than a speeding bullet, able to carry small groceries in a single trunk. With the Huracan, we wanted to find out if it offers the same benefits without dampening that scalding Italian attitude. That difference from old to new starts with subtlety: the Huracan's "dynamic wedge" shape doesn't boast; there isn't a single clingy component demanding your attention. The package fits together so well that you can't just look at one thing, you have to look at everything. There are details atop details, from the Y-shaped LED daytime lamps to the side glass that tucks into the body like an alien canopy. The designers worked to build in enough downforce that the Huracan wouldn't need active or moving aerodynamic devices. So whereas the Gallardo Superleggera looked good with a wing, putting such spoilage on a non-competition Huracan should incur one of those NHTSA-sized, $14,000-a-day fines. There are some hitches to just getting in and driving. There's no reflexive ease to the start and transmission procedures. We always need to remind ourselves of the steps to the dance and "Oh, that's right, pull this for Reverse." Lamborghini changed the shape of the Audi buttons lining the waterfall console, but it looks too close to the A4. The Italians also carried over that funky two-step process of pushing a button and turning a knob to control fan speed. The Huracan ditches Audi's stalks on the steering column by placing buttons on the wheel. The result is fiddly, but okay. It's a fine office, though. The cabin trim feels like eight different shades of Black Hole, and you sit so close to the ground that Lamborghini should offer a bucket-and-pulley system on the options list. The seats are firm and supportive where they need to be, and comfortable everywhere.

Valentino Balboni thinks the Miura greatest Lambo ever

Valentino Balboni spent 40 years at Lamborghini, a few years as a mechanic's apprentice at the beginning, then as a test driver at the request of old man Ferrucio himself. He is embedded in the brand, said to have driven 80 percent of the company's entire production until he retired in 2009. He has ridden and tamed so many bulls that they named one after him, the 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, and even made it rear-wheel drive because that's how he likes it. Balboni spoke to Road & Track in advance of an auction in New York on November 19 that will see a 1969 Miura P400S go on the block. A fixture from the days when mad men weren't merely characters on a television show, Balboni discusses taking customers for test drives, being sent on warranty calls, his favorite car, and why there will never be another one like it. Head over to RT to read the full interview from the man who helped make the original Countach, and therefore Lamborghini, what it is today. And in case you want in on the action, the pre-sale estimate for the centerpiece Miura is $800,000 to $1.6 million. Related Video: