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Mansory unveils 1,600-hp Carbonado GT under a carbon fiber panda body

European tuners show up at the Geneva Motor Show in spades to display their very expensive wares in hopes of finding a handful of buyers. The only way to set your company apart is to make cars that are increasingly extreme. Mansory is no different, and to keep up with competitors it has brought the 1,600-horsepower Carbonado GT to Switzerland.
The GT starts life as a Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, but practically every body panel is replaced with new carbon fiber pieces. It doesn't hide it either with the entire center portion of the car finished in clear-coated carbon. The biggest changes include fenders that are 1.6-inches wider at the front and 2.0-inches wider in the rear, and even the wheels have carbon inlays.
To make sure the Carbonado GT has the power to back up its hardcore looks, Mansory has fitted the Aventador's 6.5-liter V12 with two turbochargers to produce the aforementioned 1,600 hp and torque electronically limited to 855 pound-feet. The powertrain is upgraded to take the boost with pistons, connecting rods, rod bearings, crankshaft and cylinder head being replaced with high-performance units. Mansory claims the highly modified engine gets the GT to 62 miles per hour in 2.1 seconds and to a top speed of 230 mph.

Lamborghini could be sold or spun off from the Volkswagen Group

Volkswagen is reportedly considering a sale or stock listing for its high-end Lamborghini brand. The German automaker is looking to fold the Italian supercar brand into a separate legal entity, reports Bloomberg, which cites "people familiar with the matter" who don't want to be identified "because the deliberations are confidential and no decisions have been made." Any of this sound familiar? The goal of spinning off Lamborghini would be to stockpile more cash and other resources for VW's massive planned push into electric vehicles. Back in March, reports circulated that Volkswagen's "Vision 2030" corporate plan might include plans to focus on the brand's core brands — VW, Audi and Porsche. That means the futures of fringe players like Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, motorcycle brand Ducati and design firm Italdesign (and note this isn't a comprehensive list of brand's under the expansive VW Group umbrella) are up in the air. VW, according to the report, is targeting a market value of $220 billion, which is a big jump from the brand's current $89 billion valuation. Bloomberg pegged Lamborghini's valuation at around $11 billion back in August, buoyed by sales and profits generated by the introduction of the Urus sport utility vehicle. On the flip side, Lamborghini is currently grappling with how best to update its supercar lineup in the face of ever-increasing emissions regulations.

Lamborghini confirms Urus SUV will be its only plug-in hybrid

According to Autocar, we'll be seeing the first production hybrid Lamborghini soon. The publication reports that Lamborghini's research and development chief, Maurizio Reggiani, confirmed that the Urus SUV will be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. This would also makes sense considering former Lamborghini CEO Stephen Winkelmann's statement that if the company ever produced a hybrid, the Urus would be "the logical place for it to launch." Aside from this, Reggiani revealed nothing more about the gas-electric Urus. Reggiani did, however, provide some insight to Autocar into Lamborghini's powertrain decisions. He told the publication that the Urus's already confirmed twin-turbo V8 was chosen because of a need for torque in an SUV. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see what the company does with the hybrid since a big enough electric motor (or motors) could provide a remarkable amount of torque and, in turn, some impressive performance figures. Lamborghini has even shown this potential in the Asterion concept, which produced 910 horsepower from a 5.2-liter V10 and three electric motors. Of course we'd expect an Urus hybrid to be much less potent and probably connected to a version of the turbocharged V8. Reggiani also told Autocar that, just as the Urus has specific powertrain needs, the supercars do as well. He said that the company has no intention of adding turbocharging to any of its cars. On this subject, he told the publication, "A supercar is completely different; you need the responsiveness of the engine, to feel the spark of every cylinder." It will be interesting to see how long people like Reggiani can keep turbocharging and hybrid assistance out of the sports cars in the face of stricter emissions targets. He hints that future advancements in weight reduction and other areas may be key to that. It's certainly nice to hear that there are people at Lamborghini that still value the subjective aspects that make sports cars great. It's also news that's sure to put fans of Lamborghini's classic, naturally aspirated sports cars at ease. Related Video: