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Anything but subtle | 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S First Drive

It's just past dawn and I'm running on a thin supply of caffeine and adrenaline, but the 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S I'm chasing around Circuit Ricardo Tormo just made me crack a grin: faint blue flames are simmering deep within the leader's three exhaust pipes, pulsing almost imperceptibly as it whips around the track. Few things about the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 (including its alphanumeric name) were subtle, but the boys in Sant'Agata Bolognese have gone full-bore at refining the famously unwieldy flagship enough to make it drive as capably as it looks. This updated version has been rechristened with an S at the end of its name, and yes, in the twisted microcosm of earthbound fighter jets, flames coming out of hindquarters qualify as subtle. Of course the Aventador S produces more power – to the tune of 729 horsepower, a 38-hp climb from before, with torque only increasing by one, to 509 pound-feet – and the extra grunt affects neither its 0-to-62-mph time of 2.9 seconds nor its terminal velocity of 217 mph. But version 2.0's most notable improvements apply to the big Lamborghini's chassis, which now uses a four-wheel-steering system to countersteer the rear wheels below around 75 mph, and turn them in phase with the fronts for stability at higher speeds. The system responds in 5 milliseconds, and has the virtual effect of shortening the wheelbase by up to 20 inches or lengthening it by 27 inches. In case you're keeping tabs, the extra 13 pounds of the steering hardware are offset by a new titanium exhaust system, essentially rendering the curb weight unchanged. If you've ever tried to toss a boomerang through a maze, you've got a basic idea of what it took to carry an original Aventador through a high-speed corner. The act required some patience to allow the front wheels to dig in and take hold, and even more resolve to wait for the perfect moment to squeeze the right pedal and power out of the apex. Accelerate too early, and you'd suffer terminal understeer until you allowed the weight to shift, likely triggering traction control as you goosed the throttle on the way out. At the Spanish track, the new Aventador manages something the first one couldn't: though it still retains some understeer, it also dances and turns more willingly, snaking its way through each corner with a gratifying combination of weight transfer and grip. Oh happy, fire-breathing day.

Artist gives Lamborghini Huracan fierce rattle-can paint job

It is nearly impossible to make a car as flashy as a Lamborghini even more so, but Miami-based artist and car customizer Rich B Caliente did just that. Caliente recently unveiled a piece where he painted an Imperial stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars in a striking mixture of matte blues, silvers, and golds. Not long after, Caliente was contacted by an artist known only as ZEVIGG who saw the customized stormtrooper helmet and wanted the same treatment for his Lamborghini Huracan. "I asked him to give me a day to think about this project since it involved major amounts of time and effort, on top of that it had never been done before as far as color blending an entire car. After some careful thought, I felt confident that I could knock it out of the box even though it was a $200,000-dollar car I'd be using as my canvas," Caliente told DUB Magazine. Dubbed "Project Inspire", the work took place over the course of three days in a paint booth at Exclusive Motoring, a high-end customization shop in Miami. Using nothing but spray paint cans, Caliente hand painted the Lamborghini like a grafitti artist spraying an underpass. The mixture of paints gave the car a rich patina and provided a base on which the car's owner added his own personal artistic touches. The car's look was capped off by Vossen Precision Series wheels, which were painted to match the car, and a set of grippy Toyo Proxes to keep the powerful Lambo planted. Soon after completion, the car was driven at the Miami leg of the Bullrun Rally. It now resides with its owner in New York City, where ZEVIGG parades it around as a rolling piece of art. Related Video: News Source: Motor Trend, DUB Magazine, @raymondneice Weird Car News Lamborghini Ownership Coupe Supercars Videos paint huracan street art

Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 SV retails for nearly $500k

Nobody ever said that buying a new Lamborghini would be an inexpensive proposition, but if the ~$200k sticker price on a new Huracan strikes you as high enough, you're don't even want to know how much the Raging Bull's new flagship costs. Presented this weekend for the first time in North America at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, the new Aventador LP 750-4 SV will set American customers back an eye-watering $485,900. Add to that the $3,700 gas-guzzler tax and $3,495 destination charge and you're looking at $493,095. That's just $6,905 short of half a million, and even that will disappear pretty quickly once you factor in all the gasoline and rubber you'll be burning through if you do right by the beast and actually drive it... not to mention insurance. That makes the new SuperVeloce nearly $100k more expensive than the Aventador coupe on which it's based, but hardly the costliest Lambo to date. That honor would go to the Veneno, which cost around $4 million. The half-million sticker price nets a twelve-cylinder supercar with 740 horsepower on tap, a 0-62 time quoted at 2.8 seconds and a top speed pegged at 217 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest cars money can buy – a stacking up rather well against hypercars like the Koenigsegg Agera, Pagani Huayra and Bugatti Veyron that cost many times more than the Aventador SV. Related Video: