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Lamborghini: We did not cheat on Nurburgring record

"Why would we [cheat]? We have all the data, all the GPS data. It's verified. It's already verified." – Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali Lamborghini is doubling-down on the legitimacy of the Huracan Performante's production-car record at the Nurburgring. The Italian supercar maker should have been on a high when it launched its Huracan Performante at the Geneva Motor Show, but it was instead forced to defend the 6:52.01 lap time on the Nurburgring's Nordschleife circuit in the wake of criticism. Skeptics suggested the footage had been sped up from a rate of 24 frames per second to 25, arguing the 'authentic' lap time would have been closer to 7:08. James Glickenhaus, the owner of ultra-low volume supercar maker Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, even called for the circuit to hold a special day to verify production car lap times. View 12 Photos "Why would we [cheat]?" Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali asked incredulously. "We have all the data, all the GPS data. It's verified. It's already verified. "The simulation we did before we did the lap was already better than the previous time [set by Porsche's hybrid supercar, the 918 Spyder]. "What we saw was the great potential of active aerodynamics. The Nurburgring is a lot of partial throttle and long corners. The SV [Aventador] was for sure faster on the straight, but the lap [by the Performante] was all recorded." A Lamborghini spokesman suggested the entire controversy was rooted in "one blogger's business model [of] paying for clicks." Audi Sport development head, Stephan Reil, also weighed in during last week's Audi RS3 launch, insisting Lamborghini would have had no reason to cheat at anything and that its active aerodynamics would have more than made up for any power shortfalls. Audi is a sister brand of Lamborghini under the ownership of Volkswagen Group. "We also know that architecture well [the Huracan shares its architecture with Reil's R8]. We know what it's capable of," Reil said. "The Performante 'Ring time is absolutely credible. Active aero makes a huge difference. "We did a TT production racer for the 'Ring with about 380 horsepower and gave it maximum wing. It was so slow down the straight that everybody passed it, but the overall lap time was very, very fast. Much faster than without the aero downforce.

Lamborghini Urus to get twin-turbo V8

The Lamborghini Urus won't use one of the Italian supercar brand's familiar V10 or V12 engines upon its arrival around 2018, but will instead pack a Lambo-exclusive twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8. Company boss Stephan Winkelmann and research chief Maurizio Reggiani confirmed the powerplant selection to Autocar, which verified earlier rumors. The choice of turbocharging rather than the brand's usual naturally aspirated mills comes returns lower carbon dioxide emissions and a greater breadth of torque from the powerband. Even if Urus owners never take the CUV off-road, Lamborghini's engineers want it to be possible. They feel that significant grunt at low revs is necessary for the vehicle to excel in the dirt, and the company only plans to offer the Urus with all-wheel drive. Winkelmann also promises the model to live up to the automaker's huge performance reputation. "This engine is not used by anybody else, only for Lamborghini. To be the most powerful in the class it must have something that is dedicated to our brand," he said to Autocar. For buyers looking for even more exclusivity from their Lamborghini crossover, the company could offer multiple variations of the Urus after the initial launch. Winkelmann re-confirmed to Autocar that both a plug-in hybrid version and high-performance Superveloce are under consideration; there also could be a luxury-focused edition. The company hasn't signed off on any of these yet, though. Lamborghini will build the Urus in a new factory near its headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese, and the brand will hope to deliver around 3,000 of them annually. Expect the final model to look like an evolved version of the earlier concept. Autocar claims prices for the UK market similar to the Aventador, which starts at around $400,000 in the US. Related Video:

Ferdinand Piech (1937-2019): The man who made VW global

Towering among his peers, a giant of the auto industry died Sunday night in Rosenheim/Upper Bavaria, Germany. Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who conceived the original Volkswagen in the 1930s, was the most polarizing automotive executive of our times. And one who brought automotive technology further than anyone else. Ferdinand Porsche had a son, Ferdinand (called "Ferry"), and a daughter, Louise, who married the Viennese lawyer Anton Piech. They gave birth to Ferdinand Piech, and his proximity to two Alfa Romeo sports cars — Porsche had done some work for the Italians — and the "Berlin-Rome-Berlin" race car, developed by Porsche himself, gave birth to Piech's interest in cars. After his teachers in Salzburg told his mother he was "too stupid" to attend school there, Piech, who was open about his dyslexia, was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. He subsequently moved on to Porsche, where he fixed issues with the 904 race car and did major work on the 911. But his greatest project was the Le Mans-winning 917 race car, developed at breathtaking financial cost. It annihilated the competition, but the family had had enough: Amid growing tension among the four cousins working at Porsche and Piech's uncle Ferry, the family decided to pull every family member, except for Ferry, out of their management positions. Piech started his own consultancy business, where he designed the famous five-cylinder diesel for Mercedes-Benz, but quickly moved on to Audi, first as an engineer and then as CEO, where he set out to transform the dull brand into a technology leader. Piech killed the Wankel engine and hammered out a number of ambitious and sophisticated technologies. Among them: The five-cylinder gasoline engine; Quattro all-wheel drive and Audi's fantastic rally successes; and turbocharging, developed with Fritz Indra, whom Piech recruited from Alpina. The Audi 100/200/5000 became the world's fastest production sedan, thanks to their superior aerodynamics. Piech also launched zinc-coated bodies for longevity — and gave diesel technology a decisive boost with the advent of the fast and ultra-efficient TDI engines. Less known: Piech also decided to put larger gas tanks into cars. Customers loved it. Piech's first-generation Audi V8 was met with derision by competitors; it was too obviously based on the 200/5000.