2007 Lamborghini on 2040-cars

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Chinese patent filing may mean Lamborghini Urus closer to production

The Urus SUV still hasn't received the official green light for production, but that hasn't stopped Lamborghini from protecting its performance crossover in the land of stolen vehicle designs. These patent drawings submitted in China show what appear to be the Urus in the same concept form that we first saw last year at the Beijing Motor Show.
Last we heard, the Volkswagen Group had put development of the Urus on hold even though, more recently, the Bentley EXP 9 F (aka, the Falcon) has reportedly been given the nod. Although the existence of these patent images don't necessarily mean the Urus is going into production, they are at least another excuse to debate the SUV's stealth-bomber-style lines.

Performance doesn't matter anymore, it's all about the feel

We've just had a week of supercars and high-end EVs revealed. Many of them boast outrageous performance specs. There were multiple vehicles with horsepower in the four-figure range, and not just sports cars, but SUVs with 0-60 mph times under 3.5 seconds. And it's not just a rarified set of supercar builders, comparatively small tuners are also building this stuff. Going fast is easy nowadays and getting easier. So what will distinguish the greats from the wannabes? It's all about how a car feels. This may seem obvious. "Of course it matters that a car should have good steering feel and a playful chassis!" you say. "Why are you being paid for this stuff?" But a lot of automakers have missed the memo. This past week I spent some time in a BMW M4 Competition convertible, and it's a perfect example of prioritizing performance over experience. It boggles my mind how a company can create such dead and disconnected steering; the weight never changes, there's no feel whatsoever. The chassis is inflappable, but to a fault, because it doesn't feel like anything you're doing is difficult or exciting. The car is astoundingly fast and capable, but it feels less like driving a car and more like tapping in a heading on the Enterprise-D. I also happened to drive something of comparable performance that was much more enjoyable: a Mercedes-AMG GT. It was a basic model with the Stealth Edition blackout package, and even though it had a twin-turbo V8 instead of a six-cylinder, it only made 20 more horsepower. The power wasn't the big differentiator, it was (say it with me) the feel. While not the best example, the steering builds resistance as you dial in lock, giving you a better idea of what's happening up front. Pulses and vibrations come back to you as you move over bumpy pavement in corners. The chassis isn't quite as buttoned down, either, providing a little bit of body roll that tells you you're pushing it. It's also easier to feel when the car is wanting to understeer or oversteer, and how your throttle and steering inputs are affecting it. The whole thing is much more involving, exciting and fun. 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT Stealth Edition View 8 Photos That's also to say nothing of the Merc's sounds. That V8 is maybe not the best sounding engine, but its urgent churn through the opened-up exhaust gets your heart racing. It also seems like it's vibrating the whole cabin, so you feel it as much as you hear it.

Ferruccio Lamborghini's twin-twelve Riva speedboat restored [w/video]

Everyone knows that Lamborghini makes exotic sportscars, but true aficionados are also well versed in the other types of machinery that has worn the Raging Bull emblem. There are the tractors, of course, with which founder Ferruccio got his start, but the company has also marinized its high-revving twelve-cylinder engines for use on the water.
Over the years, Lamborghini engines powered many crews to offshore powerboat racing trophies, but before all of that came the vessel you see here. The 278th of 769 made between 1962 and 1996, this Riva Aquarama was commissioned by Ferruccio Lamborghini himself. It was delivered from the shipyard in 1968, complete with a pair of 4.0-liter V12 engines out of a Lamborghini 350 GT, and old man Ferruccio enjoyed using it for many years.
Following his death in 1993, the one-of-a-kind Riva Aquarama Lamborghini disappeared into obscurity, hidden away from the world under a tarp until a Dutch collector tracked it down and had it restored by Sandro Zani and his team at Riva World. The project took three years to complete, including the restoration of the wooden hull with 25 coats of lacquer applied.