Marani's Cars Blog

The stricter laws requiring better fuel consumption and lesser carbon dioxide emissions have been pushing carmakers to develop new technologies to make their vehicles cleaner and more efficient. According to a recent report, Lamborghini has equipped its 2013 Aventador with cylinder-deactivation.

This new technology cuts down the operation of the cylinder from using all twelve pistons to just half of the number. With only six pistons working, this essentially akes the 6.5L V12 to a V-6, at least temporarily. The rest of the cylinders go into action when the system determines that they are needed. Shutting down some of the cylinders while cruising down on the road improves the fuel efficiency of the vehicle and also reduces the CO2 it spews out into the atmosphere.

The cylinder-deactivation setup will be used in tandem with a start-stop system that automatically turns off the engine and restarts it to decrease the idling time of the Aventador. This further decreases consumption of fuel and its emissions. The engine can be turned on again once the driver steps on the accelerator. The restart occurs lightning quick at 180 milliseconds.

Lamborghini also applied the science of ridding the car of excess weight. Instead of using a battery, the engineers opted for capacitors that resulted to about 7 lbs off the total weight. The capacitor is an electronic part that can store energy. It is just like a battery but smaller and lighter, plus it charges a lot quicker.

With the upgrades to the Aventador, the fuel economy goes up to 16 liters for every 100 kilometers from 17.2L for the same distance. The CO2 emission also dropped to 370 grams for every kilometer instead of 398g.

The 2013 Aventador will have other modifications such as stiffer springs and tweaked dampers to improve ride comfort, refreshed instrument cluster that will be more readable, and a dose accessories made of carbon fiber.

The new Aventador is expected to be unwrapped during the Paris Auto Show this September.

The engineers and designers at the tuning firm ASMA Design turn their creative eyes on the flagship vehicle of the Lamborghini garage, the LP700-4 Aventador.

The tuning firm has been known for their works on luxury car brands. Some of their creations include the SLR Perfectus, CLS Shark II from Mercedes, and they also recently tweaked the Cayenne by Porsche.

Looking at the released rendeding of the Lamborghini Aventador, it seems most panels have been redesigned except for the rear and the diffuser. ASMA also used their trademark big wheels for the design. ASMA designers also integrated with the top of the quarter panel and fender louvered vents, installed taillight jail bars, and totally redesigned the side skirts which will be extended to the quarter panels.

The look is quite radical looking at the three-quarter perspective of the Aventador by ASMA. The tuning company keeps everyone guessing with how they dealt with the front end of the Lamborghini. As like their other projects, it can get pretty crazy too for sure. Let us just all hope the Aventador will not be ruined in the end.

ASMA is expected to release more photos of the Lamborghini Aventador on a later date.

The previous year was a very tough year for luxury carmakers. Lamborghini which broke their brand sales history in 2008 also suffered a slump amid the global financial crisis. Looking at the January to December report last year, the sales figures suffered a drop of 37.7% which translates to only 1,515 cars sold across the globe compared to 2008’s 2,430.

Less cars sold means less profit for Lamborghini which filed a pretax loss of about $47.6 million in profits.

The economic recession that cascaded through the major markets around the globe resulted to a decrease in demand particularly in the United States and Europe. Another factor to look at is the weakness of the dollar and how this affected the order books of the luxury car manufacturer.

The company also attributes the drop in sales to two things. First, that most of their clients are from the finance industry which suffered a big hit. There might have been a big chunk of their market which cannot afford the Lambos anymore. The second factor can be being appropriate and sensitive during a difficult situation. It will be hard to drive a new Lamborghini while you see colleagues and other families who cannot even keep their jobs and support basic needs.

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