new flagship Three electric motors, a V12, and 1,001 hpdriving the Lamborghini Revuelto Lamborghini improves on the Aventador in every way with Revuelto PHEV. Bradley Iger Feb 20, 2025 11:39 am | 1 The Revuelto is Lamborghini's all-new V12 plug-in hybrid flagship supercar. Credit: Bradley Iger The Revuelto is Lamborghini's all-new V12 plug-in hybrid flagship supercar. Credit: Bradley Iger Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreWe are effectively living in a post-horsepower world. As the roster of production cars offering quadruple-digit output figures continues to expand and a growing number of garden-variety vehicles now offer straight-line acceleration that would have been exclusively supercar territory a decade ago, serious thrust is quickly becoming an expectation rather than a rarefied experience.This trend might seem like an existential dilemma for an automaker with a legacy built on face-melting performance, but Lamborghini has never really been the type to obsess over the numbers. Sure, the Aventador SVJ set a production car lap record at the Nrburgring Nordschleife in 2018, but the company has always championed emotional impact above all else.At the press launch for the Aventador SVJ, Maurizio ReggianiLamborghini's chief technical officer at the timemade a point of telling the assembled journalists that despite increasing headwinds from emissions regulations, Lamborghini would continue to produce a supercar with a naturally aspirated V12 for as long as it possibly could. "I will fight it to the end!" he declared to boisterous applause. At almost two tons, the Revuelto is no lightweight, despite extensive use of composites. Bradley Iger At almost two tons, the Revuelto is no lightweight, despite extensive use of composites. Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Reggiani has since retired from the company, but the Revuelto is proof that keeping a high-winding V12 in its flagship model has remained a priority for Lamborghini. Although it's the Italian automaker's first series production sports car to feature a hybrid system, the centerpiece of Sant'Agata's latest showstopper is undoubtedly still the howling 6.5 L naturally aspirated V12 situated just behind its occupants' heads.A brand-new engineThat displacement figure may look familiar to fans of the Aventador, but the new L545 engine was developed in-house and largely from scratch for the Revuelto. Offering up 814 hp (607 kW) and 535 ft-lb (Nm) of torque on its own, the new power plant is both the lightest and most powerful V12 that Lamborghini has ever produced. It's matched up with a trio of electric motorstwo axial flux units powering the front wheels and another radial flux unit for the rear that's mounted above the Revuelto's new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, the latter of which is now positioned behind the V12 instead of in front of it. This results in a total system output of 1,001 hp (746 kW) and 793 ft-lb (1,075 Nm) of torque. But as impressive as the new hybrid powertrain is, it's just one piece of a much larger puzzle.The design lineage of the Revuelto is obvious, but this is not a revamped Aventador. The differences go right down to the Revuelto's new carbon monocoque chassis, which is said to be 10 percent lighter than its predecessor's while offering a 25 percent improvement in torsional stiffness. The Revuelto's front structure is also constructed from a carbon fiber composite rather than the aluminum alloy used for the Aventador's nose section, a change that shaves additional weight while bolstering the car's crash worthiness. Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Bradley Iger Inside, the Revuelto also offers significant ergonomic and technological improvements over the outgoing car. At 6'3" (1.9 m), the Aventador was always a pretty tight squeeze for your author, and any track work had to be done in either a hunched-forward or a significantly leaned-back position, with my knees essentially straddling the steering column due to the severely limited headroom available while wearing a helmet. But even with the standard seats, the Revuelto provides enough space above my head to offer hope for taller drivers: you may actually be able to get into a comfortable seating position in this car both on the road and at the track.Better ergonomicsonce you learn the wheelThe cabin is also a huge step forward from the Aventador in terms of both its design and the technology found within it. In terms of the former, Lamborghini has done away with the Aventador's busy array of buttons, knobs, and switches on the center console for a much cleaner look, aided in part by a new 8.4-inch touchscreen display that handles the typical infotainment fare as well as the HVAC settings.The display looks sharp and responds quickly to inputs, and the ability to share information with the 9.1-inch display in front of the passenger is a fun party trick, but I still found myself wishing for a physical volume knob on occasion. Hard buttons that are dedicated to the audio system have been added to the back of the steering wheel to supplement the touchscreen controls, and that helps, but neither solution is as good as the obvious one. The interior is as dramatic as you'd expect. Bradley Iger The interior is as dramatic as you'd expect. Bradley Iger Professional racing drivers get tested by their engineers on how well they remember the complicated steering wheel button layouts. Bradley Iger Professional racing drivers get tested by their engineers on how well they remember the complicated steering wheel button layouts. Bradley Iger For not-racing drivers, the first hour or so with a Lamborghini can be complicated as you try and learn the steering wheel. Bradley Iger For not-racing drivers, the first hour or so with a Lamborghini can be complicated as you try and learn the steering wheel. Bradley Iger Professional racing drivers get tested by their engineers on how well they remember the complicated steering wheel button layouts. Bradley Iger For not-racing drivers, the first hour or so with a Lamborghini can be complicated as you try and learn the steering wheel. Bradley Iger There are several different themes for the main display. Bradley Iger The new infotainment UI is much better. Bradley Iger Apple CarPlay is present and correct. Bradley Iger Now your passenger can know exactly how fast they're going and how many Gs they're pulling. Bradley Iger To start, lift the red cover and then push the button. Bradley Iger However, pushing this button no longer causes a V12 to erupt into life, as the Revuelto starts off on battery power. Bradley Iger The steering wheel is now where the vast majority of the physical controls live. Along with sets of hard buttons on the back of the left and right spokes and the expected keys on the front for things like lane keep assist and voice commands, it also houses a rocker switch for the turn signals and four knobs for vehicle functions. The red knob on the top left allows you to choose between drive modes, and the knob on the top right controls hybrid system behavior, while the lower left one controls damper stiffness and lower right adjusts the rear wing's angle of attack. It's all a bit overwhelming at first, but once I got the hang of things, I came to appreciate the ability to change the vast majority of the vehicle's functions on the fly instead of needing to dive into a labyrinth of system menus.The Revuelto's default drive mode is Citt, its EV-only setting. It's a design decision that allows you to make a stealth departure whenever necessary, but it also makes pressing the jet fighter-style start/stop button on the center console a far less ceremonious affair than it was in the Aventador. The hybrid system offers more than enough oomph to get the Revuelto moving at a brisk pace and maintain freeway speeds on its own, but its central tunnel-mounted 3.8 kWh battery pack is only good for about six miles (10 km) of range. Charge times are 30 minutes at 7 kW on a level 2 AC charger, or about six minutes if you use regenerative braking and spare power from the V12 while driving.Selecting one of the other drive modes (Strada, Sport, Corsa, and Corsa ESC Offlisted here from least to most performance-oriented) brings the V12 into the mix, though it's put through a brief warm-up routine before it begins to provide power to the wheels.Much more driveableAround town, the Revuelto is a quantum leap ahead of the Aventador in terms of drivability, aided in large part by its thoroughly modern eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Where the Aventador's automated single-clutch gearbox was unrefined and clumsy at low speeds, with pronounced gaps in power delivery as it swapped cogs, the Revuelto's shifts are seamless and nearly instantaneous. This, along with standard rear-wheel steering and cleverly tuned magnetorheological dampers, make it a surprisingly civil supercar to operate on the street, though its low-slung stance and limited rear visibility remain as inherent compromises of the breed.Unhurried cruising ultimately feels like a preamble to this car's natural state anyway. Out in the canyons, the Revuelto's 232 hp (173 kW) advantage over the Aventador Ultimae feels underrated. Throttle response is EV-quick thanks to the electric motors, and at speed, the Revuelto's jaw-dropping shove feels closer to a Bugatti Chiron than it does to its predecessor.The V12 delivers relentless power all the way to its soaring 9,500 rpm redline and produces a banshee howl that owners will hear in their dreams while doing so, but long gearing does limit the number of opportunities you'll have to sweep through the upper register on public roads. And while it's not the kick to the back of the head that the Aventador's single clutch was at wide-open throttle, the eight-speed gearbox produces noticeably firmer shifts in the Sport and Corsa modes to add to the drama. At more than $600,000, the Revuelto won't be a common sight. Bradley Iger At more than $600,000, the Revuelto won't be a common sight. Bradley Iger Is this the most civilized Lamborghini V12 supercar, despite having more than a thousand horsepower? Bradley Iger Is this the most civilized Lamborghini V12 supercar, despite having more than a thousand horsepower? Bradley Iger At more than $600,000, the Revuelto won't be a common sight. Bradley Iger Is this the most civilized Lamborghini V12 supercar, despite having more than a thousand horsepower? Bradley Iger Official dry weight figures put the Revuelto's curb weight at about 4,200 lbs (1,905 kg), or about 500 lbs (227 kg) more than the Aventador, yet the Revuelto somehow manages to feel nimbler and more eager to change direction, and it's less prone to running wide if you're impatient with the throttle coming out of a slow corner. Body motion is kept to a minimum even in the softer of the two suspension settings, making the "Hard" setting feel more appropriate for road course pace and surface quality.And when it comes time to scrub off some speed, massive carbon ceramic rotors with ten-piston calipers up front provide stopping power that's just as impressive as the powertrain. While the rear end of the Aventador had a habit of wiggling around under hard braking in a way that eroded confidence, the Revuelto feels eminently planted, allowing you to more precisely modulate the response delivered from the firm brake pedal.Between its head-turning design, hair-raising performance, and sophisticated technology, the Revuelto completely delivers on the promises of a thoroughly modern Lamborghini flagship. Of course, at an MSRP of $604,363 ($681,258 as-tested with gas guzzler tax and destination fee), it certainly ought to. Still, while there may be cheaper ways to get four-digit horsepower into your garage, none of them capture the essence of a supercar in the way that a naturally aspirated V12 does. Conventional wisdom may dictate that forced induction and a smaller cylinder count is the way forward, but as its look implies, sticking to convention was clearly not in the Revuelto's design edict. 1 Comments