Road Test: Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4

We get another go in Lamborghini’s flagship and its as wild as ever, but shows a civilized side too. Big, brash and a bit bonkers the Lamborghini Aventador is everything Lamborghini’s V12 range-topper should be, but with age comes maturity, so the Aventador’s compromises are not quite as explicit as its predecessors’.

Not since the Countach has Lamborghini’s V12 machine been such a riot of surfaces, vents and sharp edges. Like an even more chiselled version of the Murcielago-based (and loony money) one-of 21 Reventón, the Aventador mixes curves with creases like nothing else this side of an F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack plane. You could spend a long time poring over the details. From the serpent-eye aping headlamps with their hexagonal indicator inserts to the three-pane slats over the engine and central exhaust the Aventador is an absolute visual feast.

That drama is carried over to the interior, the heavily edged, sharp lines and bold surfacing apparent from the simplest switch to the shape of the instrument cowl. ‘Dramatic’ barely covers it, but its extrovert styling isn’t at the expense of usability, so the digital instruments are clear and the centre console’s switchgear all intuitive to use – and familiar if you’ve ever sat in an Audi. That German inclusion doesn’t intrude; indeed, if anything it’s welcome, adding to the feeling that the Aventador is properly sorted.