Tuesday 12th June 2012

PH Blog: supercars - what's the point exactly?

Too big, too fast, too ostentatious - does a car like the Lamborghini Aventador have any relevance to anyone?

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There's a pattern emerging here. Two Lamborghinis in one week (yes, I know...) and my experience with the Reventon should have prepared me for the couple of days in the Aventador's company I've just had.

I approached the Reventon with my cynical hack's hat on (it's a very silly hat, it should be said). And ended the experience giggling like an idiot.

The Aventador ... pointless he says

Which is what I got from the Aventador. Perhaps the most pointless car in existence.

It is though. Technically impressive, visually gobsmacking, but the Aventador fails in every objective test. It's way too big and fat to really trouble any 'proper' car on a track. And too fast, too wide and too ostentatious to really be much fun on the road. It's not as joyously sharp to drive as a 458, overblown and theatrical compared with a McLaren, emotionally and physically tiring to be in and not even that exciting unless you're well into three-figure speeds. So I'm told. The suspension and gearshift are designed as some form of self-flagellation for folk who think such things mark them out as Real Men, important bits fall off into the footwell and engine warning lights blink on and off in worryingly random fashion.

Meanwhile we delude ourselves into to thinking we're above all that and excited by the stuff that matters. Well, matters to the likes of us. So we'll mutter into our coffee that our GT3 RS 4.0s are 13 seconds faster round the 'ring than regular GT3s. That our 458 Italia reflects the pinnacle of decades of F1-honed supercar expertise. That our shifter paddles on our MP4-12Cs are exactly the same distance (25.1mm) away from the steering wheel rim as Lewis Hamilton's F1 car. And we point and laugh at that bloke in the Lambo. Pointless showing off we scoff.

Visual impact box ticked but what else?

All the time ignoring the elephant in the room that, actually, the Aventador's abilities are, after all that, far more relevant than any of that nonsense.

The beauty of the Aventador is that it nails its objectives just as well. And its objectives are, pure and simple, causing a fuss and brightening up everyone's day. It makes no pretence at 'ring lap times. It just needs to make noise, look great and, should it come to it, be able to boast of a suitably silly top speed, probably never, ever to be attained in this life or the next. It does all of these things brilliantly.

I spent last Friday driving the Aventador round and meeting Lamborghini owners and all had one thing in common - as kids they'd had Lamborghini posters on their walls and dreamed of owning one. And all the people - and it was a lot of them - I took out in it over the weekend came away with the same dreamy expression on their faces, whether they were 10 years old or old enough to know better.

It's that kind of car. It exerts that kind of magic on everybody, whether they're into cars or not. Try telling them about your 4.0's 'ring lap time or about your MP4-12C's Pre-Cog gearchange system and see how far you get.

Journey into Lambo heritage reveals much

I started composing 'proper' stories in my head as I drove the Aventador, fixating on steering feel and dynamic behaviour. And then gave up and started enjoying it for what it is. Taking folk for rides. Giggling at their responses to redlined Corsa gearshifts. Responding to every exclamation, every open-mouthed point, every cameraphone with a big goofy grin and a thumbs up. Because outside of our geeky little bubble that's what matters about the Aventador and there's huge fun to be had being swept away by it.

Now who's pointless!

Dan

Aventador/Miura pic: Antony Fraser

 

[Ex Boy Racer]

Couldn't agree more. The enjoyment of cars is in the feeling they give you - when you look at them, listen to them and drive them. Anyone who writes one of these off simply doesn't understand the emotion.

[monthefish]

Dan Trent said:

Supercars - what's the point exactly?

on another thread Garlick said:

Does your car still excite you?

Mine does...

I don't use the TVR every day, and that makes the times when I do all the more exciting. Knowing I'm going to use it means an excited night before, the opening of the garage, the noise of start up, the driving. In all honesty I still get adrenaline even for a drive home from PHHQ, odd as it may sound.

You guys should really talk more in the office...

[melvster]

Agree, as stunning as the Aventador, Murcielago etc.... are, i dont see where you could use that power nor get the best out of it. If you took an Aventador on the Welsh B roads and then had a go in a GT3, you would probably have more fun in the GT3 due to it being lighter, more nimble and easier to exploit its limits.

[morgs_]

I've got the poster(s), just need the car ^^

Oh and POTW please



ETA:

melvster said:

Agree, as stunning as the Aventador, Murcielago etc.... are, i dont see where you could use that power nor get the best out of it. If you took an Aventador on the Welsh B roads and then had a go in a GT3, you would probably have more fun in the GT3 due to it being lighter, more nimble and easier to exploit its limits.

Whoooooosh

[richb77]

The world would be a very grey, dull and boring place if companies like Lamborghini didn't make the wacky, impractical and ostentatious cars.

We all love to dream about owning these cars and a lucky few wealthy types keep that dream alive for us mere mortals.

[Latina Goddess]

I liked this blog a lot. Because as other posters have said, sometimes it doesn't matter that things or indeed supercars don't have a point. That maybe one car might be lighter or whatever...it's how the car makes you feel and the emotion it elicits that's important. And that's the point surely of a supercar like this - that it is so wonderful because of its utter pointlessness.

[Davey S2]

melvster said:

If you took an Aventador on the Welsh B roads and then had a go in a GT3, you would probably have more fun in the GT3 due to it being lighter, more nimble and easier to exploit its limits.

Probably? I'd say definately.

In the real world no one would need more performance than a GT3 but thats not the point is it.

Its a bit like saying no one needs a watch to do anymore than you can get from an £8 Casio.

[toppstuff]

I think it is about context.

I would feel a bit of a berk driving the Aventadour around a retail shopping park in Swindon, but would love one on the drive waiting for me when I go to my villa in Tuscany.

[BILL PAYER]

I think of it as a rich mans motorcycle and by that i mean of little practical use but great fun

[DanDC5]

I actually think Clarkson summed the Aventador up perfectly 'It's like a big daft orange dog, and who doesn't want one of those?'

[v8will]

Davey S2 said:

Its a bit like saying no one needs a watch to do anymore than you can get from an £8 Casio.

I was about to post something similar. No one needs a Breitling or Omega anymore than they need a Lamborghini or Pagani but as a testament to what is possible...

Basically the world would be a poorer place without them.

[namnol]

Pointless article in my opinion.

Name a BIG lambo that drives well?

Muira - no
Countach - no
Murcielago - no
Aventador - no

But does this make any of them bad cars? No.

They are purely about, power and noise and being big, that's what makes them a lambo.

[Garlick]

monthefish said:

You guys should really talk more in the office...

My TVR is a sports car though. To me it is a super car, but it's not a supercar

[TomTVR500]

Brilliant article!
Driving cars is so much more about fun than technical ability. Because it is a universally accepted fact even among the most diehard petrolheads and speed addicts that you simply cannot use the performance of modern supercars on the road, particularly their vast cornering ability as visibility is always the limiting factor (even in my little 182) and possibly regard for your licence. It makes far more sense to just buy a car that is exciting, an event to drive and look at.
I'm not saying it can't be stupidly fast but primarily it should make you feel like a big kid and preferably make you laugh out loud every time you give it a prod.

This is why I LOVE a TVR. A well driven BMW 325i would probably be stuck to one on real roads but everything about them is just so exciting and outrageous it makes every drive a good day out and reduces you to childish giggles.

[oj121]

The point is that they dont have a point IMO.

They are big, brash, too fast for your average driver, too loud for your little village, impractical, expensive and unusable on almost any road in the UK.

BUT that is the point. They are for pure fun and excitment. They are supposed to make you feel like a kid whether you are driving one or just watching one drive down the road. People buy them for the love and joy they give rather than because they have a point.

[KaraK]

It's big and it's silly.. but god help me I want one!

[suffolk009]

There was a guy who lived nearby who sold his mobile phone shop about 10 years ago, then went and bought himself a Lilac Purple Diablo (just like Jay Kay's in the Jamiroquai video), it looked barking-mad utterly-ridiculous on the little coutry roads around here. Can't imagine it bothered him even one iota.

I thought it was great.

[Alex Gurr]

The more time I spend driving in the UK, the more I realise I hate it. I want a car that I can enjoy without having to go fast and perversley that is what some Supercars seem to do really well. On the other hand, I also want a car that makes me feel like I am doing 150mph when I am only doing 50mph and that is why I lust over a Morgan 3-wheeler

[blasos]

SUPERCARS - WHAT'S THE POINT EXACTLY?

This really is a silly question. The point is to make a profit. All cars are made with the idea of making a profit as the foremost concern. Safety, performance, comfort and so on are of secondary importance - Veyron excluded.

[ewenm]

Being mid-30s now, my formative car years ingrained into my psyche the fact that "supercars" should be ostentatious, truculent, unwieldy, unreliable, impractical beasts worthy of childhood posters and adulthood caution. I'm glad that Lambo are sticking to most of that formula (excluding their Audi reliability) in the face of their competitors' moves towards practicality, efficiency and sense.

I'll never own a supercar (and at the moment don't think I particularly want to) but enjoy the rare occasion of seeing them around. The bigger the "event" the better though which is why the Aventador is certainly not pointless.