 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lamborghini Murciélago $273,000
As for the chassis, it's also a work of balance between extremes, with a carbon-fiber body over a mid-engine layout (behind the cockpit but in front of the rear axle) and the transmission in front of the cabin for optimal weight balance (42% front and 58% rear). The Murciélago--named, like all Lamborghinis, after a famous bull--also has all-wheel drive, which is somewhat unusual in the supercar realm but keeps maximum juice flowing to the road. In this case, that power is transferred through huge, Pirelli P Zero Rosso tires on 18-inch rims (245/35 in front, 335/30, rear). Flip the gull-wing door up, lower yourself into the driver's bucket seat (the newest Lambo is said to be easier to climb in and out of, but it still helps to be small and flexible if you want to look at all suave during ingress and egress), and you'll find yourself at the helm of a long, low car with precisely the speed-racer seating geometry you'd anticipate. You sit in, not on, leather-wrapped seats that suck you low and tight, and extend your arms straight to the wheel, your legs to the pedals. The shifter is perfectly within reach of your right arm, and it's a tall-stalked steel-balled six-speed that travels through a steel shift gate. Front views aren't bad through the steeply sloped windshield, but rear views appear best through the side mirrors, which reach wide of the huge, retractable motor cooling vents (they adapt to engine temperature and car speed to pass maximum air through the engine compartment). Speaking of the engine, the 580 horsepower V-12 (you hit that horsepower at a scorching 7,500 rpm) is said to deliver the Murciélago pilot to speeds in excess of 205 mph and from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 kilometers per hour) in 3.8 seconds. But even at saner speeds (and acceleration rates), the Murciélago delivers most of its torque evenly, so you don't have to torch the engine at high rpms to derive plenty of pleasure.
 Then again, if you want to tool around town, don't get a Murciélago. Visibility just won't be good enough to enjoy this car in traffic, whereas, on some lonely stretch of New Mexico highway we can imagine there are very few cars indeed that would ever get close enough to be considered tailgaters.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The newest Lamborghini has gotten some criticism of late because it's not as gonzo as the first Countach was when it debuted. Funny thing is, a lot of those critics haven't even seen a Murciélago in person. When you do, your jaw drops and then closes again, and your mouth forms a grin. And you do not criticize. This may not be as groundbreaking a design as the first shark-like Lambo, but it's still one awesome-looking machine. And you know what, there's no mistaking it for anything else. That's why the design wins for us.
