Lamborghini has debuted its most powerful and fastest-accelerating car at the Frankfurt motor show. Called the Sian it’s also the firm’s first hybrid.
Lambo chose the name Sian for this car because in the Bolognese dialect that supposedly means flash or lighting.
The Sian features the Aventador SVJ’s naturally aspirated 6.5-litre 12-cylinder unit, but it has been uprated from 770 to 785hp with the addition of titanium intake valves, and is mated to a 48V electric motor producing 35hp, for a combined total output of 820hp.
In what Lamborghini claims is a first for low-voltage hybrid powertrains, the electric motor is integrated into the gearbox and connected to the wheels for low-speed reversing and parking manoeuvres.
Power is not stored in a conventional lithium-ion battery, but rather generated by a supercapacitor unit that’s three times as powerful as a cell of the same weight, and three times lighter than a battery with the same output.
The Sian will offer enhanced acceleration over Lamborghini’s conventionally fuelled models, sprinting from 0-100kph in under 2.8sec, with top speed claimed to be in excess of the SVJ’s 349kph.
The Sian’s wedge-shaped silhouette is characteristically angular and wide, and is said to be influenced by the work of Bertone’s Marcello Gandini, who was responsible for some of Lamborghini’s best known historic models.
Lamborghini will make just 63 Sians (all have been sold already), offering buyers a high level of personalisation through its bespoke Ad Personam division.
