Lamborghini – lighter and quicker

Lamborghini are looking at ways to reduce their CO2

Lamborghini has decided that it has reached the upper limit of horsepower with its cars and will in future concentrate on aerodynamics and weight saving.

The horsepower wars are just about over. The Germans lead the way with ever bigger displacements and outputs, but the seriously misguided attempts by Governments around the world to penalise CO2 emissions are forcing car makers to look at smaller engines even for their performance cars.

In some ways we’re not against this; the imposition of CO2 targets has lead to some very clever solutions, and it’s arguable that many of these technologically impressive solutions would never have been developed had the car makers not seen a potential hole in their revenues by not supplying solutions. The pity is that it’s taken penalties from Governments based on cod science to make it happen.

And those limits will continue to have an impact going forward, as it’s going to take a sea-change in attitudes to emissions – and a dose of common sense – to see CO2 targets replaced by NOx and particulate targets. Still, we live in hope.

All of which explains why Lamborghini has decided that they have reached the upper limit – apart from perhaps with the Lamborghini Urus – of horsepower in their cars. We already knew that Lamborghini were looking at weight saving to cut CO2, but this is the first time we’ve heard that future performance will be achieved through weight saving rather than increased horsepower.

Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann said, “It has come to the point where acceleration equals consumption. More consumption means increased CO2 emissions.”

And as things stand that means financial costs for Lamborghini. So the future is going to be lighter cars. That means composite materials, aluminium instead of steel in conjunction with improved aerodynamics and even stop-start. There is also a strong possibility – although not for a few years – of a hybrid Lamborghini.

Unless the whole ‘CO2 Kills the Planet’ garbage disappears. Which it could. In the ’70s we were going in to an ice age. In the ’80s acid rain was going to destroy us. In the ’90s the hole in the ozone layer was going to make the human race toast. Those ideas are long gone. Perhaps as the ‘noughties’ was the decade of ‘Global Warming’ and ‘Man-made Co2’ we’re due to drop it in favour of some other man-made catastrophe for the new decade.

Wonder what that will be?