Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/655581
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 MARCH 2016 VIII Motoring Lamborghini launches its most powerful ever car FERRUCCIO Lamborghini would have been 100 years old this year. Hence the name of the Centenario, an Aventador-based limited-edition model whose 759bhp makes it the company's most powerful ever supercar. By limited edition, you're talking 40 cars in total. They'll cost €2.1 million each – or they would, if they hadn't already all been sold. Coincidentally, 2.1 million is also the approximate number of awestruck gasps one of them will provoke every time it gets taken out. Even by Lambo's standards, it looks like a fantasy car – though Sant'Agata says its styling is chiefly functional, with huge carbon fins and ducts managing airflow across what the company calls a 'permeable' body. That huge power output comes from a reworked version of the Aventador's 6.5-litre V12. Max power comes at 8600rpm, and as well as a 0-62 time of just 2.8 seconds it'll keep going to more than 217mph. With four-wheel steer and carbon-ceramic brakes which Lambo says allow a 186-0mph stopping distance of 290 metres, the Centenario is every bit as track-focused as it is eye-catch- ing. Its multimedia system has a telemetry feature and there's a storage point behind the seats for a pair of helmets. Your €2.1 million buys you a pair of interior cameras, too. So you can break Facebook with one of those hilarious videos of you terrifying a supermodel at Monza or round the back of the Wickes car park. Lambo boss Stephan Win- kelmann, on the other hand, would far sooner see the Centenario as 'an opportunity for our designers and engineers to transcend the constraints of series production to achieve an incomparable result.' Either way, he's flogged the lot, so happy rich people all round. Lotus Elise Cup 250 arriving in April THE fastest ever Elise? Now, there's a thing. And it's on its way. The Cup 250 is lighter and more power- ful than the existing Cup 220 model, and the first ones will be reaching their owners in April. The newcomer is technically similar to the 220 in many ways, with brakes and suspen- sion that come straight from the world of motorsport. Admittedly, it's only the fastest production Elise, not the fastest full stop. But with a combination of 240bhp (the same as the track-only Cup R) and 931kg, that's unlikely to weigh on your mind when behind the wheel. You can get the weight down even lower by adding various carbon fibre body accoutre- ments from the options list. As it is, the seats are already made of the stuff – combine that with a lighter battery and new wheels, and you have the recipe for a successful diet. The aforementioned carbon body parts include things like splitters and diffusers. Even without them, the Cup 250 generates more downforce than before – an extra 66kg's worth at 100mph, says Lotus. Between that and being both 21kg lighter and 26bhp more powerful, you have yourself one speedy little weapon. The 1.8 engine is largely the same one, of course, though it does now have enhanced management software to let you engage Sport mode when you want to go for it. Lotus being Lotus, 'sport' actually means something – it'll let you attack apexes without getting its nanny on at the first sign of understeer.