Tuner takes Lamborghini’s Aventador SV Roadster to new extremes

By Stephen Edelstein July 11, 2017

The Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce Roadster is supposed to be among Lambo’s most hardcore supercars. Its 6.5-liter V12 generates 750 horsepower, and this convertible is bristling with hardware to help the driver make use of that power. In Italian, “Superveloce” means “super fast,” after all. But Novitec, a company that has tuned everything from Maseratis to Rolls-Royces, thought it could make some improvements. The stock Aventador SV Roadster already lives up to the “Superveloce” moniker, but Novitec’s version has more of everything, including speed.

Novitec started by bolting a supercharger onto the Aventador’s V12, boosting output to 970 horsepower. Performance figures for the tuned version are not available but, with the extra grunt, it can probably beat the stock Aventador SV Roadster’s 2.9-second 0 to 62 mph time. A bit of supercharger whine mixed with the V12’s own shriek (in this case amplified by a custom exhaust system) should make for an otherworldly soundtrack.

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Just as it really didn’t need any help in the horsepower department, the Aventador SV Roadster already looked striking straight from the factory. But Novitec added its own carbon-fiber elements to give this supercar an even more menacing appearance. It also tweaked the suspension and added its own custom wheels.

Some might question the wisdom of throwing money at an already-expensive supercar (the Aventador SV Roadster’s base price was $530,075) just to make it go faster. The full performance of even the stock Aventador SV Roadster can’t fully be exploited on public roads, so what’s the point?

Bragging rights, surely, as well as exclusivity. Lamborghini only built 500 Aventador SV Roadsters, making the model pretty rare even by exotic-car standards. Adding the Novitec tuning package virtually assures owners that they will never see another car exactly like their own.

Lamborghini itself knows the value of exclusivity. Over the past few years, it has unveiled a line of special editions catering to its customers’ desire to stand out at any costs. Models like the Veneno and Centenario are built in extremely limited numbers, and usually require a special relationship with Lamborghini to obtain. It’s become a lucrative business for Lambo, not to mention good entertainment for car fans.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

Tesla posts exaggerate self-driving capacity, safety regulators say

Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned that Tesla’s use of social media and its website makes false promises about the automaker’s full-self driving (FSD) software.
The warning dates back from May, but was made public in an email to Tesla released on November 8.
The NHTSA opened an investigation in October into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with the FSD software, following three reported collisions and a fatal crash. The investigation centers on FSD’s ability to perform in “relatively common” reduced visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog, and airborne dust.
In these instances, it appears that “the driver may not be aware that he or she is responsible” to make appropriate operational selections, or “fully understand” the nuances of the system, NHTSA said.
Meanwhile, “Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has reposted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” Gregory Magno, the NHTSA’s vehicle defects chief investigator, wrote to Tesla in an email.
The postings, which included reposted YouTube videos, may encourage viewers to see FSD-supervised as a “Robotaxi” instead of a partially automated, driver-assist system that requires “persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver,” Magno said.
In one of a number of Tesla posts on X, the social media platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a driver was seen using FSD to reach a hospital while undergoing a heart attack. In another post, a driver said he had used FSD for a 50-minute ride home. Meanwhile, third-party comments on the posts promoted the advantages of using FSD while under the influence of alcohol or when tired, NHTSA said.
Tesla’s official website also promotes conflicting messaging on the capabilities of the FSD software, the regulator said.
NHTSA has requested that Tesla revisit its communications to ensure its messaging remains consistent with FSD’s approved instructions, namely that the software provides only a driver assist/support system requiring drivers to remain vigilant and maintain constant readiness to intervene in driving.
Tesla last month unveiled the Cybercab, an autonomous-driving EV with no steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle has been promoted as a robotaxi, a self-driving vehicle operated as part of a ride-paying service, such as the one already offered by Alphabet-owned Waymo.
But Tesla’s self-driving technology has remained under the scrutiny of regulators. FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s technology relies on premapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar), which might be very costly, but has met the approval of safety regulators.

Cars

Scout Traveler SUV vs. Rivian R1S: modern electric SUVs compared

Scout Motors Traveler SUV in a forest

Scout Motors has made a big comeback, now under the guidance of Volkswagen Group. Not only is the Scout brand being reinvigorated but it has already announced two new models in the form of the Scout Terra truck and the Scout Traveler SUV. The Scout Traveler SUV in particular is an interesting vehicle, but it has an uphill battle ahead of it thanks to competition from the likes of Rivian.

The Rivian R1S is often considered to be the best electric SUV out there right now, and while it's not cheap, it offers an excellent set of tech features, a long range, and more. So how does the Scout Traveler SUV compare with the R1S? We put the two vehicles head to head to find out.
Design
The exterior designs of the Scout Traveler and the Rivian R1S are similar in many ways, though there are some major differences. Both vehicles offer a relatively blocky shape characteristic of a traditional SUV. The Traveler is a little more traditional than the Rivian in that it has a spare tire on the back, which is both practical and gives it a rugged vibe.

Cars

Waymo, Nexar present AI-based study to protect ‘vulnerable’ road users

waymo data vulnerable road users ml still 1 ea18c3

Robotaxi operator Waymo says its partnership with Nexar, a machine-learning tech firm dedicated to improving road safety, has yielded the largest dataset of its kind in the U.S., which will help inform the driving of its own automated vehicles.

As part of its latest research with Nexar, Waymo has reconstructed hundreds of crashes involving what it calls ‘vulnerable road users’ (VRUs), such as pedestrians walking through crosswalks, biyclists in city streets, or high-speed motorcycle riders on highways.