Lamborghini Murciélago LP640: Driven!

Here's a nice driving report of the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640.

Impossibly low, ridiculously wide, a small cabin pushed out to the nose followed by miles and miles of engine, all wrapped in lyrca-tight carbonfibre. The Murcielago LP640 has vicious looks, rabid performance and intimidating presence: it's the way supercars should look.

To drive, the Lamborghini is not a twist-and go-supercar. You don't get in, fire it up and do big speeds in minutes: the LP640 immediately demands respect, concentration and commitment. It's an intimidating car, one with long, sharp teeth that are constantly bared and ready to take a chunk out of your driving ego.

Even at low speeds, the LP460 bristles with anger and aggression. It feels edgy and alive, straining to be unmuzzled. Squeeze the throttle and that 640bhp is unleashed to give instantaneous acceleration, hurling corners towards you with a PlayStation-like rush. The noise from gaping exhaust is guttural and thunderous at low revs, barking and snorting in the mid-range, and just mental above 6,000rpm, a three-dimensional banshee that shreds the air apart. And after a run, the LP640 spews out hot air from every orifice.

I've never been so filled with addictive fear as I have driving this car. Lamborghini's new Murcielago LP640 is a proper supercar - the kind I used to read about and lusted after as a 12-year-old. Big, brutish, loud, tricky, unfeasible quick and just jaw-slackeningly good-looking, it's totally over the top and goes like it looks.