The Aventador was developed before Lamborghini had access to the dual-clutch, and its chassis/dimensions don’t accommodate the gearbox. Part of the issue is the transmission running through the central cabin tunnel per Lamborghini tradition; most mid-engine cars place the transmission behind the engine near the rear…

Someday, in those brief moments while we’re not starting at email or hooked up to Mark Zuckerberg’s latest cybernetic advertising device while riding shoulder-to-shoulder autonomous metal suppositories, we’ll think about loud, rude, totally unnecessary cars like this and ask “What in the hell were we thinking when we…

I actually think a $50-60k price is quite reasonable, given the car’s likely performance. It should be at least as quick as an M2 if power rumors are accurate, and (speculating here) should match it for handling if Toyota/BMW do their chassis homework.

Yup. Yen-dollar exchange rate was not in our favor during the 1990s!

Exactly. Of the “big five” Japenese sportscars sold on the US market in the 1990s (Supra, RX7, 300ZX, 3000GT, NSX), all but the last one were pulled from our market due to slow sales. Why? Because the prices were deep into Corvette territory and not TOO far off a 911. All were awesome cars (even the 3000GT was pretty…

Saw the 2018 GT on the street this weekend. Was skeptical of the new front end when I saw pics, but it looks WAY better in person. Makes the car’s nose less blunt; the 2015-2017 had a little too much EU-pedestrian-nanny going on. The whole car appears lower, wider, and leaner as a result.

A few thoughts on that:

I DD’d a manual Mustang GT before my latest car, a current-gen WRX. I actually found the Mustang easier to manage in heavy traffic. The clutch action was heavier but a bit more forgiving, and the Coyote V8's low-end torque makes it far more tractable than the Subie’s turbo FA20, which is useless until the turbo spools…

That’s been my experience with PZeros vs. Michelin PSS/PS4S. The Michelins somehow managed to have more dry-weather grip and be more tractable in cold/wet conditions at the same time. Rode better, too. 

First gear: Jalopnik’s reporting (and many of the comments) on this issue are ridiculous. This spat is entirely about greenhouse gas emissions, NOT NOx or other air pollutants. I have not seen any serious proposals to roll those standards back. Claiming the Trump administration wants people choking on dirty air is…

Correct re: last point. Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, has signaled the agency should be more thorough with its more traditional jobs (air quality, water quality, Superfund sites, etc.), which took a backseat during the Obama admin due to their focus on greenhouse gas emissions.

Good point - people forget that the LA basin is actually a valley on three sides. Valleys naturally tend to trap smoke/smog. Native Americans used to refer to the area as the “valley of smoke”, Prevailing wind patterns don’t help. The Bay Area has a similar but not identical effect.

I generally agree with Trump more than I disagree with him (at least on policy - his behavior is a different story).

The government would have to replace the gas tax with something different. Not easy to tax power grid usage, but it’s a thought.

Bingo. Writers at Jalop should take an economics course. CAFE regulations are targeted at the producer side; such regs have no bearing on whether consumers actually buy the product.

Bought a new Mustang GT about five years ago. Mistake #1: decided it was a good idea to take some old high-school buddies joyriding. Mistake #2: they’d had a couple drinks (I was totally sober). Mistake #3: getting onto the freeway and burying it. Mistake #4: keeping the loud pedal down as we rounded a bend, only to…

Agreed. The current car lost something vs. the original. First saw it at the NY Auto show a few years ago, immediately thought it had become too generically Audi. Proportions are right, but the more angular styling somehow makes it more TT, less supercar. The first gen car still looks like a proper spaceship.

I’m less concerned about them being an app company and more about their corporate culture of cutting corners at every turn. The last couple years’ media revelations about them should disqualify them from trying something so risky. 

Well said. Uber is full of sleazeballs. As much as I love using ride-sharing, the company’s ethical compass is so dicked up that were its execs traveling to the North Pole, they would probably wind up in Patagonia instead.

Damn. Wouldn’t think I’d be so moved by reading an article on a car site. Now I’m trying to hold it together during a marketing webinar, hah.