Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 2011 UK first drive

What is it?

It’s the first time we’ve had a steer in the UK in Lamborghini’s fairly sensational Aventador. It’s also the first right-hand-drive version we’ve driven, so I’ll focus a lot on those points.

You’ll probably know much of the rest of the Aventador story by now: it’s the new big Lambo, replacement for the Murcielago and the other mid-engined V12s before it.

But this time the tech is very different: it’s carbon-fibre tubbed, with a mix of composite and aluminium bodywork; while the engine is, this time, all-new: a 6.5-litre naturally aspirated unit, driving all four wheels through a single-clutch automated-manual gearbox.

What’s it like?

Still imposing. Drop yourself across the sill into the driver’s seat and - despite the new all-straights-and-angles interior with its is-it-plastic/is-it-metal surfacing - if you’ve so much as sat in a Murcielago, you’ll know you’re in the new V12 Lamborghini.

You intrinsically feel the bulk behind you, and that you’re at the pointy end of something fairly senior. Visibility is good to the front, so-so to the rear.

The pedals are still massively offset to the left, too. Feel for the brake and you’ll find the throttle instead. Left-foot-braking is the only sensible solution.

The seats are a bit flat, too, but the steering wheel is very adjustable. The flappy paddles are fixed to the column, with the column stalks below them. If you’re tall, you might inadvertently indicate with your knees. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, etc.

But when you fire it up and all is (mostly) forgiven. All-new engine it might be, but it seemingly has lost none of its character.

Neither, sadly, has the gearshift, which is unrefined compared to a good twin-clutch unit. Oh, likewise the ride, which is good for a big Lamborghini, but fairly ropey by most other standards, including those adopted by McLaren and Ferrari.

There’s no denying this is a big car, too. At 2030mm wide (including mirrors, granted), it is too wide to be particularly enjoyable on anything other than the broadest A-road. And even then it’s too fast.

Still, I suppose if you’re in the market for a car like this, you’ll accept all that: and the real question is, with 690bhp, what’ll it do?

Faintly rearrange your internal organs, is the short answer. I’ve driven nothing this side of a Bugatti Veyron that feels this quick: not a 599 GTO, not an MP4-12C or a GT2 RS. Not even, in its relentlessness, an Atom V8.

In fact, in flat-out mode (there are Strada, Sport and Corsa throttle/gearbox maps), upshift is so brutal that they can make acceleration feel even more spectacular than a Veyron’s. The Bugatti just picks up, goes, and keeps on going. The Aventador punctuates every burst of acceleration with a pause, a duck of the car’s nose, and then another astonishing whack in the back.

And the handling? Friendlier than it was, but it needs a definitive technique to get the best from it. The Aventador corners fast and capably in all cases, but mostly wants to wash out its front wheels first, particularly in slower corners.