2012 Lamborghini Aventador completes a mad trio of supercars headed to market

If you thought the struggling global economy or high fuel prices might be hurting the world's supply of top-notch supercars, think again.

Since March, AutoWeek editors have taken the wheel of not one, not two, but three of the most insane superperformers on the planet: the McLaren MP4-12C, the Ferrari FF, and most recently, the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4.

We see a few common threads: lots of lightweight aluminum and carbon-fiber materials, engines punching out more than 590 hp, automated-manual gearboxes, and prices that put them up against the average price of a three-bedroom home in most markets. In fact, the least expensive model on the block is the McLaren, with a base price checking in at a mere $231,000.

We're also seeing surprising refinement and driveability, as though supercar makers have finally come to realize that many of these cars spend more time preening along Rodeo Drive than running laps at Laguna Seca.

We're focusing our attention this week (and in the May 30 print and iPad editions of AutoWeek) on the latest of the breed, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador. This is a car that we confidently named our Best in Show at the Geneva motor show in March, and now that we've driven it, our faith has been rewarded.

As the replacement for the Murci

By Bob Gritzinger