Reventon v Tornado

By Ben Whitworth

Motor Industry

28 November 2007 17:08

Lamborghini’s mean-looking €1 million Reventón may look like a stealth fighter without the wings, but a couple of Raging Bull test drivers decided to take on the real thing over the weekend.

They raced a Tornado fighter bomber, one of the world's most sophisticated and capable interdiction and attack aircraft.

Lined up on the 1.8 mile-long runway at Ghedi military base near Brescia in Italy, the 650bhp mid-engined supercar looked a little short of muscle compared to the two-seater Tornado. Despite a hefty kerb weight the wrong side of 15,000kg, the fighter’s twin Turbo-Union RB199 afterburning turbofan powerplants each develop 17,270lb of thrust, for a 1497mph top speed. A little quicker than the Reventón’s claimed 210mph top speed, then...

But the Lamborghini – last week named the Most Beautiful Automobile in the World 2007 by a panel of (Italian) art critics and designers – held its ground, rocketing up to its 210mph top speed before just being overtaken by Tornado as it took off on full afterburn. All 20 of the ultra-exclusive Reventóns have been sold, with deliveries starting next year. To read CAR Online's drive of Lamborghini’s hardest car yet, click here.

By Ben Whitworth