Lamborghini Aventador Roadster India review, test drive

I lower myself into the cockpit, close the scissor door and am greeted by a familiar dashboard – it’s the same as the coupé and it’s still every bit as amazing. It wouldn’t be a Lambo without a low-slung driving position, a steeply raked windscreen and acres of leather and carbonfibre inside. The LP 700-4 Roadster ticks all of these boxes, and with some flair, but then Lamborghini is owned by Audi, so along with that comes Germanic quality and decent ergonomics.

You’ll also spot a few parts borrowed from various Audi models, but the way Lamborghini has managed to blend these and the media interface in without hampering the visual drama makes this cabin – or rather cockpit – very special. The German connection also means the air-con works well and you get a reversing camera; handy, because you can’t see very much past that exquisite engine cover behind you.

The Roadster gets the same earth-moving 691bhp, 6.5-litre V12 as the coupé. Given the increasing shift towards fuel-efficient, direct-injection, turbo engines, there’s something charmingly stubborn about an old-school, naturally aspirated V12 that loves to rev till your ears hurt. I prod the start button and the engine comes to life with a loud growl. On this open stretch of tarmac, the grin won’t leave my face, and the way this Roadster accelerates is a new experience altogether. Yes, I’ve driven the coupé, and it’s supposed to be slightly quicker since it’s 50kg lighter. But hearing that fantastic V12 clearly with the roof off just intensifies the experience; it feels like it’s packing another 100bhp. If you’d rather keep the roof up, you can still open the rear glass to hear that twelve-cylinder symphony.