- New Lamborghini Jota was spotted during testing.
- The Jota is expected to replace the Murcielago.
- Lamborghini will officially unveil the new supercar at the Paris auto show this fall.
SANT'AGATA BOLOGNESE, Italy — The new Lamborghini hypercar, expected to be named the 2012 Jota, has recently been caught in action on the road. AutoExpress spied the vehicle in a nearly camouflage-free state that is likely to be very similar to what the production car will look like.
Lambo's Jota is the Murcielago replacement and was designed in-house at the Italian automaker's headquarters. It's the first production model to be made under design and brand director Manfred Fitzgerald.
As the flagship vehicle in the company's stable, the Jota is set to possibly be the fastest production car ever made by Lamborghini. That is, in part, thanks to the new carbon-fiber chassis that brings weight down from 3,670 to just about 3,300 pounds. Combine that with a new 7.0-liter V12 engine that makes 700 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, and you have a beast that can sprint to 60 mph in less than 3.0 seconds and top out upward of 220 mph.
We also know that power will be routed through a seven-speed paddle-shift automated manual gearbox to all four wheels. Even though a lot of weight would be saved with a simpler rear-wheel-drive layout, Lamborghini has confirmed that the Jota will indeed be all-wheel drive. Fuel economy is improved to about 23 mpg with the addition of an active fuel management system that shuts down some of the car's cylinders when they are not needed.
The interior will still include standard Lamborghini features like scissors doors, a mixture of leather, Alcantara and carbon fiber and a head-up display. Plans are for the Jota to cost around $380,000 and to debut at October's 2010 Paris Auto Show.
Inside Line says: Lamborghini improves on all — power, fuel economy and looks — with its next-generation hypercar. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
m14 says:
05:14 PM, 05/09/2010
cool i hope lamborghini can make a fortune with this car.
mungmibear says:
06:21 PM, 05/07/2010
look at the shape of that wing!
mklrivowner says:
08:56 AM, 05/07/2010
"Jota" is a dance form that has roots in bullfighting. It derives from the aragonese dialect of "jump", where the bullfighters "jump"ing and spinning to dodge the charging bull is where the dance got its inspiration.
Personally, I would have stuck with the whole "name it after a famous bull" thing, but then again, Bull-fighting isn't that popular anymore, especially in the contries where Lambos really sell. They may be trying to distance themselves from the aspect of violence that is associated with bull-fighting while still retaining the air of aggression and speed.
juan_mx says:
06:34 AM, 05/07/2010
Actually "jota" is the name of the letter "J" in spanish.
It is also some type of Aragonese (spanish) dance.
The word for gay man is "joto"
the word "jota" does not seem to exist in italian.
geebee says:
11:16 PM, 05/06/2010
Lamborghini must change that name before production begins:
drivera1981 saying Jota translating to gay man in Spanish is being polite. Gay Latinos often use the English word gay to describe themselves i.e. yo soy gay...Jota is more crude, a literal translation is "fag$%t". Not a typo, I won't use that full word on a blog post out of respect but you get the idea. Very bad.
Anyone know what Jota is in Italian?
drivera1981 says:
09:44 PM, 05/06/2010
umm... unless it is pronouced differently in italian jota is spanish for a gay man
reykdal says:
06:10 PM, 05/06/2010
Gotta see its final form.