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The striking Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT is at present
preparing to race onto the biggest stage of all when it
enters the 2005 edition of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.
Meanwhile Lamborghini are planning a limited production run
of just twenty five Murcielago R-GT sportscars which will be
sold to the public as a road-going version of this
high-powered V12 flagship.
The current 6.2-Litre engine of the Murcielago will however
be replaced by a 6.5-Litre unit which has been pushed beyond
740bhp during testing.
Production cars will though receive a slightly de-tuned
version with a power output between 650 and 680bhp to
increase reliability.
The road version of the R-GT will use rear wheel drive,
instead of the Murcielago's usual all-wheel drive, to help
shed weight, while race-derived ceramic brakes will be
fitted.
The the first road-going R-GT prototypes are currently being
tested at the factory. The principle objective here is to
outperform the Murcielago's arch rival, the supercar
benchmark: Ferrari's Enzo, and judging by the numbers it
should. The 'public' Murcielago R-GT will achieve 0-100km/h
in less than 3.5 seconds.
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Malaysian-based Amprex Motorsports have been
campaigning a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT in
selected rounds of the Japanese GT Championship this
year as they prepare to enter the 2005 Le Mans 24
Hours |
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The GT-racing
bound Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT received its
'World Premiere' at last year's Frankfurt IAA,
marking the return of the marque to the
international racing fold |
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This R-GT version will itself be paving the way for the next
evolution of the Murcielago. Since the Gallardo, with its
V10, 500bhp, engine is now so close to the Murcielago, this
new 6.5-litre V12 engine will be mounted in a revised
Murcielago that will be introduced soon after the twenty
five R-GT badged models have been finished.
Next up will be an ultimate flagship model, which will push
the power theme even further, drawing for inspiration on the
string of successful limited edition versions that evolved
from the Murcielago's predecessor, the fearsome Diablo. This
new model will be badged as a GT or SV.
Meanwhile, buoyed by initial reaction to the chop-top
Murcielago, the Gallardo Roadster will arrive next year.
Soon after, a powerful SV edition of the mid-size coupe,
boasting more than 550bhp will be unveiled to make sure the
closed version doesn't suffer a sales drop once the Roadster
is introduced to the market.
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by Mark
Smeyers,
LamboCars.com |
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