Let’s be blunt for a second: while we’re happy to see fuel-saving measures like auto start / stop and cylinder deactivation in our commuter cars and family cars, we expect our aspirational supercars to thrill us with performance, not fuel economy. We may never have the money necessary to park a Lamborghini Aventador in our garage, but if we do, there’s one absolute: we won’t care how much fuel it sucks down, nor will we care about how much it costs to fuel the tank.
Even supercars are being forced to up their fuel economy numbers these days, and now Auto Motor und Sport (via Autoblog and GT Spirit) is reporting that the Lamborghini Aventador is no exception. If the German magazine is correct, expect the Aventador to implement both auto stop / start (using a capacitor-based system, which is lighter than a battery) and cylinder deactivation in the near future. The moves are said to improve fuel economy by as much as 20 percent, which would raise the Aventador from 11 mpg city to 13 mpg city, while boosting highway fuel economy from 17 mpg to 20 mpg.
We’ve driven cars with both systems, and for the most part they’re fine (although having a car shut its engine off intentionally still makes us a bit nervous). We can put up with them for the greater good on our daily drivers, but when it comes to supercars, enough is enough. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that such systems would drive us away from a particular supercar, not towards it.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
