Photos of the Lamborghini Murcielago replacement surfaced on Facebook earlier this week and were thought to be new spy shots of the upcoming Italian supercar. Eventually, word got out that the pictures were taken at an official Lamborghini event, attended by a few lucky journalists.

Unlike the real spy photos we published in October, the camouflage on this prototype is just a thin layer of tape. As well as revealing the orange paintwork, the lesser cameo also unveils many design cues. The new range-topping Lambo’s shape has been clearly inspired by the limited edition Reventon.

The front of the car bears the most evident resemblance to the Reventon due to the “edgy” styling of the bumper. The lines of the body are more aggressive compared to the Murcielago, which defines the silhouette better. We have no idea how big the new car is, but the way designers played with lines, curves and sharp edges, makes it look even sleeker than Lambo’s outgoing supercar

Many things could change until we’ll see the production version, but, from what we’ve seen up until now, the new supercar, dubbed by some Jota, while others bet their money on the Aventador nameplate, seems to be a looker. Throw in an awesome 515 kW 6.5-litre V12 and you’ve got a winner.

via CarScoop

As announced last week, Lamborghini is continuing  to unravel pieces of the Lamborghini Jota puzzle, by releasing a second teaser image.

With the new car expected to be powered by a 7.0-litre V12 engine, the image of ten air vents hinting at a possible ten cylinders, or may be not, has got us stumped. What is a certainty though is that the latest Lamborghini will make extensive use of carbon fibre, as the Italian car maker is focused on reducing the weight of all its future models.

Since the middle of the ’80s, the weight of the cars has been increased gradually, through the addition of various safety systems. Lamborghini recently announced that it will try to counteract these effects by using carbon fibre on a large scale. For the new Lamborghini Jota, this means a high power-to-weight ratio, which will make for superior acceleration and handling characteristics.

Unfortunately, the Italian manufacturer still hasn’t released any actual details of the Lamborghini Jota. Not even its name has been confirmed, but ‘Jota’ is the popular choice at this stage. Speculation says the new Lambo will have a top speed of 350 km/h and a 0 – 100 km/h sprint time of 3 seconds. The price is expected to be around EUR350 000.

These days, when a new car is more powerful than the one it replaces, the advantage is usually quelled by a corresponding increase in weight. Not so in the case of Lamborghini’s replacement for the Murciélago. It’s likely to be called the ‘Jota’ as a tribute to the Miura SVJ and is expected to be lighter and fitted with a more powerful V12 engine.

Lets start with the weight savings. The Jota will undoubtedly benefit from parent-company Audi’s expertise in both direct fuel injection and aluminum construction. The current Murciélago uses a steel-tube frame with structural elements composed of carbon fibre. The body work is also a mix of metal and carbon, with relatively heavy items, like the roof, still being made from steel. With Audi’s “vorsprung durch technik”, the Jota is expected to benefit from extensive use of lightweight aluminum and carbon fibre, in both the chassis and bodywork structures.

An all-new direct-injection V12 is planned, with talk of power output in the region of 515 kW. The current Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce makes the most power in the Murciélago range – 486 kW – thanks to a 6,5-litre V12. The lighter, more powerful Jota should be able to eclipse the current range-topper’s 3.2 second 0 – 100 km/h time and 340 km/h top speed.

Also on the cards is an all-new all-wheel-drive system, being developed together with Haldex. Haldex is the company responsible for the Saab 9-3 Turbo X’s torque-vectoring rear differential and, as systems like that are becoming increasingly fashionable in performance circles, it seems likely that torque vectoring could be coming to the Jota. Torque vectoring works by directing power to individual wheels with the most available grip. In practice, it works like stability control, but helps the driver go faster rather than slowing them down. It makes controlled slides easy in big, heavy vehicles like the BMW X6 M, so it should make the light and low-riding Jota amazingly capable.

etting back to the Lamborghini Miura SVJ. The ‘J’ stands for ‘Jota’, which formed part of the designation for a high-powered version of the standard Miura that became one of the most desirable vehicles ever made. With that in mind, the latest Jota will have a lot to live up to.