2015 Geneva Motor Show: Lamborghini shuns turbos

Wheels talks to Lamborghini boss about why the Italian maker's machines will continue to be naturally aspirated, at least for the foreseeable future

LAMBORGHINI won’t be switching to turbo power any time soon, according to company president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.

One problem is the supercar maker’s less than super budgets, the Lambo boss joking that he has “one euro to spend on a car in its life”.

Lamborghini, apparently, simply can’t afford to develop new turbocharged engines. Unlike near neighbour Ferrari, who showed the turbocharged 488 GTB at this year's Geneva show.

Equally serious is the fact that turbocharged engines won’t fit in the engine bays of Lamborghini’s current cars. Both Aventador and Huracan were designed for a tight fit around naturally aspirated engines.

For these reasons, the opportunity for Lamborghini to consider a switch to turbo power in its mid-engined models will only come when it’s time to replace them, Winkelmann suggested.

The Huracan is less than a year into its life and the Aventador is only four years old.

With model life cycles at Lamborghini typically running around 10 years, the company’s 5.2-litre V10 and 6.5-litre V12 atmo engines have a lot more work to do before they reach retirement.

In the meantime, its fastest road-going Lamborghini ever produced, the 552kW Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV, was revealed at Geneva.