We Drive A Modernised Lamborghini Diablo! | Top Gear | BBC Studios

0:00 This is a first generation 1990 Lamborghini Diablo.

0:06 It's a 5.7 L V12 monster that was my dream car when I was a kid.

0:13 And this being rear wheel drive and having no ABS, no traction control.

0:17 This is the rawest, toothiest version, and it's awesome.

0:22 The car will not go into gear.

0:24 It's in neutral.

0:25 So, it's just it's just dead.

0:28 Awesome.

0:28 Yes.

0:29 and about as reliable as weak old cheese.

0:32 But that's classic performance cars, right?

0:34 You have to be prepared for the inconveniences of the old school.

0:38 And let's face it, when they work, they light up the soul like a firework.

0:42 But what would happen if you could get all the Diablo goodness,

0:45 but not have a car that feels like a bomb that's about to set your hair on fire?

0:54 Well, then you'd have this.

0:56 The Lamborghini Achen car.

0:58 This is more than a million pound restood conversion of an original,

1:02 a car that's been reworked to make the perfect Diablo.

1:05 And we're here to see if it's worth it.

1:08 I'm Arisani.

1:10 I am advisor for a Centrica.

1:13 mission was to take a car of the 90 with let me say all

1:17 the peculiarity of a car of the 90 that if you look with the eyes

1:21 of today can be something a little bit ugly also and to try

1:27 to change the appearance means to put something more modern with a a unique

1:33 DNA in term of design but also in term of technicality in term

1:38 of contents to make something that can

1:41 use technology ology that today are available

1:45 and was not available in the 90 means to rebuild a DNA of a car

1:51 of the 90 with what can be uh the expectation of today customer.

1:57 So what's actually gone on that gives

1:58 you over a million quids worth of makeover?

2:01 Well, let's start with the outside.

2:03 The Aenta is a little bit different.

2:06 It still looks entirely like a Diablo,

2:08 but it's changed in pretty much all of the ways.

2:12 This entire body for a start is carbon fiber rather than aluminium and plastic,

2:16 saving 40 kilos on its own.

2:18 And if we start with the front,

2:20 it's kind of leaner, sharper, a bit more razor-like.

2:25 It's got instead of pop-up lights on the original,

2:28 it's got these linear actuated ones which kind of slide back and forth.

2:31 the front.

2:32 It's very horizontal, so it looks lower and wider and it's a lot cleaner.

2:36 And these LED daytime running lights cost

2:39 80,000 euros just on their own to homologate.

2:42 Then there's things like the shapes that come over the front of the car.

2:44 They're just sharper.

2:45 It's still got the ducts in the front just like that car,

2:48 but they're a little bit more razored.

2:52 It's like a Diablo just seen in full resolution.

2:55 And the same thing has happened to this entire profile.

2:59 It's kind of been shrink wrapped and it's tighter and more modern,

3:02 but still entirely diabolical.

3:05 I mean, the obvious stuff are things like it's got

3:07 19in wheels instead of the 17in items on the older car.

3:11 And then up here, we've got much larger intake

3:14 scoops that sit on the top of the roof,

3:15 and they feed fresh cold air directly into the intake plenums on the engine.

3:19 Then there's these big intakes in the top that still speak to 14-year-old me.

3:24 But there is something something odd that still makes me smile.

3:28 And do you know what that is?

3:29 It's this.

3:30 It's this wheel arch.

3:31 Now, if you look at it,

3:32 it's not square and it's not round, but it is entirely a Diablo.

3:38 It's cool, isn't it?

3:40 In term of in term of mission of a chain, DNA of a chain is clearly that design

3:46 and functionality was merged together in order

3:49 to try to have something really unique that was

3:53 not possible in the Diablo of the 90.

3:55 For example, if you see the two air scoop

3:58 on the roof on the on the roof of the car,

4:00 we move forward to try to catch as much as possible fresh air,

4:06 not disturb from elements of the car in order to let me say

4:10 naturally boosted as much as possible the car because we talk about V12

4:14 naturally aspirated engine and for this reason it's fundamental to give as much

4:19 as possible flow inside the air filter in order to increase the power.

4:23 If you look at all the intake uh air of a car,

4:28 everything is done in order to to be able to put as much

4:32 as possible air disposal of the radiator means to reduce problem of cooling,

4:37 problem of air conditioning and using a modern design,

4:42 functional design that really refresh all what was

4:47 the family of the Diablo of the 90.

4:50 Well, it wouldn't be a Diablo without scissors, now would it?

4:58 But first, I wanted to just show you around the old

5:00 one because this is a bit of a time warp car.

5:04 Diablo were never the most ergonomic.

5:06 You've got to sit here and be in a quite narrow seat with very little headroom.

5:11 I'm sort of 6' tall and I haven't got very much,

5:13 but then you've got to have really long arms and quite short legs.

5:17 And all of the pedals are counted off to the right.

5:20 So the clutch is almost where the brake would be in a normal car.

5:24 And then this binnacle in front of me chops off half the windscreen.

5:28 No matter where the steering wheel is,

5:30 it takes away all of the vision of the dial.

5:31 So you never really know how fast you're going or what revs you're at.

5:35 And then everything else just feels well very of its time.

5:39 I mean, look at this.

5:40 This wants to fall off.

5:41 There's some massive buttons, like big chunky Lego buttons.

5:45 Even the electric window switches,

5:47 they go left and right instead of up and down.

5:49 And then there's this big horrible kind of cobra

5:52 headed gear shift knob in this open H pattern gate,

5:56 which is, I have to say, always feeling like it's stolen from a tractor.

6:01 This is a very heavy kind of hardcore car to drive around in.

6:05 And whoever did the interior fitment must have been either

6:07 drunk or high because if you look at all the stitching,

6:10 it just goes, it's not a little bit off, it's inches off.

6:14 It's It feels like this car was thrown together.

6:18 Let's face it, there is a panel gap here between

6:20 the door and the dash that I can get my hand into.

6:24 The Accentria has a lot to improve upon.

6:28 It's a bit different in here.

6:29 For a start, all of the center console has

6:32 changed and everything is covered in absolutely gorgeous suede.

6:36 Look at these seats.

6:37 They seem to be a little bit lower.

6:39 I've got a tiny bit more headroom than any other car.

6:42 But the big news is the dash.

6:45 For a start, that massive binnacle has disappeared.

6:47 So, I have a full windscreen to look out of.

6:50 And then all of the dials are in this flat panel here.

6:52 And it's kind of embraced retrofuturism.

6:55 It's like a a complete game system.

6:58 So, there's oil pressure, oil temperature, coolant temperature,

7:00 a big rev counter here, which is all pixelated.

7:03 Then the lights are on the left.

7:05 There's various different buttons.

7:06 They're kind of in the style of the original

7:09 Diablo in that they're big and blocky, but they're a lot more resolved.

7:12 That's the start button.

7:13 And then here in the center console,

7:14 obviously we've got this really gorgeous um manual gear

7:19 lever that's in this big open H pattern gearbox.

7:22 Um then there's the ignition here.

7:24 Uh the parking brake is here and the the traction control button is here.

7:28 And to engage them, you push them forwards.

7:30 Then there's different things like a nose lift

7:32 which you wouldn't have in the original Diablo.

7:34 Back here you have the drive modes.

7:36 There's aqua which is wet, strer,

7:38 which is road, and then pista which is racetrack.

7:40 And then the electric reverse is here.

7:42 So, this is actually now a six-speed.

7:44 And the electric reverse is just engaged by a button.

7:48 You can flick between the modes.

7:49 There's another rev counter in in the uh really lovely thin rim steering wheel.

7:54 And because this has got power assisted steering,

7:56 you can actually use this wheel without having to engage all of your forearms.

8:00 Then on the wheel, you have the indicators on little buttons

8:03 and then you can flash the lights and wash the windscreen.

8:06 It just feels much more resolved.

8:08 And there's loads and loads of detail in here that makes it feel really special.

8:13 There's a Morance stereo which has been bespoke made for this car.

8:16 And then you can see some of the carbon cross bracing that punches

8:20 through the structure of the car and heads towards the the sills.

8:23 It's a resolved modern bespoke elevated kind of vibe.

8:29 It is a Diablo but not in a super sport

8:33 car is much more important the weight that the power.

8:36 If you added 20 horsepower more,

8:39 only super professional driver can recognize 20 horsepower more.

8:43 When you talk about 500 car,

8:45 like a a sum up of it of the power that you have in a car.

8:48 If you are able to reduce 20 25 kilo,

8:51 every driver can recognize if you are in a braking,

8:54 if you are in a cornering, if you have an acceleration,

8:57 20 kilo give really a big improvement in the dynamic behavior of the car.

9:02 Today electronic is able to uh compensate all the mistake

9:06 of the driver without to discover that somebody work on your behalf.

9:12 I remember in the past if you remember the first time that you have a traction

9:17 control or ABS in the car you

9:20 perceive immediately because you have you have vibration.

9:23 So today in the actual car you don't perceive nothing.

9:27 Everything is so smooth, so fast and in some case they are able

9:31 to predict your mistake that you don't perceive nothing.

9:35 For me, the customer of a chain are people that want to be really the fuse

9:41 between seat and pedal are want to really

9:47 the people that are able to ride the bull.

9:52 So, I'd like to say that the Aentrica is a completely

9:55 different car to the original Diablo, but you know what?

10:01 It's not.

10:02 It still feels like a Diablo.

10:04 Now, the biggest thing is obviously that it's got power assisted steering,

10:10 so it feels like the car is much more handleable straight away.

10:14 You can maneuver it in a car park.

10:17 You can get away with a lot more.

10:21 But everything about it still feels like a Diablo,

10:24 so it's still quite a hard car to drive.

10:26 It's vastly, vastly improved.

10:29 Now, it's got the same space frame as the 1990 car,

10:34 but it's had carbon bracing and a lot

10:38 of stiffening to give the suspension something to push from.

10:41 And now it's got adaptive.

10:45 Wow.

10:46 It's got adaptive suspension.

10:48 So I can change the settings from this knob here

10:51 from quite hard to full soft for comfort on the auto route.

10:57 And because it's stiffer,

10:58 it feels like that suspension has something solid to push from.

11:02 And everything about it just feels that little bit easier.

11:06 Now, it's worth pointing out here that this is a development car.

11:11 and we've brought it to altitude

11:13 and the throttle bodies don't seem to like that.

11:15 So, it's being a bit hunty, but when it's going a bit quicker,

11:20 it sorts itself out and there's a lot of fluency in the car,

11:24 but it's still a naturally aspirated joy of an engine,

11:30 but it's got modern Pirelli Trafo R tires, so they're sticky now.

11:33 They're not washing out.

11:35 It's not as understeeri.

11:37 They're slightly wider at the front and narrower in the rear than the 1990 car.

11:41 So, there's a better balance, but everything feels more modern when you break.

11:47 The Brembo brakes just feel like proper brakes.

11:52 It's not washing out everywhere.

11:56 Just listen to the noise.

11:57 That capto exhaust.

11:59 You feel like you can throw this car around,

12:02 whereas the old Diablo, you have to manage it.

12:07 I got to say I was a little bit worried about the Accentrica.

12:11 Not because I don't think it looks good, because I really do.

12:13 I think that looks super cool,

12:14 but more because I absolutely love early Lamborghini Diablo,

12:20 but Accentrica has managed to make a car that hasn't lost

12:22 a gritty purpose that makes that and that an authentic Lamborghini experience.

12:28 The interesting thing is here that this car

12:30 is better than that one in almost every direction.

12:33 I think it looks better.

12:34 It has a much nicer interior.

12:36 It's got better steering, brakes, suspension, even the tires.

12:40 And yet, it still feels like a Diablo.

12:44 The interesting thing here is that this is a development car.

12:47 It still has a few little bugs that need working out,

12:50 but I still can see where it's going,

12:52 and I'm confident that a Centrica can really work

12:55 that stuff out and make it into an absolute stormer.

12:57 It's a Diablo, but elevated and without the' 90s flimsy.