Lamborghini’s Aventador SVJ and Nissan’s GT-R Nismo are two old warriors at their fiercest and most brutal, determined to go out on an adrenaline-fuelled high

In contrast to the Nissan, the steering is heavy and pulsates with the road surface. However, its not a pure system and, more so than in the GT-R, you can feel that the Lambo is four-wheel drive at all times. The steering seems to get almost bound-up by the torque transmitted through the front axle and it feels as if the assistance is battling to counter the effect. Its a curious sensation and creates a sense of heft and reluctance. Its funny, the square-edged GT-R had felt almost hyperactive and now the Lambo the car that literally looks like a giant arrow with a great firework up its backside offers a disparate blend of unyielding, brittle aggression and reluctance to zip into turns. The Nismo almost begs you to feel its agility whereas the Lambo hides it away.
To discover what lays beneath requires the opposite approach to the one demanded by the Nissan. Dont relax and let the car chart its course. Grab hold and bully it. The Pirellis cut through the standing water incisively so you can place the SVJ with pinpoint accuracy, while despite the adoption of rear-wheel steering this huge car behaves all-of-a-piece. Its never jumpy, it requires deliberate inputs, but it doesnt take long for the cold handshake of the SVJ to turn into a big bearhug. Essentially, just as with the Nismo, the SVJ is on your side. You just have to talk its language.
The engine, of course, speaks all of the languages. For the SVJ the 6.5-litre V12 received a new intake system with revised runner lengths, titanium intake valves and a reworked cylinder head, plus a new exhaust system with less back pressure. The result is 759bhp at 8500rpm and 531lb ft at 6750rpm, enough to push the SVJ through the air at over 217mph and cover 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds and 0-124mph in 8.6. Like the Nismo it has been subject to a raft of tweaks and changes stiffer anti-roll bars by 50 per cent over the SV, damper force increased by 15 per cent, 70 per cent more downforce and active aero with the ALA 2.0 system, and a recalibrated four-wheel-drive set-up that sends three per cent more torque to the rear wheels while lightweighting brings the kerb weight down to 1525kg. Not bad when you consider that a new 911 Turbo is 1640kg (though thats a dry weight for the Lambo).