Matteo Ortenzi spills the beans on why Lambo’s latest V12-powered supercar has electrification and more

The Lamborghini Fenomeno made a big entrance at Monterey Car Week, and it’s easy to see why. It’s limited to just 30 units, is advertised as the most powerful Raging Bull ever, and blends much of what we love about the Revuelto with updated features. Now, one executive is providing more details on how the latest hypercar came to be and what customers can expect.

As a refresher, the Fenomeno is indeed the most powerful production Lamborghini ever. It makes a staggering 1,065 horsepower (794 kW) and can rocket from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 2.4 seconds. Like the Revuelto it’s based on, it can reach a top speed of 217 mph (350 km/h). In most ways, it’s a very rare ‘few-off’ version of the Revuelto. In a new interview, V12-line director Matteo Ortenzi lays out the big differences.

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Speaking to Motor1, he said: “First of all, we chose passive suspension, very driver-focused. We used specific, sportier tires, a carbon-ceramic braking system with floating discs, and then we used electronics in an innovative way with cutting-edge sensors that measure lateral, longitudinal, and vertical acceleration.

“They’re already faster than [stock], but we connected them directly to the control units that manage braking and stability control. This way, they have faster response times: they anticipate the driver’s requests. The car orients itself to what the driver is about to do and is much lighter and more responsive.” Those are subtle differences, but ones that one-percenters might be able to suss out if they drive these cars back to back. Ortenzi says the result is “a much more dynamic car even than the Revuelto.”

There’s more good news. Lamborghini doesn’t seem to have plans to actually battle Ferrari with a new non-hybrid V12, but the possibility of that is greater now than ever before. Ortenzi clarified that the lifespan of the V12 is no longer possibly capped at the year 2030. Regulations had the automaker worried that it might have to go another route. Now, though, it says it’ll continue to use the V12 long after that.

“The horizon for us is even more than 2030 now. It’s part of the character of [the Revuelto], we like the responsiveness of the engine, it’s a signature for us, so we don’t want to change it.” Hybridization is basically the lifeline for the Lamborghini V12 currently. “This allows us to comply with the legislation, especially in CO2 and emissions, which would be difficult to comply with if we did not have this kind of technology,” Ortenzi explained.

These new details certainly provide some insight into the future of the Italian brand. No doubt, it could leverage the same developments on future ‘few-off’ models or even spin off unique versions of the Temerario or Urus. Naturally, Lamborghini hasn’t hinted at anything just yet, but that doesn’t mean that it may not happen in the future.