new auto cars 2012: 2013 Lamborghini Diablo

2013 Lamborghini Diablo

2013 Lamborghini Diablo, Cars, Lamborghini 11:02 AM

The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engined sports car that was built by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It was the first Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 200 miles per hour. After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murcielago. Diablo is "devil" in Spanish, which is diavolo in Italian.

The Diablo was presented to the public for sale on January 21, 1990. Power came from a 5.7 L, 48-valve version of the existing Lamborghini V12 featuring dual overhead cams and computer-controlled multi-point fuel injection, producing a maximum output of 367 kW and 428 lb of torque. The vehicle could reach 100 km/h in about 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of 325 km/h. The Diablo was rear-wheel drive and the engine was mid-mounted to aid its weight balance.

The Diablo came better equipped than the countably had; standard features included fully adjustable seats and steering wheel, electric windows, an Alpine stereo system, and power steering. Anti-lock brakes were not initially available, although they would eventually be used. A few options were available, including a custom-molded driver's seat, remote CD changer and subwoofer, rear spoiler, factory fitted luggage set and an exclusive Breguet clock for the dash.

The Diablo VT was introduced in 1993. Although the VT differed from the standard Diablo in a number of ways, by far the most notable change was the addition of all wheel drive, which made use of a viscous center differential. This provided the new nomenclature for the car. The new drivetrain could direct up to 25% of the torque to the front wheels to aid traction during rear wheel slip, thus significantly improving the handling characteristics of the car.

Other improvements debuting on the VT included front air intakes below the driving lamps to improve brake cooling, larger intakes in the rear arches, a more ergonomic interior with a revised dashboard, electronically adjustable dampers, four-piston brake calipers, power steering, and minor engine refinements. Many of these improvements, save the four-wheel drive system, soon transferred to the base Diablo, making the cars visually nearly identical.

The Diablo VT Roadster was introduced in 1995 and featured an electrically operated carbon fiber targa top which was stored above the engine lid when not in use. Besides the roof, the roadster's body was altered from the fixed-top VT model in a number of ways. The front bumper was revised, replacing the quad rectangular driving lamps with two rectangular and two round units. The brake cooling ducts were moved inboard of the driving lamps and changed to a straked design, while the rear ducts featured the vertical painted design seen on the SE30. The engine lid was changed substantially in order to vent properly when the roof panel was covering it. The roadster also featured revised 17 inch wheels.

A very unusual, one-off Lamborghini Diablo variant called the Lamborghini Coatl appeared in 2000. It was produced not by the Lamborghini factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, but rather by Automoviles Lamborghini Latinoamérica S.A., the Latin American Lamborghini distributor located in Mexico. Nigel R. Gordon Stewart, the International Sales and Marketing director at Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., and Robert A. Braner, president of Automobili Lamborghini USA, gave this company permission in 1995 to actually build Lamborghini automobiles in Argentina and some countries in Latin America.