Supercars aren't built for roadtrips. They're loud. They're cramped. They're uncomfortable. There is no storage space. Sounds like a challenge to me. And that's why I'm taking a Lamborghini Aventador to Rhode Island this weekend. Challenge accepted.
(Full Disclosure: Lamborghini and I have been talking about this trip for a while. A long while. As far as we both know, this is the first time that Lambo USA have agreed to give out an Aventador to a moron like me for an extended weekend road trip. I hope I don't hurt it.)
I previewed this trip last week in a post that kind of made me sound like a really terrible person. I blame it on a lack of coffee. Here's the non-asshole version: This weekend my college group of locust-esque friends will envelop Newport, Rhode Island to devour its nutrients and, more importantly, to celebrate one of our own getting married. It's going to be a hoot. So much of a hoot that we've all decided to get there early and annoy each other for a few days.
And, before you guys jump all over me again, I want to make it clear that the purpose of the trip isn't to upstage my friend at her wedding. I won't even be bringing the Aventador to her ceremony or reception on Saturday. It's about her, not me. I'd be the biggest tool in the world if I tried to upstage her on her big day. We cool? We cool.
The days before and after the wedding are the days where the Lamborghini comes to the fore. I like a roadtrip in a car that isn't necessarily supposed to be a good way to go hundreds of miles. Driving from New Jersey to DC in my Miata is a wind battered, hip breaking lesson in why the Miata belongs on back roads. Our trip to Austin in the SRT Viper burnt our legs and made us deaf. Matt's trip in an R8 across the country meant he couldn't bring any personal belongings with him.
But the more important part is that those trips become even more memorable than they'd already be. You have to be creative with how you pack to fit everything in the car. You have to find ways to compensate for the car's imperfections that you might not have thought of. You'll be annoyed. You'll get angry.
Call me sadistic, but I think that makes it even more fun. This time I really wanted a challenge, and I think the Aventador will give that to me. It has 5.3 cubic feet of luggage space for two people, and I've decided not to ship anything ahead. It's nearly eight feet wide. It drinks gas like Barney Gumble guzzles Duff. It doesn't have the ingredients of an awesome road trip car, which is what makes it the perfect one for me.
What I will be doing is running around Newport in the car for a few days. I'm interested in the reactions it gets, how it is at daily stuff, and how it is for the long haul. I know what the stereotypes of the Aventador and its drivers are, but the fact remains that you'd have to be crazy to not want to drive one. And when Lambo comes a knockin', you stop a rockin' and open the damn door.
So what's the plan? I'll be setting off from Long Island later this afternoon and heading straight for Newport with my college roommate riding shotgun. I'll update from the road on my Twitter (not while driving, obviously) and on this here internet website that you're reading now.
Right now, my idea for the route does involve a lot of 95, which sucks, but I plan on getting off a little early and taking Route 138 as early as possible.
What route would you take? What do you want to know about how the Lambo is for the long haul?
Image Credit: Jason Torchinsky