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The Lamborghini Diablo SVR is the trimmed-fat race version of the already blisteringly quick SV Diablo. And with all of its purposeful tweaks, it's proving to be a very solid match for the Porsches and Ferraris running in the Australian GT-P Nation's Cup Championship!

Italian automotive exotica. There's nothing quite as stirring as getting up close to a prancing horse or a Lambo. You just can't help getting stomach butterflies when you're pouring over one of the fastest and most expensive production cars on the planet. It's often enough to bring grown men to their knees - and, believe us, this black Diablo has caused more than a few grass-stained kneecaps!


Right now, you're looking at the earth-shattering Lamborghini Diablo SVR - the lightweight racing development of your "average" Diablo - if there really is such a thing... It's being driven in the series by former national open wheel champion Paul Stokell.

The everyday current $435,000 Diablos you often see cruising down to the shop for bread are the base SV models - a rear wheel drive "entry level". The next rung up sees the VT, with its four wheel drive system making for better traction off the line and cornering surefootedness. And then, of course, is the attitude-packed SVR. Feast your eyes on it...


Japanese performance car fans can think of the Diablo SVR as sort of a Honda NSX-R equivalent. Well, in principle at least - but definitely not in stature or performance. It's a racecar stripped of anything deemed superfluous in the standard 1385kg SV. For example, the headlights are omitted to make way for front brake cooling ducts (which are also fed by additional lower front ducts as well!), Perspex windows come as standard and so too does the sparsely appointed cockpit. But it also carries a comprehensive aerodynamic downforce package, a low ratio diff, centre-locking wheel hubs, and it impressed us greatly with its up-spec'd 355mm slotted Brembo front brakes and 335mm rears.


And the SVR sits so unbelievably bloody low to the hot-mix that it even comes with air-jacks fitted to its underside - there's just no way you could squeeze an average trolley jack under it!

Team Lamborghini Australia recently imported this car with the intention of drumming up some promo for the new Diablo (that's now selling at a much reduced price). And it's a car that's already had a most interesting racing history. It's competed very successfully in the pan-European Lamborghini Supersport Challenge driven by F1 ace Jean-Mark Gounon - now how's that for instant cred!


Being a late '97 model, this vehicle lets out an angry snarl from its 5.7 litre DOHC V12 powerplant that spins out about 362kW at 7000 rpm and 580Nm of torque at 5200. It also generates 280Nm at only 2000 revs, which makes it quite flexible for a true race-bred car.

Oh, and get this, the SVR never actually came factory fitted with any real exhaust system! In Europe, it was raced with an un-muffled megaphone system that was extremely loud. But since it's arrival here, a pair of custom fabricated mufflers has gone on to help the car comply with the GT-P regulation noise limit. And the bonus is Paul can actually hear himself think inside the cabin!

Now, all tech stuff aside, how fast is it? Well, considering the normal SV can sprint to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds and cover the standing kilometre in 20.7, we'd guess that the lighter, lower geared SVR would be a fraction quicker again. Bye, bye Porsche!


Taking a poke around under the hydraulically suspended engine cover, you can see Lamborghini has done a lot of development in airflow management. Two big diameter ducts run from the top of the cowling to a rear-mounted engine radiator, lower side scoops direct fresh air into the rear wheel arches, there's a serious looking rear diffuser, a front splitter and an adjustable dual element rear wing. And that big V12 breathes through twin airboxes, located on each side of the engine compartment - and these too are fed air by inset scoops in the rear quarters.


Under the current rules in GT-P Nation's Cup, you're allowed to fit the largest possible tyre to the factory rim. So it's just as well the Diablo is plump with 18 inch OZ Racing alloys ex-factory, coz otherwise those steamroller-like 325/650 and 240/645 Pirelli P-Zeros wouldn't have fitted! Incidentally, these tyres are purpose developed for the Diablo racecars in Europe. In keeping with the car's track set-up, the suspension is set to around double the stiffness of the average SV. Hard it most certainly is. It uses beefy linear rate springs (Paul is currently after some progressive rate ones though), and damper wise there're Koni 28-12s on the front and 28-11s on the back.


Those big Brembo brakes have also been teamed up with Pagid RS14 pads at both ends (to replace the standard carbon/metallic pads). High temperature fade is still the team's biggest concern though.

Swing up those gracious doors and lurking inside is the standard bare-ish SVR interior - save for Sparco seats, harnesses, steering wheel and polished gearknob. The roll cage that the car arrived with has also recently been replaced by a welded steel one to improve occupant safety. Factory instrumentation extends to a 360km/h speedo (!) and you might notice the trademark supercar aluminium gate of the standard 5-speed gearbox.


So to squeeze it all into a few words, this fully prepared SVR is probably the most lethal, race-dedicated of all Diablos. Ever. It represents just part of the one-upmanship in the on-going war of metal between the Aussie production car racing.

So let the fighting begin!

Round 1. Ding, Ding...

We caught up with Aussie driver Paul Stokell at the Y2K Clipsal Adelaide 500 for the first round of the Championship - and the SVR's maiden competition outing in Australia. Paul has stepped up from a Lotus Elise, and is fortunate enough to be driving the Italian stallion for the whole Championship. He seemed pretty relaxed about driving the big car though, stating, "Yeah it's quite nice. It's not hard to drive, but it can be a bit oversteery when you put the power down and you light them up exiting a corner." Discussing the car's handling a little further, he adds "Its turn-in is amazing - it does it almost too well, because you can get it to oversteer at that stage." And finally he adds "Oh, and the power is awesome..."

On the Friday of the three-day Adelaide event, the Diablo qualified in 3rd position, some brake fade preventing any real quick laps towards the end of the session. "I just couldn't keep attacking," said a regretful Paul. But things changed come race day. The black devil (numbered 666!) muscled its way through to first position and took the chequered flag in convincing style. But on the second day brake fade problems again sprouted and spoiled the Diablo's reign. "I kept in touch with the Porsches through the twisties and it was going very well, but then fade set in. I had to go down the escape roads twice, but it wasn't bad enough for me to stop racing." The best position he could hold was a desperate 4th - just missing out on a podium finish.


But it's the Championship standings that matter most; the Diablo is currently in 3rd and Paul's adamant that he'll catch the leader - that pesky red Ferrari. And because the Diablo naturally likes more open tracks than Adelaide's street circuit (tracks such as Eastern Creek, for example), that's easily possible. It just needs to stretch its legs. "It's very torquey from about 5000 rpm up - it feels almost like a V8 Supercar," smiles Paul. "It was always going to be a bit difficult here in Adelaide."