The Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 is the first car with an FIA-approved carbon-fiber roll cage, which opens more space in the cabin and is even safer.
The FIA or Federation Internationale de l’Automobile is the governing authority of motorsports and works to promote safe, sustainable, and accessible mobility for all motorists around the globe. While it is certainly not an easy task acing FIA’s stringent test standards, Lamborghini seems to have passed with flying colors.
Namely, the Italian marquee surprised the world with the Essenza SCV12, the world’s first car with an FIA-approved carbon-fiber roll cage. Offering an exhilarating driving experience at unprecedented levels of safety, the track-only supercar from Lamborghini is a work of beauty and admiration.
A roll cage is a protective frame specially designed to save the driver’s neck during a violent crash or rollover. Playing an essential role in the safety of the occupants, the design and construction of the roll cage became more complex and challenging to provide increasingly higher levels of protection against impacts and accidents.
Drawing inspiration from the blueprints of racing prototypes, engineers at Lamborghini conjured a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis that doubles as the roll cage. The brainchild of a collaboration between FIA and Lamborghini, the carbon-fiber rollover structure is aimed at providing the highest levels of safety for GT racing drivers, owing to its incredibly lightweight and tough construction.
However, the FIA homologation tests did not go easy on the Essenza SCV12. Withstanding 12 tons of weight without showing any appreciable deformations was one of the 20+ static tests the carbon-fiber frame was subjected to along with the pedals, belts, and fuel tanks.
The dynamic tests took it a step further. Surviving an impact at speeds of 31.3 mph is impressive on its own. Coming out of a low to medium speed impact without the intrusion of any external elements into the cabin and preventing the fuel tank from leaking is praiseworthy and the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 seemed to excel at both. In addition to safety, the carbon-fiber roll cage opens up a lot of space inside the cabin, allowing drivers to sit comfortably.
Armed with a powerful V12 engine rated at 818 HP, the supercar is sure a blast to drive on track. It also runs on lightweight magnesium wheels, which lower the unsprung mass. Lamborghini will make only 40 Essenza SCV12 models. Customers won’t only receive the racing supercar, though. Namely, they can park it at a specially built hangar near Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese HQ and can have fun taking the Essenza SCV12 out for a spin in several FIA Grade 1 homologated circuits.
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