The Drawbacks
While we’re on the subject, here are some other things that hurt about this car:

(1) Visibility: nil. You might as well just close your eyes when you shift into reverse or change lanes in any direction; the windshield is so slanted that, even when peering forward, the view is impeded by the top line of the glass. I had to slouch to see traffic lights.

(2) Ground clearance. Don’t even try going up that slightly tilted driveway, or pass over that speed bump at more than eight miles per hour.

(3) Trunk space. With the roof stowed in the front truck, there is none. Literally.

I know, I know. These things are beside the point to some of you die-hards; I hear this every time I review an old-school Lambo. Plus, many supercars have these problems. But it must be said that the Aventador S Roadster bears them with the greatest pride, like badges of honor.

There is more headroom in a Porsche 911 than in this Aventador S Roadster, for example, and more foot room in a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT. Don’t ask me how it’s possible that a car with the top cut off manages to feel tight for anyone over 5’10’’, but Lamborghini has achieved this feat. That famous Italian magic that makes pizza and wine so good has gone in reverse.

This is not a car to take on a day trip or an overnight holiday, unless you have an SUV following  with all your gear. On the day I drove this car last week, in Malibu and through the canyons near Mulholland Drive, that’s how I carried my backpack.

Although once you open the throttle, all is forgiven.

Top speed here is 217mph—not so far from the fastest land speed on record—and zero to 62mph takes three seconds flat. (That is the slimmest sliver of a second slower than the 2.9 seconds of the Aventador S Coupe, which exactly no one will notice.) Plus, this comes on a carbon-fiber body that weighs less than 3,600 pounds, with 507 pound-feet of torque. When you accelerate, it feels like a giant hand pressing your chest. The steering is so precise that if you time corners right, you may even think you’ve tamed this car enough to be a team—it will feel as if it’s reading your mind. The active wing spoiler alternates among three positions as you accelerate past 100mph. And its wide, square stance grips the entire width of the road in a hug as tight as a boa constrictor.

Where McLaren makes clinically perfect supercars such as the 720S that can lack discernable personality, the Aventador S Roadster is the opposite: messy, angry, passionate, disinclined to obey.