The volcano was smoking gently as we flew in, and as we drove up the mountain some of the lava from an eruption mere weeks earlier was still cooling. It wasn’t hard to figure out the subtext here: This car is meant to be intimidating. Handle with care. Which is why the LP670-4 SV is such a surprise. It’s the lightest, most powerful, fastest Murcielago ever built. Yet it allows us mortals to tip-toe closer to the very edge of its truly volcanic performance envelope than any big-banger Lambo in history. If any $450,000, 661-horsepower, 212-mph, hip-high wedge of weapons-grade testosterone could ever be called a pussycat, this is it. Well, up to a point.

Four shift modes are available, with Sport Plus perhaps the most impressive. Like Porsche’s dual-clutch PDK transmission, the MCT in Sport Plus upshifts and downshifts as if guided by your thoughts. Then brake hard from speed when approaching a corner and watch as the MCT automatically blips the throttle and fires two machine-gun downshifts. Brilliant stuff.