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Torque Titan
Joseph Dunn Global warming doesn’t mean much in Arizona. This, after all, is a state that boasts 325 sunny days a year and where the average temperature out in the sepia landscape is 30C. A couple of degrees warmer wouldn’t feel much different, so the locals don’t bother much with climate-saving hybrid cars. On the cactus-lined roads outside Phoenix jacked-up Ford pickup trucks with big V8 engines are where it is at.
So it was fitting that this is where Lamborghini chose to launch its “super sports car”, the 4x4 Gallardo Superleggera, which cocks a V10-powered snook at the concept of green motoring. First seen at the Geneva Motor Show last month this is a stripped down version of the standard Gallardo coupé.
More powerful and faster than that car, the Superleggera (it means superlight) is billed as the edgiest car in the Lamborghini range, aimed at buyers who want a bit more exclusivity and excitement for their six-figure outlay. The company has also managed the near impossible and made the original Gallardo’s fuel economy worse: down from 14.5mpg to just 13mpg.
With a lurid yellow paint job it looks like an angry insect among the dusty pickups on the interstate, sounds like a thunderstorm and goes like the clappers. But we shall get to that later. First a word about the company that builds it.
Not so long ago Lamborghini had some fairly serious problems. The cars it made were glorious over-the-top follies, beautiful, frighteningly fast but wildly impractical. The dealer network was ad hoc at best, all orders were processed individually by the factory and the company managed to build about 250 cars a year. Then in 1998 Audi, part of the VW group, took over the company and began instilling some German order on the Italian marque. A new programme of cars got under way including the range-topping V12 Murciélago in 2000 followed by the Gallardo three years later. Last year the company sold 2,087 cars.
The Gallardo was a supercar for the modern age. For a start it didn’t break down every other week. It had air-conditioning and electric windows. You could see out of the back, and because it was only a little bigger than a Ford Focus you could drive it down streets without worrying about scraping the side panels on bus shelters.
People began to take notice of the new-style Lambo, not least the men from Ferrari. When I mentioned the Gallardo to a Ferrari executive who was at the time proudly showing off a 575 Maranello, he sniffily replied that it was nothing but an Audi with a body kit. “No soul,” he said. Clearly this was not true but the remark revealed unease at Ferrari, which has for so long cornered the market in exotic supercars. Suddenly there’s a new player on the piazza.
The Superleggera represents the latest stage of Lamborghini’s transformation and the company makes little secret of the fact that its primary purpose is to keep the brand in the news: building a new car is not cheap while updating an existing car, adding (or in this case taking away) a few features, enables it to remain in the public eye at minimum cost.
It is therefore legitimate to view this car as little more than part of a marketing strategy, born in the boardroom as much as of a passionate desire to make a brilliant, no-compromise sports car. But that would be doing it an injustice: the Superleggera, by all conventional measures, is a staggeringly good car, and most buyers at this end of the market won’t give two hoots about marketing strategies. They just want to know how it goes, how it looks and whether their neighbour will have one.
Faster than the standard Gallardo (and the Spyder convertible version launched last year) the Superleggera is now the quickest in its class, beating rivals such as the Ferrari F430 and Porsche 911 Turbo. It hits 62mph in 3.8sec (0.4 less than the coupé) and has had its 5 litre V10 tweaked to produce an extra 10bhp, though the top speed remains 196mph.
However, it is the loss of weight that responsible for much of the improved performance and handling. Virtually everything that can be made from lightweight carbon has been — door panels, bonnet, wing mirrors — while the glass engine cover has been replaced with transparent polycarbonate. Even the wheel nuts are made from titanium in an attempt to shed a few more grams. The car weighs 2,932lb — 220lb less than the coupé — giving it a power to weight ratio of 392bhp per tonne against a Ferrari F430’s 333bhp per tonne, a 911 Turbo’s 298bhp per tonne.
On the road its Pirelli tyres and four-wheel-drive system mean it takes corners as if it’s on electrified rails, even at speeds that would make your mother faint, making you pleased for the moulded racing seats and (optional) four-point safety harness. The handling is race-car sharp while the V10, positioned inches behind the driver’s head, emits a wonderful howl that is amplified by a modified exhaust system and will stay with you long after you have switched the ignition off.
This car likes to be driven at the top of its abilities and at speeds that most drivers won’t dare unless they are on a track. In a straight line it is frighteningly quick: jam the throttle down and you are thrown into the back of the seat as the rev counter bounces into the red in an instant and the car catapults well over the stingy US speed limits. The manual gated gearbox is easy and accurate, although Lamborghini says that most buyers will opt for the e-gear paddleshift, which is smooth and fast and, when downshifting, gives a satisfyingly noisy blip on the throttle to match gear ratio with engine speed.
The car comes with the option of carbon ceramic brakes, which at £9,729 cost more than many superminis. However, while they don’t have better stopping power than regular steel brakes (Lamborghini claims the car will brake from 62mph to standstill in 36 yards) they do last longer and resist fade better.
The interior, though pared down, is still a reasonably comfortable place to be for a sports car of this kind. Carbon-fibre door panels give it a classy sheen while, despite the stripped-down nature of the car, the presence of electric windows, air-conditioning, sat nav and radio make it plain that this is not a track-day only machine.
All of this comes at a price. The Superleggera, with e-gear, is £150,990 — £22,000 more than a similarly equipped standard Gallardo, which sets the question: why pay more money for less car? Lamborghini says the answer lies in the Superleggera’s improved performance and its predicted exclusivity: only 350 are being built with about 30 of those destined for the UK.
All have been sold already but disappointed thrill seekers will be pleased to hear that there are tentative plans to produce an even rawer version to compete in same-car motor-sport events. Lamborghini is playing its cards close to its chest but one thing is for sure: the car will be fast, furious and — environmentally speaking — totally irresponsible. We can’t wait.
Vital statistics
Model Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Engine type 4961cc, V10
Power/Torque 522bhp @ 8000rpm / 376 lb ft @ 4250rpm
Transmission Six-speed e-gear
Fuel/CO2 13mpg (combined) / 400 g/km
Performance 0-62mph: 3.8sec / Top speed: 196mph
Price £150,990
Verdict Impressive power, style and performance
Rating 4/5
Date of release May
The opposition
Model Porsche 911 GT3 RS £94,280
For Superb driveability, cheap (in comparison)
Against Lacks supercar presence and exclusivity
Model Ferrari F430 coupé £122,775
For Best Ferrari for years, great handling
Against More obvious than a Lamborghini
Source = Times Online
