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Dangerously addictive

More power, less fuel: In building the new Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera, Lamborghini has indulged in the luxury of absolute purism – thanks to the use of carbon fiber, the new top model from Sant’Agata Bolognese weighs an impressive 70 kilograms less than the basic version.

COPY/MATTHIAS PFANNMÜLLER
PHOTOS/SJOERD TEN KATE

Resplendent in bright green, the car is standing – or rather crouching – in a corner of the closely guarded factory building. My pulse starts racing even before I see it. I approach the new speedster from Sant’Agata Bolognese, never taking my eyes off it. The mere name is a promise: Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera – Italian for ultralight. Compared to the basic version of the Gallardo – the LP 560-4 – the new coupe weighs another 70 kilograms less. This may sound like a mere number, but it embodies everything that is so thrilling about this new supercar. From a standing start, the Superleggera catapults the driver to 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds – a whole two tenths of a second faster than the basic version. And in sports car terms, that’s worlds apart.

Automobili Lamborghini is all about an extreme form of motion on the road. The sports car manufacturer has always had a somewhat rebellious, wild, unruly image. This sense of otherness is not self-serving, it is invariably a driving force behind the company’s search for innovative solutions. Think for example of the legendary Miura’s V12 engine installed transversely in front of the rear axle – at a time when other sports car manufacturers were still building cars with front-mounted engine and rigid rear axle. Equally unforgettable is the Countach, unveiled in 1971. This uncompromising “wedge on wheels” was not only regarded as a style icon. It was also the first Lamborghini to feature a 12-cylinder engine mounted longitudinally to the rear and scissor doors that opened upwards. The “small” Gallardo may “only” have ten cylinders pounding away behind the seats, but the two-seater is by some distance the most successful model in the Italian brand’s 47-year history. It has permanent all-wheel drive and features an aluminum space frame.

But to achieve a weight reduction of 70 kilograms for the new lightweight version, the car had to go on a radical diet – of carbon fiber. Woven from many thousands of microscopic carbon fibers, impregnated with resins and hardened in enormous furnaces, it is lighter and yet more stable than most other materials used to make cars. Its disadvantage is that it is very expensive due to the considerable time and labor that went into manufacturing it. This lightweight material – familiar from the aerospace industry – has quite a tradition at Lamborghini. 1988 saw the launch of the Countach “25 Anniversario” model, a supercar with carbon-fiber components. Today, Lamborghini’s carbon-fiber design department employs 30 specialists, who have coaxed the brand essence out of the new Superleggera: extreme sportiness. And the amazing ultra-light material actually performs a dual function, because lower weight automatically means lower fuel consumption. That’s why lightweight construction is increasingly regarded as being synonymous with efficiency. The engineers saved weight where they could and placed great emphasis on the reduction of unsprung masses. For example, the two-seater features ten-spoke forged magnesium wheels, which reduce weight by 13 kilograms. Carbonfiber ceramic brake disks and carbon fiber-coated tailpipes also play their part; there are now four straight tailpipes, arranged in pairs in a stepped configuration. The side mirrors and door sill trims are also made of carbon fiber, as is the rear spoiler. The car once again has a relatively large, fixed spoiler, which puts even more pressure on the rear wheels. Another typical Superleggera feature is the dark line down the sides; on the LP 570-4 this line has a flatter trajectory and bears the colors of the Italian flag.

A further, particularly striking touch is the composite front spoiler. It is painted matt black and has rounded contours that provide a fascinating contrast to the angular front end. On the LP 570-4, the nose extends two centimeters further forward and also reaches somewhat further down. In conjunction with the carbon-fiber rear diffuser, which has also been revised, and the fully enclosed underbody that has been modified at both front and rear, downforce was increased once again and aerodynamic drag reduced further. This had the effect of generating more grip – especially when cornering fast – and an even higher maximum speed. With a possible top speed of 325 km/h, this car, just like previous versions, is one of the quickest and also most uncompromising supercars.

The interior, too, is all about purism. This is the area which has slimmed down the most – 43 kilograms, to be precise. The door panels, bucket seats and other parts are made of carbon fiber, and the dashboard is upholstered in Alcantara. Just like on the first Gallardo Superleggera, part of the greenhouse is made of polycarbonate. The transparent hood provides a great view of the beautiful 5.2-liter engine, which now has an output of 570 hp (419 kW) – an increase of 10 hp. This results in an outstanding power-to-weight ratio of just 2.35 kg/hp. Bearing in mind that many vehicles which themselves are not short on power have a ratio of over 10 kg/hp, these figures give you a rough idea of what happens when you accelerate – no matter what speed you’re traveling at. What’s more, the Superleggera features an e-gear transmission as standard, with gear shifts performed via shift paddles on the steering wheel, so you can flick through the gears in milliseconds. And perhaps the best thing of all is the throaty, muffled – not to mention eager – roar of the engine, which blips the throttle precisely every time you shift down a gear. The new Superleggera delivers a spectacle of sound that will bring tears to the eyes even of die-hard sports car fans – bella macchina, as the Italians would say!

Matthias Pfannmüller is an editor for the Swiss motoring journal Automobil Revue. He is currently also working on a chronicle of Lamborghini.