Autocar LP570-4 SL Review
Mar 29, 2010 | 06:46 AM
#1
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Autocar LP570-4 SL Review
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera LP570-4 - Road Test First Drive - Autocar.co.uk
"What is it?
The return of the Superleggera (super light weight) tag to the Gallardo range. Taking the regular four-wheel drive LP560-4 as a starting point the Superleggera knocks 70kg off the kerbweight through plentiful use of carbon fibre. The seats, transmission tunnel, spoiler, diffuser, sills and underbody panelling are made of the stuff, while the rear-windscreen and rear windows are plastic.
As is tradition the Superleggera gets fractionally more power than the regular Gallardo. The 5.2-litre direct injection V10 producing a maximum of 562bhp and 398lbft. Which is exactly what the Ferrari 458 Italia produces; which obviously is just happy coincidence. However, at 1340kg (dry of fluids – add around 100kg for kerbweight) the Gallardo is around 40kg lighter than the Ferrari, and that despite retaining four-wheel drive.
One of the reasons Lamborghini manages this, is because it sticks to a single clutch automated transmission, lighter than an equivalent dual clutch system. So again, we have the six-speed E-gear, albeit with further improvements to the software. However with a superior power-to-weight ratio, it is first blood to Lamborghini.
While there has been no modification to the suspension arrangement, Lamborghini has completely returned the spring and dampers rates, and changed the bushings for the Superleggera. Put simply, its suspension set-up is 70 per cent of that used for the Super Trofeo race cars. Titanium wheel bolts hold in place forged aluminium wheels (more weight-saving) wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres, using a compound specially designed for the Superleggera.
What’s it like?
Surprising. With a Lamborghini there are the things you expect – things like drama, attention and plenty of noise. And the Superleggera is certainly not short on any of these. I’m not sure even a Bugatti Veyron would elicit quite the same enthusiasm from people as it a passes by. Dry a bright green Lamborghini, one with a huge carbon fibre wing stuck on the boot, and everyone wants say hello. In emotional terms it is an experience every bit as rich as you could possibly want.
It is also ludicrously rapid. Not just because of the ultimate power, but, and this is where the surprises start coming, because the Superleggera is relatively easy to drive. With all-wheel drive, on a dry surface, it is staggering just how much torque it will transmit to road. Part of that comes from sending torque to the front wheels, but also because the Superleggera has much higher levels of lateral grip than the stock Gallardo. Turn-in and there is less roll, the car far quicker to settle on its springs and generate grip.
But where Lambo has been particularly clever, is that it has avoided the temptation of going to far, the suspension retaining just enough travel (and excellent damping) to deal with bumps. In this regard the new Superleggera is better than the previous model.
It also has better brakes; carbon ceramics are still optional but the pedal feel is improved (if not yet perfect) and the ABS activation point late enough to get the most from the tyres. Lamborghini also continue to improve E-gear – in Corsa the shifts are now faster, but in normal also smoother, and the clutch take-up from rest more progressive.
As a fast road car the Superleggera is extremely well judged. But the biggest surprise of all, that it works better on the road than it does on track. Although there is plenty of grip, and through faster corners good balance, through medium and slow corners it’s natural tendency is to understeer. Which you can get through, but you need to go at the Superleggera with a pretty big stick. And sometimes that doesn’t feel like an especially enjoyable (or healthy) thing to do.
Maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise, because ultimately, it doesn’t matter how bigger wing it’s wearing, the Superleggera is a road car. And on the road its set-up makes sense, because it is safe. If there is one area where the new Superleggera doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor is the noise. No question it is loud – especially in Corsa with the exhaust flaps open. But to my ears it isn’t quite so how-on-earth did-they-get-that-past-the-EU? loud. Maybe they didn’t get it past the officials and that’s the problem, or maybe it’s that the new 5.2-litre V10 has more bass to its note. It’s also a shame that the previous model’s straight cut race style pipes have been replaced (for quality reasons) with more ornate, but false, tips.
Should I buy one?
If you want that full extrovert Lambo experience, or if you want an extremely capable, quick road car, then yes, absolutely. Is it worth the 18 per cent price increase over the regular Gallardo? For some people probably it is. But we’re left wishing a car with such track focussed tyres and so much attention paid to weight-saving was a bit more adjustable on the limit.
A Balboni is a much sweeter handling car. It's slower, yes, but more entertaining. A Balboni with this car’s engine, gearbox, brakes, and tyre and suspension package would certainly tick the boxes. I reckon Gallardo Super Veloce has a nice ring to it."
"What is it?
The return of the Superleggera (super light weight) tag to the Gallardo range. Taking the regular four-wheel drive LP560-4 as a starting point the Superleggera knocks 70kg off the kerbweight through plentiful use of carbon fibre. The seats, transmission tunnel, spoiler, diffuser, sills and underbody panelling are made of the stuff, while the rear-windscreen and rear windows are plastic.
As is tradition the Superleggera gets fractionally more power than the regular Gallardo. The 5.2-litre direct injection V10 producing a maximum of 562bhp and 398lbft. Which is exactly what the Ferrari 458 Italia produces; which obviously is just happy coincidence. However, at 1340kg (dry of fluids – add around 100kg for kerbweight) the Gallardo is around 40kg lighter than the Ferrari, and that despite retaining four-wheel drive.
One of the reasons Lamborghini manages this, is because it sticks to a single clutch automated transmission, lighter than an equivalent dual clutch system. So again, we have the six-speed E-gear, albeit with further improvements to the software. However with a superior power-to-weight ratio, it is first blood to Lamborghini.
While there has been no modification to the suspension arrangement, Lamborghini has completely returned the spring and dampers rates, and changed the bushings for the Superleggera. Put simply, its suspension set-up is 70 per cent of that used for the Super Trofeo race cars. Titanium wheel bolts hold in place forged aluminium wheels (more weight-saving) wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres, using a compound specially designed for the Superleggera.
What’s it like?
Surprising. With a Lamborghini there are the things you expect – things like drama, attention and plenty of noise. And the Superleggera is certainly not short on any of these. I’m not sure even a Bugatti Veyron would elicit quite the same enthusiasm from people as it a passes by. Dry a bright green Lamborghini, one with a huge carbon fibre wing stuck on the boot, and everyone wants say hello. In emotional terms it is an experience every bit as rich as you could possibly want.
It is also ludicrously rapid. Not just because of the ultimate power, but, and this is where the surprises start coming, because the Superleggera is relatively easy to drive. With all-wheel drive, on a dry surface, it is staggering just how much torque it will transmit to road. Part of that comes from sending torque to the front wheels, but also because the Superleggera has much higher levels of lateral grip than the stock Gallardo. Turn-in and there is less roll, the car far quicker to settle on its springs and generate grip.
But where Lambo has been particularly clever, is that it has avoided the temptation of going to far, the suspension retaining just enough travel (and excellent damping) to deal with bumps. In this regard the new Superleggera is better than the previous model.
It also has better brakes; carbon ceramics are still optional but the pedal feel is improved (if not yet perfect) and the ABS activation point late enough to get the most from the tyres. Lamborghini also continue to improve E-gear – in Corsa the shifts are now faster, but in normal also smoother, and the clutch take-up from rest more progressive.
As a fast road car the Superleggera is extremely well judged. But the biggest surprise of all, that it works better on the road than it does on track. Although there is plenty of grip, and through faster corners good balance, through medium and slow corners it’s natural tendency is to understeer. Which you can get through, but you need to go at the Superleggera with a pretty big stick. And sometimes that doesn’t feel like an especially enjoyable (or healthy) thing to do.
Maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise, because ultimately, it doesn’t matter how bigger wing it’s wearing, the Superleggera is a road car. And on the road its set-up makes sense, because it is safe. If there is one area where the new Superleggera doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor is the noise. No question it is loud – especially in Corsa with the exhaust flaps open. But to my ears it isn’t quite so how-on-earth did-they-get-that-past-the-EU? loud. Maybe they didn’t get it past the officials and that’s the problem, or maybe it’s that the new 5.2-litre V10 has more bass to its note. It’s also a shame that the previous model’s straight cut race style pipes have been replaced (for quality reasons) with more ornate, but false, tips.
Should I buy one?
If you want that full extrovert Lambo experience, or if you want an extremely capable, quick road car, then yes, absolutely. Is it worth the 18 per cent price increase over the regular Gallardo? For some people probably it is. But we’re left wishing a car with such track focussed tyres and so much attention paid to weight-saving was a bit more adjustable on the limit.
A Balboni is a much sweeter handling car. It's slower, yes, but more entertaining. A Balboni with this car’s engine, gearbox, brakes, and tyre and suspension package would certainly tick the boxes. I reckon Gallardo Super Veloce has a nice ring to it."
Mar 29, 2010 | 01:54 PM
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Mar 29, 2010 | 06:09 PM
#5
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Posts: 31,554
From: Zoo York
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Few vehicles have a clarity of purpose quite like the latest Gallardo Superleggera. Super-light and unashamedly bullish, it’s a sensational reinvention of Lamborghini’s old-school supercars – and promises all the thrills to match.
But then the snow starts to fall. That wouldn’t be ideal in a normal, 4WD LP560-4, even though you can order it with winter tyres. Yet the 19-inch rubber on the LP570-4 Superleggera isn’t just large – it’s huge. Conceived for the track, the tyres are designed to maximise grip in every direction – so long as the conditions are right.
In the dry, the Pirelli PZero Corsas are simply immense. They have braking, accelerating and cornering covered to such extremes that only half-a-day at the limit leaves your internal organs feeling as though they’ve been pulled out, juggled about and stuffed back in. But a white sheet falling over northern Italy makes life very different. Besides anything else, it covers the country’s finest mountain passes. So where do we go?
Certainly, the car won’t help us answer this. In an effort to replicate the original Gallardo Superleggera’s 100kg weight saving, Lambo has binned the LP570-4’s radio and sat-nav. Also gone are the inner door skins, seat shells, centre console and anything else not dedicated to the generation of extra speed or grip.
The only exception is the air-con. So many people paid extra to put the system back in the old Superleggera that the firm left it there this time. At 1,340kg, the car feels lighter from the instant you open the door. This is easier to fling wide, and you have to close it with a dinky little strap because the original interior handle is ounces too heavy.
Squeeze into the tiny, carbon-shelled seat, with its four-point harness, twist the ignition key and you discover the Superleggera is equipped with a new exhaust, too. The system roars out with a revvy blip, before dropping down into its cranky gruffness.
From the driver’s seat, this model is far louder than the stock Gallardo; sound deadening has also been axed. As we head out on to the road, it’s clear the regular version’s springs and suspension have been discarded, too – for a set-up that’s far less compliant.
The way the Superleggera is sprung, it feels as if Lamborghini has fixed the wheels direct to the chassis, relying instead on the ultra-low-profile Pirellis to manage all bump absorption. At least, that’s how it seems. There’s barely any compression before the whole front end climbs faithfully over any obstruction in the road, no matter how sharp or big it is.
That gives you an instant to brace for the rear end doing the same thing. It gets better with speed – a little. Ferrari’s F430 Scuderia isn’t as well built or its engine as strong, but at least its damping is more sophisticated and better suited to anything except a race track. Even then, this depends on the weather.
Yet the way the Superleggera explodes away from any situation in any gear almost lets you forgive it. There’s more power here, but the lighter mass really brings that 570bhp to life, making the tacho swing to 8,500rpm faster than before.
Crucially, the car is more agile in the way it drops off revs or squeezes them on. This engine knows the difference between the driver asking for 7,815rpm and 7,819rpm – as does the induction-dominated howl. About the only thing that replicates how the LP570-4 hurls you from apex to apex and detonates its way out of corners is a full racing go-kart. This is appropriate, given that the two have similar suspension travel!
Crucially, the car is more agile in the way it drops off revs or squeezes them on. This engine knows the difference between the driver asking for 7,815rpm and 7,819rpm – as does the induction-dominated howl. About the only thing that replicates how the LP570-4 hurls you from apex to apex and detonates its way out of corners is a full racing go-kart. This is appropriate, given that the two have similar suspension travel!
As we head out into the snow-covered countryside, the way the car picks up speed and revs out of corners is utterly ferocious. There’s no other description for it. Even in third gear, a rolling full-throttle burst in a straight line can leave rubber marks down a dry road from all four wheels, with the ESP strobing and the chassis chattering with wheelspin. In first gear, the new launch control lets you dial up exactly the right revs, step off the brake pedal and smash out a 3.5-second burst from 0-62mph.
The six-speed e.gear sequential box has no clutch pedal to get in the way. All it asks is that you keep flicking up the right paddle at 8,500rpm to cover 0-125mph in 10.2 seconds. It’s that fast, yes, but straight-line speed isn’t the only important factor.
What matters is that, despite its brutal character, the Superleggera can devour long straights and munch up tight corners. It’s not a case of where to drive, more how fast do you want to go when you get there? So much for that satellite-navigation system!
Rival: Audi R8 GT3
Tipped to hit the streets later this year, the race-inspired R8 will deliver a stripped-out cabin and focused driving experience. It’s likely to be less extreme than the Lambo – and slightly cheaper.
Tipped to hit the streets later this year, the race-inspired R8 will deliver a stripped-out cabin and focused driving experience. It’s likely to be less extreme than the Lambo – and slightly cheaper.
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