Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 : BRING THE NOISE

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The Gallardo may have lived in the shadow of its big brother, the Murcielago, but the latest LP560-4 model could well be one of the most significant cars Lamborghini has ever built. Andy Enright reports

It takes quite some time to get your head around a Lamborghini Gallardo. After all, Lambos were always supposed to be cars that would leave the average driver with post traumatic stress disorder after the briefest acquaintance. Yet the latest Gallardo LP560-4 doesn't quite fit that billing. The doors don't open skywards, instead functioning much like a normal car. Yes, it's low but visibility isn't too bad, there's air conditioning, a decent stereo and the controls don't seem to require superhuman effort to function. Shouldn't it be a little more special? Try accelerating beyond 4,000rpm. Then it becomes a very different animal altogether.

But let's start with the basics. The Gallardo LP560-4 is so named due to its engine position - Longitudinale Posteriore -Â and its power output of 560bhp. With 40bhp more than the original Gallardo model could boast and a 20kg reduction in weight, the power:weight ratio has been improved to 2.5kg per bhp. In case you're wondering, the `4' refers to the Lamborghini product feature of permanent four-wheel drive. The LP560-4 replaces the standard Gallardo Coupe and comes with a heavily revised V10, 5.2 litre direct fuel injection engine with a system known in Italian as `Iniezione Diretta Stratificata'. Despite its increased power, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions have been reduced by 18%. With its improved engine, permanent four-wheel drive transmission and upgraded suspension, Lamborghini engineers boast that it delivers significantly enhanced performance and dynamics. They've also improved traction, handling and stability at high speeds, with the slicker transmission, sharper suspension, plus optimised aerodynamics as well as the reduced weight and decreased friction between the components all helping to make this a more serious competitor to rivals like Porsche's recently improved 911. European drive-by noise regulations have meant that Lamborghini have been forced to baffle the Gallardo's exhaust at low revs, making it civilised around town. Give the accelerator a good prod, however, and the difference is astonishing. I had the opportunity to drive the Gallardo back to back with the 6.5-litre Murcielago and the smaller car is a good deal more vocal when driven in anger, the 5.2-litre V10 making itself heard from half a mile distant, its strident bark ricocheting off the sides of the Tuscan valley. All was well again. Lamborghini are still building cars that could earn you an ASBO in double quick time.

"Even with 560bhp on tap in a mid-engined car costing this much, the Gallardo never feels intimidating "

In LP560-4 guise, this car doesn't look all that different. Still, it didn't need to. With Ferrari's svelte 360 Modena evolving into the rather lumpen F430, the Gallardo didn't need to do much at all on the styling front to stay ahead of the car from Maranello and it's also a good deal more arresting than the comparatively mundane-looking Porsche 911 Turbo. Only Ford's now retired GT offers a similar visual right hook in this sector of the market. Where the original Gallardo enjoyed a serious power advantage over the 360 Modena, the arrival of the 490bhp F430 saw the car from Sant'Agata initially lose out in terms of power to weight ratio. Lamborghini were quick to put that right and the latest car's 560bhp powerplant moves the Gallardo further ahead, featuring acceleration that sees to travel from 0-62 mph in 3.7 seconds and go on to a top speed in excess of 200mph. Which is just as well given the asking price of close to £150,000. The Gallardo's enormous torque gives it a real sledgehammer punch at the top end, peak power streaming in at a stratospheric 7,800rpm, and restores the power to weight advantage in its favour. Roll away from a standing start in the Gallardo and it gives little clue as to its potency. You'll have to get used to the goldfish-bowl nature of driving a car like this as onlookers peer in to see who's piloting it before registering a faint look of disappointment that it isn't a celeb they recognise. You'll gain their attention again the moment you prod the accelerator pedal. There is no appreciable ramping up in the noise level. It just appears and the first time it happens you'll physically recoil from the sound emanating from the back of the baby Lamborghini. It's an angry, feral noise that is a world away from the breathy timbre of a Porsche 911 or the screaming, almost musical crescendo of a Ferrari V8. In short, it sounds like a Lamborghini should. It goes like one too. The four-wheel drive electronics aren't quite as clever as those in a 911 Turbo when it comes to stepping cleanly off the line but get up to higher velocities and you won't begrudge that, the Gallardo behaving for the most part like a traditional rear driver. Only when you're really pushing it over scabby tarmac can you feel the front tyres biting for grip. What impresses most is the body control. Drive the same section of road in a Porsche 911 or even a Ferrari F430 and there would be a lot more roll, squat and dive. The Lamborghini planes flat, almost sucked to the ground, its hefty 19-inch tyres and foursquare stance giving the driver almost unassailable confidence levels. Equipment levels have been enhanced in recent times and include items like the Navtrack vehicle tracking system, plus a Lamborghini Multimedia System with CD changer, MP3 player and tuner. A revised palette of interior and exterior colours is offered as are a whole range of options including a reversing camera and TV tuner. Other options include the popular Calisto wheels and a sports pack with racing steering wheel and suspension. The Gallardo's shape still works wonderfully well. Although it shares many styling cues with its bigger brother, the Murcielago, the Gallardo is surprisingly small and slightly more aggressive with its chopped-off angles. Luc Donkerwolke, the man responsible for penning both cars, has once again excelled himself. Obviously a Lamborghini, the Gallardo's detailing does enough to distance it from the Murcielago. Park the two side by side and you'll appreciate the differences but such is the success of the Gallardos lines that the latest Murcielago has adopted a sharper, Gallardo-looking front end. If one were to design the ultimate useable supercar, it would have Italian charisma and German build quality, the looks of a Lamborghini and the utility of a Porsche, but would go, stop and steer like nothing else. The Gallardo LP560-4 is that car and, for the time being at least, is probably the finest all-round supercar money can buy.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4
PRICE: £147,330 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 400g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 200mph / 0-60mph 3.7s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 14.5mpg [est] WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE ? Length/Width/Height 4300/1900/1165mm