Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Taking the best junior supercar and making it better, both on road and on track, seems a surefire recipe for success and the swollen order book for the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera would appear to underpin this logic. Despite featuring the trappings of civility, the Superleggera nevertheless has a spiky personality.
As much as their manufacturers would have us believe that supercars are all about no-compromise engineering, cutting-edge capability and purity of focus, most of these attributes are mere by-products in the quest to one-up each other and nowhere is the competition fiercer than between Lamborghini and Ferrari. Lamborghini upped the ante with the introduction of the Gallardo in 2003, comprehensively trumping the Ferrari 360 Modena. Maranello hit back with the gutsier F430 and Lamborghini once more responded with the uprated 2006 model year Gallardo. Now the SantAgata company has opted to land a pre-emptive strike on its rivals with the Gallardo Superleggera, a lighter and marginally more powerful Gallardo thats aimed at well-heeled customers who will occasionally take their car onto the race track but need something thats acceptably refined to the extent that it wont require trailering there and back.
| Build |  |
| Comfort |  |
| Depreciation |  |
| Economy | |
| Equipment | |
| Handling |  |
| Insurance |  |
| Performance |  |
| Styling | |
| Value | |
These details contrast with the aggressive Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres and the optional four-point belts fitted to our test car. At first, it was tough to decide whether the Superleggera was a cynical marketing exercise or something rather different.
"Its a Gallardo, plus two or three per cent. No more, no less. Mind you, by any objective measure, thats still a fantastic thing."
Driving it on road gave little away. The optional carbon ceramic brakes have a worrying dead spot at the top of the travel and the steel rotors seem a better bet for everyday use. The car was definitely louder than a standard Gallardo but the performance differences were marginal: an identical top speed and torque figure, 0.2s knocked off the sprint to 100kmh (now 3.8s) and 10bhp added to the power output. On track, a different picture emerged with the Superleggera offering superior grip and body control, largely down to the tyre choice.
Snappy at the limit, it demands respect but is massively capable, on well-surfaced, dry tarmac at least. Needless to say, it delivers savage punch out of corners. Customers choose between e-gear and manual gearboxes. Lamborghini has taken a different tack to the usual just add horsepower approach and reducing weight rather than crudely boosting the engine seems a smarter way forward.
The key change has been excising just over 100kg from the cars dry weight which drops to 1,330kg largely through extensive use of carbon fibre. The seats are now lightweight CF items, and the same material is also used for the fixed rear spoiler, engine cover, mirrors, door inserts, front splitter and rear diffuser. Theres a polycarbonate window over the engine and the gearbox casing is now cast from magnesium. The biggest change to the styling, aside from the CF splitter and diffuser, is the fitment of 19-inch forged alloy wheels with titanium wheel nuts to shave an additional few grammes off.
Theres also a Superleggera side decal. Build quality seems very good with none of the groaning and creaking the carbon fibre panels often exhibit. Space inside is also reasonably good although taller drivers may be pinched for headroom. Legroom is excellent and all-round visibility is way better than any mid-engined supercar has any right to deliver.
Theres even a decently sized trunk up front. If youre in the market for a Gallardo Superleggera, chances are youre not exactly watching the pennies, but its in this area that the car betrays a few concerns. The first is pricing. Expect to pay around £34,000 more than the standard Gallardo which is a serious step up in price for a few degrees of added capability that few owners will never explore.
One-upmanship? You decide. Then theres the gearbox pricing issue. Buy a standard Gallardo and it comes with a manual box, with the e-gear sequential manual tacking around £7,000 onto that price. With the Superleggera, the e-gear is standard and the manual is a no-cost option.
In other words, specify it with the six-speed manual and youre in effect forking over £7,000 to buy an automated gearbox you neither want nor receive. Hardly cricket. The Superleggera comes with air conditioning and ESP stability control but many desirable features are options. These include the carbon fibre interior, satellite navigation, four-point seat belts, the high rear wing with parking camera and the front lifting kit that helps the nose over speed bumps or sharp approaches to garages.
Most Superleggeras will probably be nudging £160,000 when typically specified. Trying to drive the Gallardo Superleggera sensibly on the launch route was an exercise in temptation resistance. Yes, it is possible to noodle along at 60mph on a dual carriageway but the engine feels impatient and urges you to stab the throttle every now and then to clear the Gallardos big lungs. I averaged just over 9mpg on a combined road and track session and an average of 13mpg would be very good going.
Emissions are a bluff 400g/km. The Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera is undoubtedly a proper supercar. It demands respect and has that crucial element of malevolence masked beneath layers of civility and accessibility. The problem is, its not significantly different to the standard car to which the fitment of the Pirelli P-Zero Corsas would add edge to the handling balance.
Its also a good deal more expensive, especially if you want a six-speed manual version. As effective as it is, the Superleggera therefore only receives a qualified thumbs up. This might seem harsh given that it is a better car both on street and circuit and the light weight philosophy indicates working smarter rather than harder but Lamborghini likes to proclaim its extreme credentials and, for me, the Superleggera represents an opportunity missed. Something really vicious, that left you bathed in sweat and juiced with adrenaline was what I was hoping for.
What I got was a Gallardo, plus two or three per cent. Mind you, by any objective measure, thats still a fantastic thing.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
PRICE: £151,000 [est]
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 400g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 3.7s Top Speed: 195.7mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 11 (extra urban) 17 (combined) 13mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: twin front airbags, ESP stability control, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length 4300mm, width 1900mm, height 1165mm
