Road Test
First Drive: 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Increase power and add lightness
One hundred fifty-four pounds is a lot of dead weight. Think about it. It's the same as three-and-a-half full-size spare tires, or 23 gallons of gasoline. Or it's the mass equivalent of that deadbeat girlfriend you dumped after college. It's also the same amount of weight that the engineers eliminated in the design of the 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.
In Italian, "superleggera" means "super light," so it's an appropriate name for a car that's had its fat trimmed away. Lamborghini has been telling us for some time that it would get serious about high performance, so it has done the racetrack thing and made the Gallardo as light as possible.
Lamborghini claims the Gallardo Superleggera weighs in at 2,998 pounds when the fuel tank is dry. Of course, fill the gas tank and the lightweight Gallardo weighs nearly the same as a Ferrari F430 F1 .
Fat burner
So how do you cut the weight of a rotund coed from a tightly packaged supercar? With cubic megadollars, of course. And carbon fiber, lots of carbon fiber. The stuff is literally everywhere in the Gallardo Superleggera. From the door panels to the rocker panels, in fact.
Plus the Superleggera has carbon fiber in the rear air diffuser and the wing, as well as the engine cover (which also incorporates lightweight, transparent polycarbonate instead of glass). Hell, even the rearview mirrors and the cover for the center tunnel in the cockpit are made from carbon fiber.
There are also other light parts and some of them aren't even carbon fiber. Lighter front driveshafts and a lighter propeller shaft contribute to 17 percent of the total weight savings. The muffler is lighter and the forged wheels save some weight as well. As for the Gallardo's optional $15,600 carbon-ceramic brakes, well, they have always been light.
Add (a little) power
The lightweight version of any supercar worth its salt should also get a boost in power, and so the Superleggera does. But Lamborghini found very few knobs to twist on the Gallardo's 40-valve, DOHC 5.0-liter V10. More efficient intake and exhaust plumbing plus an aggressive engine calibration add up to 10 more horses for the Gallardo's 513-horsepower stable. We've previously reported the Gallardo's power to be 520 hp, but we should have said it is rated at 520 PS, which converts to 513 hp these days. Either way, the Superleggera's 523 hp is a lot of snort for any bull.
Lamborghini's six-speed, sequential-shift automated manual transmission with its shift paddles on the steering column is standard equipment for the Superleggera, and the six-speed manual is a no-cost option. Lamborghini's all-wheel-drive system with its viscous-type center differential is retained by the Superleggera, and the torque split is 30 percent front/70 percent rear.
Lamborghini claims the combination of more power and less weight trims 0.2 second from the Gallardo's sprint to 62 mph (100 kph), reducing it to 3.8 seconds. With each horsepower yanking around a paltry 5.6 pounds and the advantage of an efficient all-wheel-drive launch at the starting line, this seems like a completely believable number to us. Top speed remains the same at 195 mph.
More exotic inside
The largest portion of weight loss comes from the cockpit.
You see it right away in the door panels. Several yards of suede replace the leather upholstery on many surfaces, including the dash and steering wheel. Meanwhile, a satellite navigation system is optional and Superleggeras without it are fitted with a carbon-fiber plate to block off the hole in the dash. A rearview camera is still available for parking assistance.
Carbon fiber surrounds the gauges, whose instrument faces have revised fonts. Any surface that's meant to be touched (and most that aren't) is in some way treated in exotic materials.
On the track
We drove the new Gallardo on the road course at Phoenix International Raceway, which incorporates part of the 1.0-mile, D-shape oval. Lamborghini's test protocol involved leading us around the track at about 60 percent of the car's capability. This, they hoped, would keep the Gallardo's body panels intact even while in the care of those known for catastrophically attempting to disobey the laws of physics. As far as Lamborghini is concerned, this strategy proved effective, but it kept us from discovering the full extent of the Superleggera's capabilities.
So here's what we know based on the 60 percent experience. First, the Gallardo is loud. Much louder, in fact, than the Murciélago V12. We'll remind you that the Gallardo V10 makes a howl at 8,000 rpm like God's own automotive symphony. Thanks to the e-gear automated gearbox, downshifts are banged out with divine staccato precision.
The Superleggera has a ton of cornering grip thanks to sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires — 235/30ZR19 in the front and wide 295/30ZR19 in the rear. Because of the weight reduction, the springs are fractionally softer and the damping rates less aggressive.
Just like the conventional Gallardo, the Superleggera corners very flat (even compared to other supercars), yet it doesn't encourage midcorner adjustments. Pick your cornering line early, be smooth and the Superleggera will hold its line with relentless determination. But jump on the throttle too aggressively in a tight corner and you'll feel the car break away with plenty of understeer, a reminder that this is an all-wheel driver.
Meanwhile, the Superleggera's carbon-ceramic brakes bite with shocking effectiveness in the first inch or so of pedal travel, and this means they are often quite graceless at first. But once we sensitized to the pedal action, these brakes inspired wonderful confidence. There was noticeable fade after repeated hard laps, but the difference was never enough to slow our progress.
Textbook speed
The Superleggera might advertise itself as a lightweight, but don't plan on throwing it around like a rally car. Drive with textbook technique — brake in a straight line, then pick up the throttle at the apex. If you do, the Superleggera rewards you with textbook dynamics on a supercar level. Get ugly, however, and start dancing on the brakes midcorner or cowboying the throttle like former rally driver Colin McRae, and the Gallardo simply won't hustle. It's powerful and hooked up to the pavement, and it's not meant for sliding from apex to apex.
If the Superleggera lacks anything, it's passion. You know, the hard edge all supercars are supposed to have. All-wheel drive robs it of some of the racecar rawness promised by its carbon-fiber trim, while the R-compound rubber pushes the handling limits so far off the charts that you'll never, ever be tempted to slide it.
When you hear the Gallardo Superleggera coming from a block away — all pissed-off downshifts and roarty throttle jabs — you'll swear it's a track-only special. But once you drive it, you'll soon realize that the Superleggera makes it as easy for a wanker to go quickly as it does for a trained professional. This is a refined, thoroughly modern supercar, and its performance is completely attainable.
Operators are standing by
The Gallardo Superleggera is available in four colors: black, gray, orange and yellow.
Don't get too excited about picking your color just yet, though. Lamborghini is proud of the fact that it will never build as many cars as it could sell. With only 350 Gallardo Superleggeras available this year, Lambo is already sold out, and it already has taken orders for 50 2008 models. If you want one, get on the list. Pronto.
Only some 110 examples of the 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera will be coming to the U.S. and Lamborghini is collecting a healthy $220,300 for each example. This is about a $38,000 premium over the base price of a standard Gallardo, some $246.75 for each pound saved in weight reduction. Still, it's probably less than that deadbeat girlfriend might have cost you in the long run.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
In Italian, "superleggera" means "super light," so it's an appropriate name for a car that's had its fat trimmed away. Lamborghini has been telling us for some time that it would get serious about high performance, so it has done the racetrack thing and made the Gallardo as light as possible.
Lamborghini claims the Gallardo Superleggera weighs in at 2,998 pounds when the fuel tank is dry. Of course, fill the gas tank and the lightweight Gallardo weighs nearly the same as a Ferrari F430 F1 .
Fat burner
So how do you cut the weight of a rotund coed from a tightly packaged supercar? With cubic megadollars, of course. And carbon fiber, lots of carbon fiber. The stuff is literally everywhere in the Gallardo Superleggera. From the door panels to the rocker panels, in fact.
Plus the Superleggera has carbon fiber in the rear air diffuser and the wing, as well as the engine cover (which also incorporates lightweight, transparent polycarbonate instead of glass). Hell, even the rearview mirrors and the cover for the center tunnel in the cockpit are made from carbon fiber.
There are also other light parts and some of them aren't even carbon fiber. Lighter front driveshafts and a lighter propeller shaft contribute to 17 percent of the total weight savings. The muffler is lighter and the forged wheels save some weight as well. As for the Gallardo's optional $15,600 carbon-ceramic brakes, well, they have always been light.
Add (a little) power
The lightweight version of any supercar worth its salt should also get a boost in power, and so the Superleggera does. But Lamborghini found very few knobs to twist on the Gallardo's 40-valve, DOHC 5.0-liter V10. More efficient intake and exhaust plumbing plus an aggressive engine calibration add up to 10 more horses for the Gallardo's 513-horsepower stable. We've previously reported the Gallardo's power to be 520 hp, but we should have said it is rated at 520 PS, which converts to 513 hp these days. Either way, the Superleggera's 523 hp is a lot of snort for any bull.
Lamborghini's six-speed, sequential-shift automated manual transmission with its shift paddles on the steering column is standard equipment for the Superleggera, and the six-speed manual is a no-cost option. Lamborghini's all-wheel-drive system with its viscous-type center differential is retained by the Superleggera, and the torque split is 30 percent front/70 percent rear.
Lamborghini claims the combination of more power and less weight trims 0.2 second from the Gallardo's sprint to 62 mph (100 kph), reducing it to 3.8 seconds. With each horsepower yanking around a paltry 5.6 pounds and the advantage of an efficient all-wheel-drive launch at the starting line, this seems like a completely believable number to us. Top speed remains the same at 195 mph.
More exotic inside
The largest portion of weight loss comes from the cockpit.
You see it right away in the door panels. Several yards of suede replace the leather upholstery on many surfaces, including the dash and steering wheel. Meanwhile, a satellite navigation system is optional and Superleggeras without it are fitted with a carbon-fiber plate to block off the hole in the dash. A rearview camera is still available for parking assistance.
Carbon fiber surrounds the gauges, whose instrument faces have revised fonts. Any surface that's meant to be touched (and most that aren't) is in some way treated in exotic materials.
On the track
We drove the new Gallardo on the road course at Phoenix International Raceway, which incorporates part of the 1.0-mile, D-shape oval. Lamborghini's test protocol involved leading us around the track at about 60 percent of the car's capability. This, they hoped, would keep the Gallardo's body panels intact even while in the care of those known for catastrophically attempting to disobey the laws of physics. As far as Lamborghini is concerned, this strategy proved effective, but it kept us from discovering the full extent of the Superleggera's capabilities.
So here's what we know based on the 60 percent experience. First, the Gallardo is loud. Much louder, in fact, than the Murciélago V12. We'll remind you that the Gallardo V10 makes a howl at 8,000 rpm like God's own automotive symphony. Thanks to the e-gear automated gearbox, downshifts are banged out with divine staccato precision.
The Superleggera has a ton of cornering grip thanks to sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires — 235/30ZR19 in the front and wide 295/30ZR19 in the rear. Because of the weight reduction, the springs are fractionally softer and the damping rates less aggressive.
Just like the conventional Gallardo, the Superleggera corners very flat (even compared to other supercars), yet it doesn't encourage midcorner adjustments. Pick your cornering line early, be smooth and the Superleggera will hold its line with relentless determination. But jump on the throttle too aggressively in a tight corner and you'll feel the car break away with plenty of understeer, a reminder that this is an all-wheel driver.
Meanwhile, the Superleggera's carbon-ceramic brakes bite with shocking effectiveness in the first inch or so of pedal travel, and this means they are often quite graceless at first. But once we sensitized to the pedal action, these brakes inspired wonderful confidence. There was noticeable fade after repeated hard laps, but the difference was never enough to slow our progress.
Textbook speed
The Superleggera might advertise itself as a lightweight, but don't plan on throwing it around like a rally car. Drive with textbook technique — brake in a straight line, then pick up the throttle at the apex. If you do, the Superleggera rewards you with textbook dynamics on a supercar level. Get ugly, however, and start dancing on the brakes midcorner or cowboying the throttle like former rally driver Colin McRae, and the Gallardo simply won't hustle. It's powerful and hooked up to the pavement, and it's not meant for sliding from apex to apex.
If the Superleggera lacks anything, it's passion. You know, the hard edge all supercars are supposed to have. All-wheel drive robs it of some of the racecar rawness promised by its carbon-fiber trim, while the R-compound rubber pushes the handling limits so far off the charts that you'll never, ever be tempted to slide it.
When you hear the Gallardo Superleggera coming from a block away — all pissed-off downshifts and roarty throttle jabs — you'll swear it's a track-only special. But once you drive it, you'll soon realize that the Superleggera makes it as easy for a wanker to go quickly as it does for a trained professional. This is a refined, thoroughly modern supercar, and its performance is completely attainable.
Operators are standing by
The Gallardo Superleggera is available in four colors: black, gray, orange and yellow.
Don't get too excited about picking your color just yet, though. Lamborghini is proud of the fact that it will never build as many cars as it could sell. With only 350 Gallardo Superleggeras available this year, Lambo is already sold out, and it already has taken orders for 50 2008 models. If you want one, get on the list. Pronto.
Only some 110 examples of the 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera will be coming to the U.S. and Lamborghini is collecting a healthy $220,300 for each example. This is about a $38,000 premium over the base price of a standard Gallardo, some $246.75 for each pound saved in weight reduction. Still, it's probably less than that deadbeat girlfriend might have cost you in the long run.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
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