Published:
19 April 2012At the heart of the Gallardo is a V10 engine that thumps out 552bhp and 398lb ft of torque, but the other key factor is its relative lack of weight. At 1410kg (or 1580kg in test trim measured on our scales) this car is impressively light for a 4WD supercar. When you then align this with the new V10 engine’s delicious soundtrack, the 560 really does have all the ingredients with which to blow your mind. Against our clock it did 60mph in 3.7sec, almost exactly as Lamborghini says it should, and then 100mph in 7.7sec, and 150mph in a very serious 17.3sec.
One contributing factor to its speed is its new gearbox. The shifts themselves may not be the smoothest, because Lamborghini has tuned the software to deliver a deliberate thump on the way up, a quality that we find less than desirable. But you can’t argue with the actual speed of the shifts or the strength of the acceleration at full chat. The engine tears towards its rev limiter in first and you then need to be on high alert not to run it against that limiter by mistake.
We tried the Gallardo with optional carbon-ceramic brakes, and although these work well once warmed, they do feel a bit dead on the road.
The best bit of all about the LP560-4 Spyder is that you can now listen to that 5.2-litre V10 with the hood down. Somehow, being able to hear it so much more clearly actually intensifies the thrill. The raw numbers say the Spyder is fractionally slower than the coupé at 4.0sec to 62mph and 201mph flat out, and that’s purely because it weighs a wee bit more.
