Lamborghini LP570-4 Superleggera review

What is it?Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera. The extra weight from the unnecessarily verbose badge probably offsets some of the savings wrought through the extensive use of carbonfibre.

But seriously - this is the already hard-as-tungsten LP560, lightened to the tune of 80kg and with another 10bhp, courtesy of a new engine map to take full advantage of high-octane fuel. The power to weight ratio rises from 384 to 399bhp per tonne. That beats the Ferrari 458.

Technical highlightsThere’s probably more going on with the chassis than the powertrain. Those dainty rims are actually forged and save 18kg in unsprung mass. The car has been completely re-bushed and runs different spring and damper rates to the standard LP and the 2WD Balboni.

The transmission is identical - eGear paddles is the norm, but you can have a manual if you wish. The rear screen and quarter-lights are plastic, the other glass is thinner; the sill extensions, boot-lid and seat shells are all carbon. Oddly, it’s the fixed-back seats that save the most weight.What’s it like to drive?Fast, loud, analogue and very rewarding. Lambo claims 0-124mph in 10.2sec, which is quicker than the 458, and it feels capable of meeting the claim. The trouble is that, unlike the 430 Scuderia and the latest Porsche GT3 RS, the Superleggera doesn’t feel like a huge leap over the standard machine on which it is based. This is an LP-plus-seven-percent. The chassis is sharper, it does change direction better and the motor is supreme, but the standard car is so good, you’ll need to be an addict to pay the extra (we’re being told £175,000)

Click to see Chris review the LP570-4 on video. SidewaysWe didn’t drive it on a track, but given it runs an all-new P-Zero Corsa compound and has far more aero thanks to that massive rear diffuser, you’d have to say that the Superleggera will need a circuit to show what it can really do. The answer, I suspect, is quite a lot.Strangely, it was the supposedly standard gearbox that most impressed me. It was docile and smooth at low speed and amazingly sharp on full-bore upshifts. How does it compare?To what? A Porsche 997 GT3 RS is £104,000, so it’s way cheaper and lacking over 100bhp. The £175,00 Ferrari 458 Italia is a completely different type of car, a genuine all-rounder that beats the Lambo as a road machine but is nothing like as emotive. Perhaps the closest car in terms of performance, intent and price is the £200,000 Noble M600. The Lambo may be very quick, but the Brit is in an altogether different league.

Anything else I need to know?Not really. The optional ceramic brakes are less grabby than before and the green press cars look like poisonous frogs. It’s a special machine, but one that really serves to remind us just how capable the standard LP 560 already is.

Click to see Chris review the LP570-4 on video. Sideways

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Specifications