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A Lamborghini with attitude-no news there! No. I mean
BAD attitude-like at the edge of rage. The Superleggera
shares the Gallardo's odd V-10 warble in its everyday traffic
mode, but as it is allowed past 5000 revs, it gets angry (very
angry!) inside and out. As the valve timing reaches nearcontact
overlap and the exhaust pressure finds the now wellestablished
route around the baffles, it makes you want to
pay attention. It also tempts you to pay something painfully
close to a quarter of a million U.S. dollars for the pleasure
of that entertainment. Worth it? Got it?
Once the net worth is established, this is clearly the
Lamborghini of fast sports cars. The driveway exit to 62
mph blasts by in a blistering 3.8 seconds and. if you live on
a long block, the Superleggera will top out at 196 before the
need to apply the massive carbon brakes occurs, as you nip
into the market for the family breakfast doughnuts. The
front-to-back Pirelli PZero Corsas of 235/35R19 and
295/30R19 have their work cut out for them in all three
dimensions of g loading.
When thrown into a canyon with all its anger on display,
the Superleggera gives just a hint of understeer, pushed by
the enormous force of grip at the rear. Then, perceptibly, the
front drive and the rear electronic talentenhancer
engage in partnership and drag the
nose to the direction of the steering input. All
this happens time and time again, seamlessly
choreographed to maintain maximum speed
at the limit. Holy cow! And the noise….
The 5.0-liter V-10 produces 107 horsepower
per liter at 8000 unstressed revs. This
engine winds as happily as the best Asian
motorcycles. At fast, freeway-traffic speeds
you can be forgiven for forgetting you came
off the ramp in third gear-it is still there. At
4-, 5- or 6,000 revs it gives nary a complaint.
There is no stress in the engine sound thanks
to Lamborghini's own L.I.E. management
system and its static, individual ignition delivery.
The sound is mean, but the mechanical
delivery is silky.
That was the second most-astonishing discovery
in the Superleggera. The first, of course,
was the explosive acceleration and brilliant
gear changes-up and down. So entertaining is
the six-speed "robotized sequential E-gear system,"
engaged by perfectly placed paddles, the
temptation to look for-or make up-excuses
to use them was overwhelming. The largeeared
paddles are fixed to the steering column
so no matter where the wheel is they are
always in the same place.
My one complaint is with the numbering of
the instruments. All the instrument graphics use
a color with a black outline on a white background.
In daylight, they are almost impossible
to read. The black edges are wide enough to
connect between the numbers and letters, and
the result is a blurred presentation. At night,
however, the outline disappears when the
graphics are alight, making the numbers read
perfectly. Lamborghini needs a new solution to
augment the colored numbers when the white
background is visible.
The selective damping and suspension settings
are another introduction of excellence for
Lamborghini. Sophistication was never a word
easily found in descriptions of chassis function
for the raging bull marque. Now, with this car,
the Sport setting should be worth a couple of
tenths on the track, as well as keeping it stable
at its upper limits of top speed. Still, the standard
suspension setting is more than adequate
for virtually everything else and verges on luxurious
control.
All this happens while the civilized sport seats, designed
for easy climbing in and out, offer excellent location during
direction changes at 1-g rates, along with reasonable comfort
on the long road home. The very Lamborghini-esque
paint-color dot graphics look retro-mod cool, extending
right down to the floor mat, then disappearing up under the
dash. The upholstery stitches match, too. The ergonomic
dimensions are a set of the best. There is elbowroom all
around and the center console is low enough that it offers no
interference when the going gets busy. The toggle set is
another retro-mod entertainment of note.
Most of the rest of the interior panels are carbon fiber.
Not look-alike appliqués, but the superbly surfaced, genuine
article. Just so you are clear on this, if it all goes wrong, you
will have one heck of a bruise from the ultra-light inside
door panel-and if it fails (highly unlikely as this is), it will
take a while to extract the bits from your lacerations. The
Superleggera is an all-day play station, but the center-stack
settings need to be accomplished before getting underway to
prevent unnecessary (and unwanted) distractions. In short,
do try to keep your new, quarter-million dollar coupé off the
hard bits alongside the road.
For more on this article and much more grab a copy of Auto Aficionado Magazine on newsstands nationwide!
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