Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera: Bad to the Bone

Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera: Bad to the Bone
Price: $225,000. Add $15,600 for optional carbon-ceramic brakes

Some of us can remember when men (and it was always men) who were the age we are now would have to buy two sports cars – the second one after totaling the first. Driving a high performance automobile isn’t nearly as hard as it used to be, but the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera still demands that “old school” respect.

The all-wheel drive Superleggera (“super light”), which I drove at Supercar Life, substitutes carbon fiber for steel to trim 150 pounds from the “standard” Gallardo. The SL sports a 5.0 liter V10 engine with 520 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque, does zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, and has an electronically limited top speed of 196 mph. A racetrack is the only safe and satisfying place to play hard with the Lambo, and in the hands of a professional it’s a true work of art – precise, gyroscopically stable, and blisteringly fast. But when driven by an amateur, even one who drives a lot of fast cars, the Superleggera can be difficult. If it had a soul (and who’s to say it doesn’t?) one might even ascribe to this Gallardo a certain petulance in the presence of a neophyte.

Squeeze in, and the elegant cabin fits just right. Everything is focused on speed. And like all modern supercars, the Superleggera boasts enough software to fly a Tomcat – or at least to keep your rubber side down and your pride intact. Lamborghini’s e-gear transmission has a clunky automatic mode, but at speed you’ll want nothing less than the spectacular paddle shift manual mode.

I drove the Lamborghini as fast as I could handle it (about 130 mph), and felt it champing at the bit to do more. Squealing through S-curves at 80 to 90 mph, the Superleggera was sober and business-like when I was on my game, but wanton and capricious when I wasn’t. Get a little distracted or tired or flustered or scared in this car, and things will start to go sideways even with the sophisticated drive systems. The Lamborghini demands your attention, and you’d better pay it.

For the highly skilled enthusiast who likes a car that bites back, the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera might just be perfect. It’s beautiful, rare, and uniquely rewarding.