Thursday 18th November 2010

Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder Goes Hardcore

LP 570-4 Performante revealed at LA motor show

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If you like the idea of the latest Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, but find that it's just that little bit too, er, roofy, then Lamborghini has come up with the perfect car for you at the LA motor show.

It's called the Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante and it is, in essence, a roofless version of the Superleggera coupe.

Like the Superleggera, the Performante has been on a diet, with a variety of carbon-fibre bits - including the bootlid/engine cover, rear diffuser, spoiler, seats and a selection of under-body components - helping to cut the Spyder's kerb weight to 1485kg, a reduction of 65kg.

The engine and drivetrain is also near-as-dammit identical to the Superleggera's, with the "Iniezione Diretta Stratificata" engine (that's Italian for Audi-style stratified direct injection, don'tcher know...) developing 562bhp at a spine-tingling 8000rpm and a maximum of 398lb ft of torque at 6500rpm.

That poke is channelled via Lamborghini's six-speed e-gear sequential transmission and viscous-coupling four-wheel drive (which can put up to 70 per cent of power to the rear wheels) and is enough, claims Lamborghini, to propel the Performante to 62mph from rest in just 3.9secs and onto a top speed of 201mph.

That's actually only 0.1secs quicker to 62mph than Lamborghini claims for the 'standard' Spyder but, like the Superleggera, the Performante is undoubtedly going to be more about driver focus and sharper handling than outright speed.

As for price, well, Lamborghini isn't yet saying - but expect it to be at least as expensive as the £175k Superleggera coupe.

[GingerWizard]

Nice!

[Fergie87]

Awesome

[McAndy]

Automotive porn. Great work!

[mosc7pc2]

Great concise write up!

Absolutely stunning piece of engineering!

[Mr Cerbera]

Eye wood !

[PLamborghini]

Very nice! I would still have the SL over that though

[g3org3y]

Delete rear spoiler option for me.

[SWoll]

PLamborghini said:

Very nice! I would still have the SL over that though

SLS?

Very nice, but I can't help thinking think that the low weight, sharper responses ethos of the SuperLeggera is at odds with the dynamic sacrifices of it being a drop top.

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 18th November 09:05

[Gizmo!]

Yes please.

[spikeyplanet]

Stunning. I Must colour in faster!!

[hornetrider]

Perfect. Simply perfect.

Edit: bugger no it's not, E-gear. So... nearly perfect. What is needed is a Balboni Spyder.

Edited by hornetrider on Thursday 18th November 09:30

[10JH]

Gorgeous.

Similar theme to the Cayman R from yesterday. Both 10hp more, 55/65kg lost.

[hornetrider]

10JH said:

Gorgeous.

Similar theme to the Cayman R from yesterday. Both 10hp more, 55/65kg lost.

The Cayman loses most of it's weight by shedding aircon and a stereo - which most punters will add back in. On the strength of this article the Lambo does it by swapping heavier components for lots of carbon-fibery

[Beefmeister]

More pictures on Worldcarfans:

http://www.worldcarfans.com/110111729636/lamborghi...


Yum.

[McSam]

Mr Cerbera said:

Eye wood !

Very nice

[Dagnut]

SWoll said:

PLamborghini said:

Very nice! I would still have the SL over that though

SLS?

Very nice, but I can't help thinking think that the low weight, sharper responses ethos of the SuperLeggera is at odds with the dynamic sacrifices of it being a drop top.

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 18th November 09:05

The 430scud spider was very close in performance to the hardtop...

[Agent Orange]

PH said:

"Iniezione Diretta Stratificata"

I've gone weak at the knees

[hornetrider]

Agent Orange said:

PH said:

"Iniezione Diretta Stratificata"

I've gone weak at the knees

I can sort that out for you chap - just think of Ian Duncan Smith.

[SWoll]

Dagnut said:

SWoll said:

PLamborghini said:

Very nice! I would still have the SL over that though

SLS?

Very nice, but I can't help thinking think that the low weight, sharper responses ethos of the SuperLeggera is at odds with the dynamic sacrifices of it being a drop top.

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 18th November 09:05

The 430scud spider was very close in performance to the hardtop...

Not arguing about the performance, just the "ethos" behind the cars. The purpose of the Scuderia/SupeLeggera is supposedly to shed weight with the purpose of improving the dynamics of the car (braking, handling etc) whereas cutting the top off a car almost always has the opposite affect.

I can't imagine Porsche for example ever doing a convertible version of the GT3/GT3RS.

[10JH]

Just got pointed out to me, why is it not called the 'Superleggera Spyder'?