While the world wrings
its hands over CO2 emissions, fuel economy and the downward spiral of the
American auto industry, it’s good to be able to toss all that over your shoulder
and slide into the cocoonlike cockpit of the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.
A
beautifully absurd piece of machinery, the Superleggera reminds you that it will
be a chilly day in Hell before the Italians (and the Germans egging them on) let
global warming take the heat off their amazingly nimble, rocketlike
Gallardo.
The
Superleggera, the lightweight version of the Gallardo, redefines the word
swagger. It’s as visceral a car as you’re likely to experience, from its
thundering V-10, to its laser-sharp handling all the way through to an exhaust
rumble that snorts and rips through its six gears with rodeo reality.
It’s all
raging bull—and no bullshit.
What makes
a leggera so super?
Scottsdale’s balmy
97-degree spring days and plastic streets are no place to test out the
Superleggera’s enormous dynamic envelope. In fact the only thing being tested is
our nerves—gawkers realized early in the day that a pack of Gallardos were
wandering the streets, and the single-file parade across town to Phoenix
International Raceway must have, from the plan view, resemble a rolling Matchbox
convention.
Even so,
the differences that pare weight from the stock Gallardo are noticeable, right
from the Alcantara-covered steering wheel. After its weight-loss program, the
Superleggera tips the scales, Lamborghini says, at 2998 pounds—about 154 pounds
less than the un-optioned U.S.-market car. The rest of the world gets a
Superleggera that weighs 66 pounds less, mostly because the American-spec
machine keeps its leather seats with side airbags, while the Saudis and Germans
and Chinese get Sparco carbon-fiber chairs that weigh
less.