Jeremy Clarkson reviews the Lambo Gallardo LP560-4

Automobile connaisseur and acclaimed automotive journalist Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.

“[..] There’s a very good reason why the baby Lambo is always seen as a poor relation to Ferrari’s F430. It’s because the Ferrari is a better car. Drive them back-to-back around a racetrack and the difference is immediately obvious. The red car feels tight, sharp, pointy and modern. The orange car with the lime green seats, feels, in comparison, like a canal boat. It rolls more in the corners, pitches more under braking, is less immediate in the way it accelerates and less responsive through the steering.

However, here’s why I love the Lambo. To get the best out of a 430, you need to have testes like globes. Whereas a one-armed man with a twitch can go just as fast in a Gallardo while eating a sandwich and having a spasm attack.

And now he can go faster still because Lamborghini has upped the size of the V10 from 5 to 5.2 litres. That means you now get 552bhp, and that, coupled with a weight saving of 44lb, means you arrive everywhere in a cacophony of barking, wailing exhaust noises slightly before you set off. It is ridiculously quick. Mad quick. Eyes-on-stalks bonkers. Way, way faster than a standard Ferrari 430, massively louder, too, and because of the squidge-matic suspension and four-wheel-drive system, just as easy to drive as its predecessor.

Some have said in the past that the Gallardo’s sister car, the cheaper Audi R8, was very similar. Not any more it isn’t. It is David Miliband in the face of Russian aggression. [..]”

Technical specifications

ENGINE 5204cc, 10 cylinders
POWER 552bhp @ 8000rpm
TORQUE 398 lb ft @ 6500rpm
TRANSMISSION Six-speed semi-auto
FUEL/CO2 20.6mpg / 327g/km
ACCELERATION 0-62mph: 3.7sec
TOP SPEED 202mph
PRICE £143,350
ROAD TAX BAND G (£400 a year)
RELEASE DATE Out now

(Source: Times Online)