The Gallardo Superleggera is a car that's been on my list of car's to drive since the day it was officially announced. I only got around to driving the car a few day's ago but it was well worth the wait. The car that I drove was painted in beautiful Telesto Gray, which makes the Gallardo look more like a fighter jet. This is the car that the Ferrari F430 F1 should have driven like, an eye opening experience.
Open the door and the first thing you notice is how incredibly light it feels. The alcantara upholstered seats and carbon fiber trim on the doors and trans tunnel create a nice ambience. The seats are amongst the best that i've had the pleasure to sit in. The whole interior exudes a sense of quality.
Turn the car on and you're welcomed with a nice load roar...how fitting for a supercar. Once underway I noticed the ride was plenty firm but not harsh any manner...typical for supercar's these day's. Turn-in seemed to be pretty good but not as good as the GT3 but certainly better judged than the F430. Steering weight is absolutely spot on, making driving in the city a doddle. The steering, however, could do with some more feedback and feel. Press the brakes and there's a nice linear feel and car slows down quickly but then all of a sudden the car comes to a violent hault...I forgot all about the infamous on-off feel of the Lambo carbon ceramic brakes. This unusual brake setup has been criticized in the automotive press for a good reason. It takes a little while to get used to and certainly catches you by surprise the first time. Once you adjust to the brake feel it's not really all that bad. You just have to make sure that you never crossover to the emergency stop part of the brake travel. Enough with the brakes.
The sound this thing makes is just pure and utter bliss! I have never driven a car that sounded better than this thing, the sound is pure racecar. The GT3 RS sounds incredible but it wilts against the Superleggera, the F430 doesn't even register on the scale. I find myself downshifting with the paddles just to hear the sound over and over again and it doesn't get old, however I do feel bad for the pedestrians as it tends to scare the crap out of them and there is a sense of feel that i'm doing something wrong :D. Nevermind that, I find a nice straightaway and finally put the gas pedal down to the stop, the car rockets forward with the most glorious wail that i've heard from a car. I pull back on the right paddle to upshift near the redline and it's just the most incredible feeling. I never thought a car equipped with paddle shifters would get under my skin but that's exactly what the Superleggera did. I wish I could drive this car on the racetrack and unleash it's full potential. As the car slowed down I noticed that you can hear and feel everything the engine and the trans are doing, an amazing experience that is essential in a supercar.
The handling is pretty incredible around turns, the car just seems to hunker down and follow the line very closely. The car has a neutral balance but I think it will tend to oversteer a bit at the limit. The awd system in the Superleggera makes the car seem very surefooted and lends a sense of security around fast corners. However, the Superleggera is a true supercar and the driver cannot solely rely on the awd system to keep the car on the road.
The sequential transmission is extemely fast during upshifts and the blipped downshifts are to die for. Around town the system seems much better developed than the one in the Ferrari F430. There are no awkward jolts and the trans feels very docile at low speeds. The car seems to be very liveable on a daily basis but the loud exhaust would create too much unwanted attention. Overall, the Superleggera lived up to all of the hype and made the Ferrari F430 feel even more unspectacular. The whole experience was quite enveloping and was in many ways similar to the pure feel of the GT3 RS.
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