There are many cars worth be seen and feel, but few of them deserves the status of legend. Lamborghini is one of them.
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At the New York Auto Show 2008 two young ladies lifted a black curtain that covered white painted Lamborghini. That brand doesn't need fireworks, light show and dance company to be presented to public. Simple uncovering still causes your heart to skip a beat.
The new Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 has hard task to replace the most successful Lamborghini model, and when my heart started to beat again, it thought that it is not mission impossible. Since the birth of Gallardo, more than 7000 models left the production to find a home in different parts of the world.
The name speaks a lot for itself. LP means Longitudinale Posteriore, longitudinally mid-mounted engine, 560 is 560 horsepower, and number 4 stands for four-wheel-drive all the time. The new Gallardo has new 5.2 litre V10 engine that delivers 412 kW (560 horsepower) at 8000 rpm, which is 40 hp more than its older brother. That increase in power is worth even more because the new model has 20 kilograms less.
To put it in perspective, the new Gallardo goes from 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds, 200 km/h will reach at 11.8 seconds, and it won't stop until it reaches 325 km/h. To contribute to ecology, engineers made the new engine cleaner - the emission of carbon dioxide is 18 percent lower.
To control all the pretty horses the traction, stability and handling at high speeds are improved. Four-wheel drive is always a pleasure to drive but virtually no one can be compared with Gallardo that is a friend of a racing track just as Formula 1 is. To be stabile at high speed one need excellent aerodynamic efficiency and in Gallardo's case it really is excellent.
It reminds me of Stealth plane with clear, strong-cut lines, yet brutally elegant. People at Centro Stile obviously paid the utmost attention to every detail to the extent that's scary. When you see the new Gallardo LP560-4 you don't want to sit in immediately, you want to stand and watch it for some time, and that time may be loooong. The front is newly designed, the new headlights have the Bi-Xenon lamps, cooling intakes are larger, the rear is new, too...
Contrary to what a poor man may think, the new Gallardo has a spacious interior. The design inside is impressive and emphasizes the motto "power with elegance". The sport seat are in fine leather or Alcantara (always my choice), those seats are positioned very low, and behind them there's room for luggage. No to be forgotten, there is 110 litre trunk at the front. The middle console is wide, strong and of good ergonomics. Two large instruments dominate, and all commands are in their proper places. The interior look expensive (at best meaning of that word), very reliable and powerful, with design that depicts the nature of Gallardo.
I'll stop here although I could write a book about Gallardo. The new LP560-4 is one of few cars that makes a life worth livings. And frankly, I don't care about oil prices. The new Gallardo deserves to be on the road all the time. With me in it :-) ■
A low pressure wave forming along a cold front will track across the New England coast this morning, bringing a period of rain, heavy at times for much of New England, especially for Maine today.