Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

Lust. That’s how we felt when we saw the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder at the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. Now, only a few weeks later, we’re in Key Largo, Fla., driving it. Yes, this could be the best Monday ever.

The roads in south Florida are flat and straight. So the Lambo folks arranged for us to test their latest raging bull on a road course at Homestead Miami Speedway. Still, we have to get there from our hotel. And we have to admit, there’s something kinda cool about driving in a convoy of Lambos through Key Largo.

At full tilt, Lamborghinis make a sound so deep, so haunting and so serious it turns the goose pimples on your forearms into golf balls. It’s pure machismo. The new Gallardo Spyder could be the best-sounding example yet. With the fabric top up or down (which takes just 20 seconds and the push of a button) the mechanicals sound so good, you tend to run it up to the fuel cutoff at 8000 rpm in First and Second gears every chance you get. And with three six-lap sessions, we get plenty of time behind the wheel. It’s a blast. The 520-hp 5.0-liter V10 pushes us deep in the seat, and the torque steps the rear of the car out slightly if you’re too aggressive. They say the Spyder catapults past 60 mph in only 4.2 sec., and triple digits come just a few seconds later. Our car is a European model and things are happening too quickly for us to convert kph to mph. But we did hit the top of Third gear routinely at Homestead.

Speaking of the transmission, we choose the six-speed manual transmission instead of the E-Gear paddle system. E-Gear shifts faster than you can, but unlike 70 percent of Lamborghini’s customers we like rowing gears ourselves and appreciate the manual transmission’s precise gates. Plus, nothing beats the feel of that big aluminum shifter ball. It’s badass. As you would expect, the Lamborghini is fast around the road course. The quick steering has good feedback. Our model has the coolest steering wheel in the world. It’s the optional suede and carbon fiber-trimmed unit. Trust us, all sports cars should have a steering wheel as beautiful and functional as this Lambo’s.

At dinner we learn a few interesting things about Lamborghini. First, there will be a rear-drive, lightweight version of the Gallardo that should show up here within two years. Also, according to Lamborghini’s president and CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, the Miura concept isn’t likely for production. And that’s too bad. We like it.

Our evening ends with a wonderful conversation with Valentino Balboni—a man who has worked at Lamborghini since the Miura was conceived and has been its chief test driver for some 37 years.

Like we said, it was a pretty good day.--Ben Stewart
Source: © popularmechanics.com