Sant'Agata's smallest raging bull is about to get a lot more angry. Lamborghini will unveil this lightweight version of the Gallardo at the Geneva motor show. Dubbed Superleggera, the supercar has been stripped of 100kg of ballast and charged with another 10bhp of thrust, and Lamborghini claims that it's a full four tenths of a second quicker to 62mph as a result.Lamborghini has found more revs from its 90 degree V10 engine; the 522bhp power peak arriving at 8000rpm (up from 7800), and the 376lb ft of torque arriving at 4250rpm instead of 4500.Lamborghini claims the car now hits 62mph in just 3.8 seconds, while retaining the 196mph top speed. In-gear acceleration promises to be even mightier, too.The real key to the Superleggera's increased performance is the success of Lamborghini’s ruthless diet regime, and its retention of all-wheel drive. The Superleggera has gone carbon crazy. While the standard 2006 Gallardo’s 1430kg dry weight is hardly portly, the new car is pared-down, swathed in acres of carbon where once there was metal, and tips the scales at just 1330kg. Losing the car's all-wheel-drive mechanicals would have shaved even more off the kerbweight, but Lambo insiders maintain that the Gallardo’s grippy, user-friendly nature was a core feature which had to stay.Some key cabin trimmings are gone, including electric seats, the entertainment and sat-nav unit, and even the doorskins and armrests. The inner door panels are now exclusively carbonfibre, as are the door mirrors, the bonnet cover, the extended side sills and the massive fixed rear wing. There’s also a massive rear diffuser, though this is made from more pliable, easier-to-mould plastic.Lightweight racing seats replace the standard units, along with four-point harnesses, a fire extinguisher and even a metal cross brace behind the seats, complete with roll hoops.The all-new alloy wheels are clad in Pirelli’s latest 19in Pirelli P-Zero Corsa rubber, surrounding new, lighter, carbon-ceramic brake discs.The Gallardo Superleggera will be priced at a 20 per cent premium over the standard '06 Gallardo, which means it should come in at £145,000, and the first UK deliveries will be this summer. Its closest rival is likely to be the as-yet-unconfirmed Ferrari F430 'Challenge Stradale', but if form is anything to go by, that car won't turn up until much closer to the end of the V8 Ferrari's lifecycle.
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