Performante: Lamborghini Unveils Lightweight Gallardo Spyder

Exotic-car maker Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. has a history of designing super sports cars and then updating them every so often with bigger engines and other modifications. The practice has led to numerous versions of each model with successions of labels like S, SV, Superleggera and even anniversary editions.

Now the Italian unit of German auto giant Volkswagen AG is continuing the tradition with the Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante. It unveiled the new car at a private event in West Hollywood, Calif., just as this week’s Los Angeles auto show began to wind down. Car Makers often hold such premiers away from the auto-show crowds so they can entertain established and potential customers.

The latest Gallardo is essentially a rag-top version of the Superleggera coupe that trumped the standard model’s performance with light carbon-fiber body parts and more power. Lamborghini has been using lots of carbon lately not only to save weight, but to make its cars stiff — a trait that leads to sharper handling. Since a roadster’s lack of a roof compromises stiffness, the use of carbon has the potential to give open-top cars rigidity similar to that of hardtop models.

“The LP 570-4 Spyder Performante represents the next evolution in the Gallardo model range and is the most extreme open-top vehicle in its class,” said Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini’s president and CEO.

The company says carbon fiber parts helped cut the Spyder Performante’s weight by 143 pounds compared with its predecessor, the Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder. The new model’s 5.2-liter V10 engine generates 570 horsepower — 10 more than the previous roadster — and helps the Performante sprint from 0-62 mph (100 kilometers per hour) in 3.9 seconds. Its top speed is 201 mph, Lamborghini says.