The newest Lamborghini “super light” takes off like a Soyuz rocket, turns crisply and without reticence, and enjoys being tossed around a racetrack like Goldman Sachs enjoys collateralized debt obligations. That last attribute carries particular weight—pardon the pun—because, in a perfect world, the Lamborghini 570-4 Superleggera would be driven absolutely nowhere else but on racers’ tarmac.

The LP 570-4 succeeds the LP 560-4 Superleggera, a slimmed-down, hard-edged construct of the Gallardo that arrived in 2008. Sales ended after a limited run of 172 cars, making way for a successor that is even lighter and lays down even more power from the Gallardo’s 5.2-liter direct-injection V10, the motive long-stroker of choice for all Gals built since 2007. The LP 570-4 boasts a software-induced power bump—562 total horses in U.S. horsepower spec, or 570 in the metric Italian cavalli—to make the added lightness pop.

The Superleggera’s 154-pound savings over the standard LP 560-4 Gallardo works out to just over 3,200 pounds at the curb, similar to a Volkswagen GTI. Of the savings, 80 pounds come from a liberal dappling of carbon fiber inside and out, including the undertrays, rear diffuser and optional “big wing” affixed at the rear, which, at V-max, adds downforce at the equivalent poundage of one average-size supermodel. A new set of forged wheels shaves 28.6 pounds of unsprung weight and rotational mass, giving the LP 570-4 a lighter step. Other tricks for incremental weight loss include polycarbonate plastic for the rear side windows, a clear engine cover and Alcantara seat covers instead of leather.

The suspension setup—which company reps say achieves 20 percent more damping and antiroll effect than the standard model and takes its influence from Lamborghini’s single-make Super Trofeo series racecars—is composed of aluminum double wishbones, shocks as rigid as shotgun barrels, stiffer front and rear antiroll bars and reinforced mounts. It’s all tuned for a highly connected drive on smooth tarmac, which means that on municipal-grade asphalt, such a kit would likely play some kind of pachinko game on your insides.
Nevertheless, if the Superleggera’s on-track comportment is any indication, supporting customer racing has been worth the investment. Most striking in the LP 570-4’s demeanor is the remarkably small window of time between settling into the grippy, Alcantara-covered seats (lightened with carbon-fiber shells, naturally) and embarking on a dainty exploration lap, and then getting comfortable enough to fling the car around like an angry, lumbering goon. Red mist, cleanup on aisle five.

Even while booming extra hot into curves, clobbering the (optional) carbon-ceramic brakes, trail-braking clubfootedly, tossing the entire apparatus arrogantly toward apexes—right foot pinned, rev limiter popping, tail out and clipping the kerbing—the LP 570-4 keeps to the program: rotate, release, bite, go! It feels amazingly light and alert, with a breathtaking amount of pull during track-out, a trait that remains the most intoxicating part of the Gallardo experience.

Most Superleggeras will come equipped with Lamborghini’s E-gear automated manual, which is basically a Graziano GT-ME1 six-speed transaxle with a robotically actuated selector. That gearbox takes its inputs from a pair of small, awkwardly placed paddles that splay dog-leggedly out of the steering column. Their small strike zone requires too much finger searching among the stalks while in opposite lock. Many an onlooker will catch a glimpse of one of these Lambos screaming to 8,500 rpm out of a second-gear right-hander into a 160 mph straightaway, wipers vainly lashing at a bone-dry windshield.

But E-gear shifts up and down quickly, precisely and with a satisfying “thunk.” (A six-speed manual is a no-charge option.) The most-sporting Corsa mode allows for faster shifts and more tail-out leniency from the ESP. No surprise there.

A lot’s happened since the first Gallardo debuted in 2003. But thanks to a concerted effort of institutional tweaking, with every new model, the platform becomes a more vibrant drive—in this case, it’s one that best finds its legs on a road course. -MIKE SPINELLI-

Price $237,600
power 562hp, 398 lb.-ft.
engine 5.2L naturally aspirated V10
drivetrain All-wheel drive,
6-speed automated manual
0-60 3.4 seconds
top speed 202 mph
curb weight 3,240 lbs.
power to weight 5.53 lbs./hp