Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4: New car road test

The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 scored 5 out of 5 stars in this road test.

So what's the fuss all about? Oh my God, where do I start?

I'm trying to think of another word for brutal but there is no other way to describe the acceleration of this car. Nought to 100 in 3.7 seconds (down from 4.0 for the original). Count it out loud. Now you're doing 100kmh.

That's because the engine has more power (up from 390kW to 412kW and yet it is 18 per cent more fuel efficient than before) and the body has less weight (it has trimmed 20kg to an even 1500kg on the scales). In the car world this is what's known as good maths.

A friend brave enough to sit in the passenger seat described it best: it's too fast for your brain. It's like the 30x fast-forward on your Foxtel IQ. All I know is that by the time I grabbed second gear I was already on the brakes.

The sound is phenomenal and there are two choices of exhaust note, which change at the press of a button: I call them "calm" and "angry". Calm is quiet enough not to wake the neighbours when getting the car out of the garage for an early Sunday morning drive. Angry is the switch you press when driving through tunnels.

Lamborghini has in effect added three more personalities to the car as well, by allowing drivers to choose just how much they want to be thrown around the cabin.

Comfort mode brings smoother gear changes and gentle throttle application, Sport mode sharpens gear-shift response and Track mode turns it into a race car.