The Lamborghini Gallardo is right up there with the current crop of super-cars. However some people complain that being four-wheel drive the Gallardo is a bit on the tame side, and to answer those critics Lamborghini have responded with the special edition Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, named after Lamborghini's legendary test driver. The basic principle behind this new LP550-2 is that less is more. The car shares the same 5.2 liter V10 engine at its heart producing 550bhp, which sounds like plenty of power but is in fact 10bhp less than a standard Gallardo delivers. The other clue is in the cars name, the 2 signifying the fact that this model is only two-wheel drive.
The result is that this car feels more like a proper Lamborghini of the old school which in theory means it should be even more fun to drive than the standard model. Because the front wheels now don't have to think about anything else apart from changing direction means the steering feels more responsive and has a bit more feed back than in the normal four-wheel drive Gallardo. Despite the wilder and more responsive feedback, the acceleration and top speed do suffer from the changes with the 0-60 time coming in at 3.9 seconds, 0.2 seconds slower than a standard Gallardo and a top speed of 199mph as opposed to 202mph.
But thoses statistics don't really matter - the LP550-2 has been designed outright as a drivers car and it is the feel of the car around a track which has taken priority, not the split second differences of a drag race. Being a drivers car means this model is certainly less forgiving than the standard edition and needs to be treated with a lot more respect. Even with the traction control and other safety features turned on, it is not difficult to imagine quite a few of these cars finding their way into ditches at the hands of a less experienced driver.
Not that there will be many LP550-2's on the road in the first place - this special editions production run is limited to two hundred and fifty and a price tag of around $220,000 ensures that as well as being one of the best handling contemporary sports cars around, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 will remain as exclusive as it is satisfying to drive.
