Australian Car Advice | News Blog

Read more…

As the brand’s largest global market, the Los Angeles Auto Show was specifically chosen as the location for the supercar’s worldwide debut, with Southern California contributing to approximately 30 percent of all Lamborghini sales in the United States.

“The LP 560-4 is the best example of the Gallardo to date and will be a great contribution to Lamborghini’s future success,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. “The entirely new LP 560-4 Spyder adds another dimension to the Gallardo’s lineage with extreme design language and class-leading performance.”

The Spyder boasts the same 5.2-litre V10 engine as its hardtop sibling which develops 412kW and 540Nm at 6500rpm.

Performance has been slightly compromised, covering naught to 100km/h in ‘about’ 4 seconds - compared to the coupe’s 3.7 seconds, and a slightly slower top speed of 323km/h.

The Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder is now available to order from dealers worldwide, with customer deliveries commencing Spring 2009.

Hide It

Read more…

The series will debut in May 2009 comprising a grid of 30 lightweight versions of the Gallardo LP 560-4 super sports car.

“Both on-track and off, our championship will reflect the Lamborghini brand, with extreme, high performance racing and stylish and luxurious trackside facilities. This gives our Lamborghini clients, as well as professional and gentleman racing drivers looking for a new challenge, the opportunity to experience Lamborghini in the ultimate driving environment.”

The Super Trofeo edition LP 560-4 racers boast a reworked chassis with double wishbone suspension all round, a specialist racing brake system and Pirelli slick racing tyres.

Carbon-fibre composite body components such as the fixed rear wing combine with an ultra-light racing seat, racing steering wheel and specialized instruments for a total weight of just 1,300kg.

A race-spec version of its 5.2-litre V10 engine develops 419kW through its e.gear six-speed robotized gear box to the permanent all-wheel drive with viscous traction, making the Super Trofeo the only one-make, all-wheel drive motorsport series in the world.

The cars will be made available to individual professionals as well as Lamborghini dealer teams, while one car will be reserved for celebrity guest drivers at the start of each round.

Potential competitors are offered the Super Trofeo car and parts package from around AUD$410,000 through Lamborghini dealerships and includes support and parts trackside.

Hide It

Read more…

My bet is though, that Lambo boss, Stephan Winkleman has already given a green light to the Estoque and we can’t wait for it to go into production in Sant’Agata.

Make no mistake, the Estoque is a sports car in true Lamborghini style and DNA: “extreme, uncompromising and unmistakably Italian”

Four seats and ample luggage space, this four door Lamborghini is billed as an “everyday Sports car”.

You’ll have to agree, it’s a superb looking car. Long wheelbase, low profile and a feast of Lamborghini accents, none more obvious than the 23-inch rear wheels.

It’s the first time in the company’s history that they have built a sedan and its fair to say that some diehard supporters of the brand may not like the idea of Lamborghini and four doors in the same sentence. Boo-hoo to them.

Lamborghini haven’t specified a driveline for the Estoque but there are a number of tantalising possibilities. The V-10 from the Gallardo LP 560-4 would be hard to go past, given its significant torque output and permanent all-wheel drive.

There’s is also talk of a turbocharged V8 derived form the Gallardo but even more interesting, is the idea of a V8 hybrid or super high performance turbo diesel. Whatever they choose, you can guarantee it won’t be underpowered.

The design accents are all Lamborghini from the Y-shape LED rear light clusters and hexagonal fuel caps on both sides of the car.

You’ll also notice the the small Italian flag on the front wings. We love that Italian heritage stuff.

Lamborghini are talking about comfort for four people over long distances, so you can assume that there will be plenty of legroom and space with four individual seats, which will be electrically adjustable.

High-end Nappa leather is the upholstery of choice and a large LCD screen will control vehicle and route information. A top shelf audio unit and rear seat entertainment system will be included in the package.

The new category of super sports sedans just got hotter with the Lamborghini Estoque concept. Let’s hope a new production line at Sant’Agata is already busy building it.

Original Article

—

After weeks of tantalising teasers and rampant speculation, Lamborghini has finally unintentionally unveiled its latest concept - the Estoque.

Our earlier predictions have been confirmed, with the Estoque boasting a four-door, front-engined layout as Lamborghini’s response to the Rapide and Panamera.

These first official images of the entire concept were leaked earlier today by a French website, much to the dismay of Lamborghini who no doubt had a few more teasers lined up.

Added speculation continues to suggest the Estoque will borrow the 560hp V10 engine from the LP560-4, along with part of its design DNA.

The front splitter is pure LP560-4 whilst the rear tail lights are unmistakably Reventon in origin.

For now this is merely educated speculation; however the full details will be released tomorrow when the Paris Auto Show begins.

Hide It

Read more…

This time around we are given a brief glimpse of the headlight cluster and front quarter panel.

Unlike current Lamborghini’s the headlights of the concept run horizontally along the width of the car, perhaps suggesting designers had to make adjustments to compensate for a larger engine at the front.

Either way, mission accomplished Lambo - now show us the car!

Hide It

Read more…

My bet is though, that Lambo boss, Stephan Winkleman has already given a green light to the Estoque and we can’t wait for it to go into production in Sant’Agata.

Make no mistake, the Estoque is a sports car in true Lamborghini style and DNA: “extreme, uncompromising and unmistakably Italian”

Four seats and ample luggage space, this four door Lamborghini is billed as an “everyday Sports car”.

You’ll have to agree, it’s a superb looking car. Long wheelbase, low profile and a feast of Lamborghini accents, none more obvious than the 23-inch rear wheels.

It’s the first time in the company’s history that they have built a sedan and its fair to say that some diehard supporters of the brand may not like the idea of Lamborghini and four doors in the same sentence. Boo-hoo to them.

Lamborghini haven’t specified a driveline for the Estoque but there are a number of tantalising possibilities. The V-10 from the Gallardo LP 560-4 would be hard to go past, given its significant torque output and permanent all-wheel drive.

There’s is also talk of a turbocharged V8 derived form the Gallardo but even more interesting, is the idea of a V8 hybrid or super high performance turbo diesel. Whatever they choose, you can guarantee it won’t be underpowered.

The design accents are all Lamborghini from the Y-shape LED rear light clusters and hexagonal fuel caps on both sides of the car.

You’ll also notice the the small Italian flag on the front wings. We love that Italian heritage stuff.

Lamborghini are talking about comfort for four people over long distances, so you can assume that there will be plenty of legroom and space with four individual seats, which will be electrically adjustable.

High-end Nappa leather is the upholstery of choice and a large LCD screen will control vehicle and route information. A top shelf audio unit and rear seat entertainment system will be included in the package.

The new category of super sports sedans just got hotter with the Lamborghini Estoque concept. Let’s hope a new production line at Sant’Agata is already busy building it.

Hide It

Read more…

It overlaps with the first teaser almost perfectly, giving us a clearer look at the rear of Lambo’s latest concept, as can be seen in this artist’s impression from the LamboPower forums.

It seems Lamborghini are quickly catching on to the power of the internet, with this third teaser quite literally forming a new piece to the puzzle before the concept’s official debut.

Hide It

Read more…

This supports our earlier speculation that the concept would be a front engined, coupe-styled, four-door model to appeal to a broader range of luxury sports car buyers.

The source has also stated that the concept is almost ready for production and is likely to feature an Audi-sourced powerplant.

The engine will be smaller than the current 5.0-litre V10 engine in the Gallardo, however not down on power with a direct-injection, twin turbocharged unit slotting neatly behind the front axle for ideal weight distribution.

Lamborghini plans to build around 3,000 units a year of the new car, the same number that Aston Martin plans to build of its Rapide.

This move is hardly surprising, with Lamborghini thriving under the direction of Stephan Winkelmann, boasting a pre-tax profit of 47.1 million Euros in 2007.

Hide It

Read more…

To begin with, this is quite obviously not merely an adaptation of either the existing Gallardo or Murcielago sports cars as previously thought.

Its most revealing detail lies in the panel gap where the front quarter panel meets the door - or lack thereof.

This suggests the front axle of the concept model has been moved forward considerably, hinting at only one possible conclusion.

This concept is almost certainly a front-engine GT model, a fact which is supported by the side air vent adorned with the colours of the Italian flag.

Whilst purely speculating, this could mark the return of the iconic Miura or perhaps a four-door model to compete with the likes of the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera.

Although perhaps the greatest clue of all is the relatively unimpressive brake package, a far cry from the usual enormous carbon ceramic items - they could hint at a new entry level model for the brand similar to the Ferrari California.

Hide It

Read more…

Is it a four door coupe? Is it a follow up to the highly acclaimed Reventon? Your guess is as good as ours.

Expect to see the see the car officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show next month.

Hide It

Read more…

Watch for the casual launch and manual shifts which indicates that this machine is easily capable of dipping deep into the 9 second zone, and remember to turn up the volume. The official time for the ¼ mile sprint was 10.2 seconds at 248km/h (155mph).

Hide It

Read more…

On Father’s Day, however, Steve Jones attributed his win to his dad.

“[I want to] thank my dad for everything he did for me, my old man is the reason I wanted this for so long. He passed away when I was 17 and I’ve done this for him, I’ve given him what he wanted!”

Jones also commented that time in the car was critical to his success.

“It was a learning curve for us, the car is so new and I didn’t know what to do it is so electrical. I learnt the car, every hour I spent in the car I learnt how to drive it and we just became stronger and stronger, it was so good!”

“I don’t know who to thank; all the people here that helped me come here and get what I’ve wanted for so long.”

Gentleman Jim Richards was gracious in defeat.

“Young Steve’s done a fantastic job, he’s definitely got a bright future and we’re really rapt that he’s won”, said Richards. “We would have liked to have won but we didn’t so very, very happy for him.”

Click here to see the results.

Photos courtesy Paul Brockbank - Antilag.com

Hide It