Spyder, Man! LAMBORGHINI WEAVES MAGIC INTO A NEW GALLARDO CONVERTIBLE.(NEWS)

Byline: MICHAEL TAYLOR

A CORNER LIKE THIS would have worried the old Gallardo Spyder and would have worried the driver a lot more. It's a piece of extreme engineering that demands a piece of extreme machinery. The Spyder's 560 hp punches it to well more than 168 mph before the end of the straight, but then it gets interesting.

The braking markers fly past, and finally, half a second's hard braking washes off the scariest 30 mph. Still, the Spyder turns in at 137 mph to a long, long, long corner that tightens twice. Next, you find yourself nervously squeezing back down on the gas pedal in fifth gear because the redesigned, stiffened LP560-4 chassis seems to cope with it.

So, it's carrying almost 150 mph as the corner tightens. The old car hated this kind of thing. Most cars would. But the LP560-4 version of the Spyder loves it.

Like its coupe brethren, the Spyder now has double wishbones that bolt directly to the chassis and a relocated antiroll bar. The differences are immediately obvious. There is no lurch or suspension wobble, no heart-in-the-mouth moment, waiting to see which way it goes, because you know instantly where it's going.

It's symptomatic of a tighter, more organized and more accessible machine, and it has been lifted by far more than the sum of its parts. The torque curve, for example, is more accessible, and even though it says 398 lb-ft at 6,500 rpm, it feels stronger earlier than the old engine. While that means it's easier to leave it in one gear and cruise the city streets, the six-speed eGear paddle-shift system is also faster than it used to be.

The Y-shaped daytime-running lamps mark it immediately as part of the LP560 family, and the taillights seem to add even more visual width to the topless version than they do to the coupe.