Lamborghini's 'baby' bull breaks cover

Ferrari is arguably Italy's most respected exotic automaker, it's ties to motor racing - particularly Formula One - adding sparkle, it's range of super-sportscars without par.

Lamborghini, on the other hand, has much of the history and tradition involved in creating thoroughbred exotics as its Modena-based rival, yet without the prolific exploits in motor racing.

With this new model however, the two-seater Gallardo, Lamborghini opens up a whole new can of worms.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Italian sports car manufacturer will be offering a second model in its 2003 line-up.

Broadening the range of Lambo's is the most obvious effect of the new 'baby' Lamborghini, but the car once codenamed L140 is also aimed at giving Ferrari's 360 Modena some stiff competition.

The Gallardo (pron: Gai-ardo) is smaller than Lamborghini's Murcielago in both proportions and engine capacity, the name coming from a famous 18th century bull breeder, by the name of Francisco Gallardo.

The tradition of naming cars after famous breeds of bull at Lamborghini has been common practice since the 60s - it's no surprise either, considering founder Ferruccio Lamborghini was born under the zodiac sign of Taurus.

Rewind a few years, and back in 2000 Lamborgini's owners, Audi, put into motion the idea of adding another vehicle to its range. While the project was ambitious, it wasn't designed to eclipse the flagship models, such as Diablo and Murcielago.

A cut-price Lambo was given the go-ahead and shortly afterward a design based on an Italdesign-Giugiaro style proposal was developed by the Lamborghini Centro Stile.

Performance targets were lofty, despite the idea behind a more cost-effective, smaller-bodied vehicle. As such, two-cylinders were dropped and a V10 was decided upon, while Audi's pioneering spaceframe chassis technology was incorporated to reduce weight and improve rigidity.

From afar, most enthusiasts will think they're looking at a Murcielago, but there are quite a few individual design cues that differentiate the two.

For starters, check out the mirrors - Murcielago offered black items, while the newer Gallardo incorporates body-coloured mirrors.

The front end of the Gallardo is very similar to its elder brother's, but you'll notice that the xenon projector globes are mounted vertically behind much narrower lenses.

The lines of the Gallardo are less angular and more flowing than the Murcielago - even curvaceous - particularly over the front and rear wheels.

The engine's main air intakes (behind the doors) are also a little less utilitarian than the gaping holes in the Murcielago - perhaps a sign that the Lambo designers had more freedom with the L140.

While the new chassis is expected to offer impressive response to steering input, and the new styling making for ultra-high levels of aerodynamic efficiency, it's the take-no-prisoners engine that intrigues most.

The 5.0-litre V10 is built at Lamborghini's new engine factory in Sant'Agata, Italy, and golly-gee it's a cracker...

Cranking out a healthy 500 ponies in the old money, the 10-cylinder powerplant has a vee angle of 90-degrees, which was chosen over the more traditional 72-degrees in order to not only limit the height of the engine, thus increasing rearward vision, but also lowering the center of gravity for more linear handling.

Located just behind driver and passenger in the mid-rear position, the engine ships with four valves per cylinder, a custom-designed engine management system (LIE) and two separate exhaust sytems, complete with a pair of 5-into-1 exhaust manifolds: The Gallardo makes an eye-watering 368kW of power @ a shrieking 7800rpm.

Peak torque of 510Nm hits @ 4500rpm, giving the baby Lambo a rather large and highly exciting power band.

The DOHC engine makes use of continuously variable inlet and exhaust valve timing too, which helps deliver more torque at lower engine revolutions; Lamborghini claims 80 per cent of the car's maximum torque is developed from just 1500rpm. The 360 Modena can't do that...

The AWD exotic makes the most of its revvy V10 thanks to a six-speed manual transmission, the ratios of which can be changed via gearstick or optional steering-wheel mounted paddles.

Combined with an estimated kerb weight of roughly 1200kg, it can reach a top speed of 309km/h, conditions permitting, and Lamborghini types reckon the baby bull will hit 100km/h from rest in 4.3 seconds, which is handy if you're in a monumental rush.

Keeping the Gallardo glued to the road are distinct 19-inch five-spoke ally wheels, which according to Lamborghini futher differentiate the new baby model from others.

Double wishbones underpin the vehicle's suspension setup and Audi's penchant for safety systems means that dual airbags make the cut.

Massive Brembo brakes haul the 4WD supercar in from speed, comprising of eight-piston calipers fore, quad-pistons aft. Pricing for the new 'affordable' Lamborghini is expected to start at about $400,000 in Australia, though it could cost as much as 450k on the road.

With more than 1000 units being pumped out of Lamborghini's factory per annum, Australia is expected to get roughly 50 of the vehicles per year.

The Gallardo represents a big step for Lamborghini, which is slowly but surely increasing its stable of vehicles with an eye towards better competing with its Modena-based scarlet rivals.

Audi has already hinted that it may use the 5.0-litre V10 engine in its upcoming RSR supercar, which also happens to be based on the Gallardo's spaceframe chassis. If the aggressively-styled baby Lambo is a success - and early indications are good, with solid pre-orders the world over - expect many more blazing bulls to follow.