By Antonio Alvendia

Antonio Alvendia

You don’t have to have a Harvard MBA to realize that “more” is the four-letter word that drives the exotic supercar market. More power. More speed. More sex appeal. More exclusivity. And, let’s get real: when folks slide into the driver’s seat of an exotic, many of them wind up needing more room — for their egos. So what’s up with the latest-and-greatest Lamborghini Gallardo?

As its numeric designation indicates, the new 550-horsepower LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni gives up 10 ponies to the reigning mainstream model, the Gallardo LP 560-4. (Lucky you, if you’re in a tax bracket where a $233,000 car is mainsteam.) The 550-2 takes a couple tenths longer to sprint from zero to 62 mph (3.9 seconds vs. 3.7). The Baboni Gallardo even comes up short in the top speed department: 199 mph vs. a hair under 202 for the 560-4.

If this all sounds, well, backward, no one at Lamborghini will argue with you. If fact Valentino Balboni himself is the first to agree, because the car that bears his name is about going back — to basics. Basic, in this case, being rear-wheel-drive like the Countach and Miura.

Continue reading and view more photos at MOTORMAVENS.Com

By DriverSide

DriverSide

Yes, that Balboni. As in, the same lucky mother who’s been a test driver for Lamborghini since 1968 and driven over 80 percent of all Raging Bulls ever created, Valentino Balboni. It would seem Lamborghini wants to pay tribute to its chief test driver by working up yet another wicked variation of the Gallardo. The 5.2-liter V10 behind the seats has been ever so lightly detuned to offer up a mere 550 horsepower, all of which kick at the rear tires. With the Gallardo’s delicious all-wheel drive system in pieces, the engineers at Lamborghini had to rework their magic on the car’s suspension – serving up new spring rates, stabilizers, tires and dampers. At a featherweight 3,035 lbs, this sucker clicks off the naught to sixty dash in 3.9 seconds. If you’ve got $219,300 lying around and can lay your greedy paws on one of the 250 to be built, give us a call. We’ll be your new best friend. More pics at MotorAuthority