Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Alaska

The designation LP560-4 harkens back through Lamborghini's 46-year history to a naming scheme that has come and gone through the years. The most notorious of models, the Countach, was an LP400 or 500, depending on which piece of history you remember. The Italian initials LP translate to longitudinal mid-engine. In the past, the number following LP was displacement; the current number is roughly the engine's power output — while the "4" represents all-wheel drive. From now on, the LP560-4 will simply be known as the 2009 Gallardo.

The vibrant color screams, as does its updated V-10. At a peak speed of 168 mph while lapping the Auto Club Speedway oval in Southern California, the Gallardo's song reverberated like the calling of a king's entrance. Our test car was built to German specification; however, the 552-bhp output is said to remain nearly identical.

Power is delivered from a revised 90-degree naturally aspirated V-10. It does, however, share technology that is in the parent company's newest Audi RS 6. The changes include enlarging the bore by 2 mm, resulting in an extra 0.2 liter of capacity over the previous 5.0-liter. But rather than adding forced induction as on the RS 6, the engineers stuck with a high-revving naturally aspirated design that relies on direct injection, a 12.5:1 compression ratio and an attention-getting 8500-rpm redline. Half the fun of driving the new Gallardo is unleashing the violence of full-redline throttle blips. The dual exhaust tips emit a bark that demands attention, and one looks for every opportunity to squeeze the downshift paddle of the e.gear system.

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