A panorama that stays etched in your memory forever. Mount Teide, which once created the island of Tenerife, rises to 3718 meters.
I stopped a bit lower — at the two-kilometer mark. And that's, of course, not counting the few centimeters separating me from the black asphalt that rushes dizzyingly under the floor of our Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder.
By the way, black here is represented by many shades, and each of them reminds of past eruptions. The last time the volcano spewed lava was in 1909, but Teide has never fully quieted down... And I prefer to listen to a different symphony – the roar of the ten-cylinder engine behind me.
The serpentine road leads me to a deserted plateau where I can press the gas pedal more boldly. I use every centimeter of the road surface and hug the curbs, but I still remain cautious: lava slopes and stones sharp as blades can scratch the delicate aluminum body of the Spyder as easily as a can opener opens a tin.
It's hard to put into words the sensations you feel behind the wheel. The five-liter engine with direct injection pulls confidently from the low revs, and at high revs it behaves like a true racing unit, easily revving up to 8500 rpm. When the roof is down, its sound makes your heart beat faster.
The robotic transmission shifts in a flash, and in race mode — with surgical sharpness, allowing you to fully feel all the power of the engine.
At the same time, a second path opens in the exhaust system, and the deep bass resonates throughout the valley. The steering wheel is precise and absolutely "transparent," giving a perfect sense of the road. The brakes impress with their strength and endurance, but puzzle with the effort that is hard to modulate at low speeds.
However, the Spyder can also be unexpectedly soft, almost good-natured: just forget about sport and race modes and don't press the pedal so aggressively. The suspension is stiff but not extreme — at least, you shouldn't fear city cobblestones. And if you raise the roof, you realize how thoroughly the engineers worked on sound insulation: you can talk without shouting even at high speeds.
It takes only 20 seconds to raise or lower the top — a short time to move from one fantastic world to another.
MANUFACTURER'S DATA
ENGINE
5204 cm3, petrol, V10,
560 hp at 8000 rpm,
540 Nm at 6500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
robot, 6 gears, all-wheel drive
DYNAMICS
top speed – 324 km/h,
acceleration 0-100 km/h – 4.0 s
DIMENSIONS (mm)
length – 4350
width – 1900
height – 1180
MASS
1640 kg
I stopped a bit lower — at the two-kilometer mark. And that's, of course, not counting the few centimeters separating me from the black asphalt that rushes dizzyingly under the floor of our Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder.
By the way, black here is represented by many shades, and each of them reminds of past eruptions. The last time the volcano spewed lava was in 1909, but Teide has never fully quieted down... And I prefer to listen to a different symphony – the roar of the ten-cylinder engine behind me.
The serpentine road leads me to a deserted plateau where I can press the gas pedal more boldly. I use every centimeter of the road surface and hug the curbs, but I still remain cautious: lava slopes and stones sharp as blades can scratch the delicate aluminum body of the Spyder as easily as a can opener opens a tin.
It's hard to put into words the sensations you feel behind the wheel. The five-liter engine with direct injection pulls confidently from the low revs, and at high revs it behaves like a true racing unit, easily revving up to 8500 rpm. When the roof is down, its sound makes your heart beat faster.
The robotic transmission shifts in a flash, and in race mode — with surgical sharpness, allowing you to fully feel all the power of the engine.
At the same time, a second path opens in the exhaust system, and the deep bass resonates throughout the valley. The steering wheel is precise and absolutely "transparent," giving a perfect sense of the road. The brakes impress with their strength and endurance, but puzzle with the effort that is hard to modulate at low speeds.
However, the Spyder can also be unexpectedly soft, almost good-natured: just forget about sport and race modes and don't press the pedal so aggressively. The suspension is stiff but not extreme — at least, you shouldn't fear city cobblestones. And if you raise the roof, you realize how thoroughly the engineers worked on sound insulation: you can talk without shouting even at high speeds.
It takes only 20 seconds to raise or lower the top — a short time to move from one fantastic world to another.
 |  |
 | THE SPIRIT OF RACING The small racing-style steering wheel is flattened at the bottom and doesn't interfere with your knees. The center console and tunnel are overloaded with buttons – they control the engine, gearbox, traction control, and stability systems. |
MANUFACTURER'S DATA
ENGINE
5204 cm3, petrol, V10,
560 hp at 8000 rpm,
540 Nm at 6500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
robot, 6 gears, all-wheel drive
DYNAMICS
top speed – 324 km/h,
acceleration 0-100 km/h – 4.0 s
DIMENSIONS (mm)
length – 4350
width – 1900
height – 1180
MASS
1640 kg