Supercars are rarely comfortable things, yet the LP560-4 is all that and more. (Autocar photo) » More Photos

A Lamborghini wouldn’t be a Lamborghini without a low-slung driving position, a steeply raked windshield and acres of leather and carbon fiber inside. The 560-4 ticks all these boxes, and with some style, but unlike rather too many of Sant’Agata’s previous creations, in this instance these classic cues are accompanied by a genuine sense of quality, excellent ergonomic clarity and a fine level of trim and equipment.

Where the car really succeeds inside is in its ability to blend some fairly obvious Audi parts – its communications package, some of its switchgear and an excellent sat-nav system – without diluting the inherent drama that has so distinguished Lamborghini interiors for over 40 years. Climb aboard and you are in no doubt whatsoever about the sense of occasion that greets you; the seat clamps you firmly into position, the flat-bottomed wheel feels chunky in your hands and looks superb, and the pedals are suitably offset towards the center, so much so that the brake pedal actually sits beneath your left foot, not your right.

Smaller rear lights represent the biggest visual change. (Autocar photo) » More Photos

You also get an air-con system that actually works, a rear-view image of what’s behind the car, which automatically appears when you select reverse, and a top-quality stereo. Be in no doubt, the 560-4 feels – and indeed is – a class act inside; if ever a supercar reflected its price in the style and quality of its cabin, this is it.

You don’t buy a supercar for practical reasons, yet of its type the 560 isn’t too bad. The trunk in the hood is impressively deep and can take one decent-sized squashy bag, and within the cabin there are numerous well-sized cubbies for odds and ends.

The facts make pretty impressive reading even before you begin talking about the 560’s raw performance, which is little short of astonishing. Beyond its powerful and torquey engine, the other key factor is its relative lack of weight; at 3,100lbs (or 3,483 in test trim measured on our scales) it is impressively light for a 4WD supercar, and so it’s the 560’s monster power-to-weight ratio that provides it with such scintillating performance. When you then align this with the new V10 engine’s delicious soundtrack, the 560 really does have all the ingredients with which to blow your mind.

The other contributing factor is its new gearbox, which swaps cogs faster than before when set to Corsa mode, the fastest of its various shifts programs. The shifts themselves may not be the smoothest, Lamborghini having engineered the software to deliver a deliberate thump on the way up, a quality we find less than desirable. But you can’t argue with the actual speed of the shifts – up or down – or the strength of the acceleration at full chat.