a007apl
08-30-2003, 07:38 PM
September 2003
More than anything, it was the 20 gleaming Gallardos lined up at the Vallelunga racetrack near Rome that brought Audi's ownership of Lamborghini into sharp focus. Compare that with the introduction of the first Diablo, way back in 1990, when just one car was rolled out of the storied Sant'Agata factory for our amusement. Yes, just one.
Obviously, it was Audi's deep pockets that made the well-stocked Gallardo launch possible, but there's more than just Audi money in this car. There's an aluminum space-frame body built and painted in an Audi-owned factory. There's a V-10 version of the all-aluminum Audi V-8 nestling just behind the passenger compartment, and there are Audi climate-control panels and switches in the cockpit.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152316.jpg
Nonetheless, much of the essential engineering is pure Italian, with Lamborghini's own engine-control electronics directing this 5.0-liter V-10 to its 8000-rpm redline, and the music issuing from the fat stainless tubes poking aggressively through honeycomb mesh in the rear fascia is as Italian as Andrea Bocelli. Lamborghini has a reputation for flamboyant, outrageous car design, so why not use Audi's considerable resources to make everything work?
Why not, indeed? After our group of writers had marveled at the generous array of cars at our disposal and drunk in every plane and contour of the precisely sculpted alloy skin, we climbed in and began to fully appreciate how well the corporate mind meld has worked.
For one thing, the Gallardo's doors open traditionally. None of those wacky guillotine or gullwing portals here—just two doors that swing smooth and wide, providing easy access to firmly supportive Momo bucket seats. The doors close with satisfying thumps, enclosing you in a space that is intimate but not claustrophobic. Despite its pronounced cab-forward stance and wedge profile, this mid-engined coupe actually provides good all-around visibility. So good, in fact, that designer Luc Donckerwolke jokes that they could have made the shape more radical.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152348.jpgNo thanks, Luc. It looks just fine, with packaging efficiencies good enough to combine a relatively compact overall size with adequately generous occupant space and enough luggage capacity to accept four made-to-fit bull's-hide bags. A driver with 34-inch trouser inseams can fit in the Gallardo and drive it comfortably.
However, the fat center tunnel might persuade said leggy buyer to check the e-gear option (for a paddle-shift manual with no clutch pedal that costs $9200 in Europe) and forgo the pedal dancing required for those obligatory double-clutch downshifts. You still get the dramatic accompanying soundtrack with the e-gear system. A good thing, since the Gallardo's even-firing V-10 barks a tune that makes the Viper sound like a Shop-Vac.
A short test drive in a Gallardo fitted with the e-gear system—controlled by steering-column-mounted paddles—is all it takes to convince you that Lamborghini got it right. Low-speed shifts slur smoothly from one ratio to another, and even full-throttle, high-rev shifts are accomplished without the slamming violence you often encounter in F1-spec Ferraris.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152454.jpg
The automatic throttle blip accompanying downshifts is, of course, there in its throaty glory. It's particularly dramatic when digging for a really low gear, when the system gives a long concerted burst of throttle, bumping engine speed above 7000 rpm if necessary to match revs properly.
Engine performance between shifts isn't bad, either. The V-10 has variable valve timing on all cams and variable-length intake runners, so the torque curve is amazingly flat. The engine supplies 80 percent of its maximum torque from 1500 rpm. That makes the Gallardo extremely easy to drive, with adequate thrust available at almost any engine speed.
Ironically, the tractable nature of the engine tends to understate the nearly 500-hp potential of this car, since short shifting becomes a viable option. But when you wind that vociferous V-10 up to the extreme reaches of the tachometer, allowing it to reach its power peak at 7800 rpm, you'll feel a demonically urgent force hurling the Gallardo down the road.
The beauty of the Gallardo's all-wheel drive is that the swelling torrent of power all goes to the ground as pure acceleration. There's no scrabbling for grip, no wheelspin, no torque steer. The car just rockets forward, courtesy of its rearward-bias, viscous-coupled all-wheel drivetrain. Traction is further managed by a limited-slip rear differential and a stability-control system that handles front-axle-slip events with judicious brake application.
Lest you think the car performs well only because of the intervention of mechanical and electronic nannies, let us assure you that the real beauty of the Gallardo in action is the purity of the chassis geometry, which guides the car down the road without a hint of bump or roll steer. This Lamborghini goes where it's pointed, and it tracks with a fluid confidence that does not suggest locked-on-center steering caster.
Anti-squat and -dive geometry designed into the unequal-length control arms at all four corners works well, teaming with moderate spring rates and adaptive Koni shocks to provide compliance for big slow bumps as well as control at high speed. As a result, body motions are well damped, and the ride is anything but harsh. In fact, a sport suspension is in the works for owners who'd like a more aggressive setup.
As it is, the Gallardo handles well. You get the sense of a stiff structure that allows the suspension to work independently without intrusive resonance. Equally surprising is a steering system almost devoid of vibration or road shock. Yet control feedback from the obedient 235/35ZR-19 Pirelli P Zero Rosso front tires is unadulterated, and the off-center response is immediate and proportional.
If there's a fly in the ointment, it's that the cars at Vallelunga were set up to understeer quite a bit, perhaps understandable in the context of successive groups of visiting journalists let loose on a fast racetrack. The understeer curtailed the Gallardo's handling repertoire more than we liked. We hope production cars are calibrated for more neutral handling.
Nonetheless, the Gallardo circled the track with considerable poise, feeling supple enough to soak up bumps without setting your teeth a-rattle and negotiate transitions with an easy grace. The manual six-speed shifter (with cable-operated linkage) proved an able device, with lever effort fairly constant during throws and a pleasant cushioned sense of gear engagements. In all, the stick demonstrated much more willingness to play along than its traditional metal gate suggested.
All this versatility and refinement sounds almost anathema to the idea of the usual Italian exotic, but that's the benefit of this case of corporate co-operation. It strongly suggests this is a Lamborghini that can be used as an everyday driver, albeit a $165,900 one. Heresy, maybe, but a necessary development in light of cross-town-rival Ferrari's increasing user-friendliness. You know what? I think this calls for a long-term loaner. Could we please have one of the first ones off the boat this fall?
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO
Vehicle type: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
Base price: $165,900
Engine type: DOHC 40-valve V-10, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 303 cu in, 4961cc
Power (SAE net): 493 bhp @ 7800 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 376 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
Transmissions: 6-speed manual, 6-speed manual with automatic shifting and clutch
Wheelbase: 100.8 in
Length/width/height: 169.3/74.8/45.9 in
Curb weight: 3350 lb
Manufacturer's performance ratings:
Zero to 62 mph: 4.2 sec
Zero to 124 mph: 14.5 sec
Top speed (drag limited): 192 mph
Projected fuel economy:
European urban cycle: 8 mpg
extra-urban: cycle 17 mpg
combined cycle: 12 mpg
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152547.jpg
More than anything, it was the 20 gleaming Gallardos lined up at the Vallelunga racetrack near Rome that brought Audi's ownership of Lamborghini into sharp focus. Compare that with the introduction of the first Diablo, way back in 1990, when just one car was rolled out of the storied Sant'Agata factory for our amusement. Yes, just one.
Obviously, it was Audi's deep pockets that made the well-stocked Gallardo launch possible, but there's more than just Audi money in this car. There's an aluminum space-frame body built and painted in an Audi-owned factory. There's a V-10 version of the all-aluminum Audi V-8 nestling just behind the passenger compartment, and there are Audi climate-control panels and switches in the cockpit.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152316.jpg
Nonetheless, much of the essential engineering is pure Italian, with Lamborghini's own engine-control electronics directing this 5.0-liter V-10 to its 8000-rpm redline, and the music issuing from the fat stainless tubes poking aggressively through honeycomb mesh in the rear fascia is as Italian as Andrea Bocelli. Lamborghini has a reputation for flamboyant, outrageous car design, so why not use Audi's considerable resources to make everything work?
Why not, indeed? After our group of writers had marveled at the generous array of cars at our disposal and drunk in every plane and contour of the precisely sculpted alloy skin, we climbed in and began to fully appreciate how well the corporate mind meld has worked.
For one thing, the Gallardo's doors open traditionally. None of those wacky guillotine or gullwing portals here—just two doors that swing smooth and wide, providing easy access to firmly supportive Momo bucket seats. The doors close with satisfying thumps, enclosing you in a space that is intimate but not claustrophobic. Despite its pronounced cab-forward stance and wedge profile, this mid-engined coupe actually provides good all-around visibility. So good, in fact, that designer Luc Donckerwolke jokes that they could have made the shape more radical.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152348.jpgNo thanks, Luc. It looks just fine, with packaging efficiencies good enough to combine a relatively compact overall size with adequately generous occupant space and enough luggage capacity to accept four made-to-fit bull's-hide bags. A driver with 34-inch trouser inseams can fit in the Gallardo and drive it comfortably.
However, the fat center tunnel might persuade said leggy buyer to check the e-gear option (for a paddle-shift manual with no clutch pedal that costs $9200 in Europe) and forgo the pedal dancing required for those obligatory double-clutch downshifts. You still get the dramatic accompanying soundtrack with the e-gear system. A good thing, since the Gallardo's even-firing V-10 barks a tune that makes the Viper sound like a Shop-Vac.
A short test drive in a Gallardo fitted with the e-gear system—controlled by steering-column-mounted paddles—is all it takes to convince you that Lamborghini got it right. Low-speed shifts slur smoothly from one ratio to another, and even full-throttle, high-rev shifts are accomplished without the slamming violence you often encounter in F1-spec Ferraris.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152454.jpg
The automatic throttle blip accompanying downshifts is, of course, there in its throaty glory. It's particularly dramatic when digging for a really low gear, when the system gives a long concerted burst of throttle, bumping engine speed above 7000 rpm if necessary to match revs properly.
Engine performance between shifts isn't bad, either. The V-10 has variable valve timing on all cams and variable-length intake runners, so the torque curve is amazingly flat. The engine supplies 80 percent of its maximum torque from 1500 rpm. That makes the Gallardo extremely easy to drive, with adequate thrust available at almost any engine speed.
Ironically, the tractable nature of the engine tends to understate the nearly 500-hp potential of this car, since short shifting becomes a viable option. But when you wind that vociferous V-10 up to the extreme reaches of the tachometer, allowing it to reach its power peak at 7800 rpm, you'll feel a demonically urgent force hurling the Gallardo down the road.
The beauty of the Gallardo's all-wheel drive is that the swelling torrent of power all goes to the ground as pure acceleration. There's no scrabbling for grip, no wheelspin, no torque steer. The car just rockets forward, courtesy of its rearward-bias, viscous-coupled all-wheel drivetrain. Traction is further managed by a limited-slip rear differential and a stability-control system that handles front-axle-slip events with judicious brake application.
Lest you think the car performs well only because of the intervention of mechanical and electronic nannies, let us assure you that the real beauty of the Gallardo in action is the purity of the chassis geometry, which guides the car down the road without a hint of bump or roll steer. This Lamborghini goes where it's pointed, and it tracks with a fluid confidence that does not suggest locked-on-center steering caster.
Anti-squat and -dive geometry designed into the unequal-length control arms at all four corners works well, teaming with moderate spring rates and adaptive Koni shocks to provide compliance for big slow bumps as well as control at high speed. As a result, body motions are well damped, and the ride is anything but harsh. In fact, a sport suspension is in the works for owners who'd like a more aggressive setup.
As it is, the Gallardo handles well. You get the sense of a stiff structure that allows the suspension to work independently without intrusive resonance. Equally surprising is a steering system almost devoid of vibration or road shock. Yet control feedback from the obedient 235/35ZR-19 Pirelli P Zero Rosso front tires is unadulterated, and the off-center response is immediate and proportional.
If there's a fly in the ointment, it's that the cars at Vallelunga were set up to understeer quite a bit, perhaps understandable in the context of successive groups of visiting journalists let loose on a fast racetrack. The understeer curtailed the Gallardo's handling repertoire more than we liked. We hope production cars are calibrated for more neutral handling.
Nonetheless, the Gallardo circled the track with considerable poise, feeling supple enough to soak up bumps without setting your teeth a-rattle and negotiate transitions with an easy grace. The manual six-speed shifter (with cable-operated linkage) proved an able device, with lever effort fairly constant during throws and a pleasant cushioned sense of gear engagements. In all, the stick demonstrated much more willingness to play along than its traditional metal gate suggested.
All this versatility and refinement sounds almost anathema to the idea of the usual Italian exotic, but that's the benefit of this case of corporate co-operation. It strongly suggests this is a Lamborghini that can be used as an everyday driver, albeit a $165,900 one. Heresy, maybe, but a necessary development in light of cross-town-rival Ferrari's increasing user-friendliness. You know what? I think this calls for a long-term loaner. Could we please have one of the first ones off the boat this fall?
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO
Vehicle type: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
Base price: $165,900
Engine type: DOHC 40-valve V-10, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 303 cu in, 4961cc
Power (SAE net): 493 bhp @ 7800 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 376 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
Transmissions: 6-speed manual, 6-speed manual with automatic shifting and clutch
Wheelbase: 100.8 in
Length/width/height: 169.3/74.8/45.9 in
Curb weight: 3350 lb
Manufacturer's performance ratings:
Zero to 62 mph: 4.2 sec
Zero to 124 mph: 14.5 sec
Top speed (drag limited): 192 mph
Projected fuel economy:
European urban cycle: 8 mpg
extra-urban: cycle 17 mpg
combined cycle: 12 mpg
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/872003152547.jpg