Lamborghini GALLARDO
Its Been A Long Time Coming But The Baby
Lamborghini Has Finally Landed. Andy Enright Checks Out The Gallardo
A lot has changed at Lamborghini in the past few years. Since being taken over by
Audi, the SantAgata Bolognese factory has been facelifted with a glass-fronted edifice, the Diablo has been pensioned off and replaced by the sleek Murcielago, quality control is now being taken very seriously and the car that has been promised for so many years, Project 140 the baby Lamborghini has finally borne fruit in the chunky shape of the Gallardo.
Although the faces may change, certain traditions remain. Theres still a slightly chaotic feel to proceedings at the plant and the chances of your car being ready, clean and fuelled up for a road test still hover somewhere around minimal. Finding the requisite nonchalant test driver to accompany the procedure often involves your PR contact having a heated discussion with a factory junior who is sent to look for the driver in question. Despite the big budget, the charm hasnt been excised.
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Nor has the thrill as you sit in reception with a cup of rocket fuel espresso, when you hear your car fire up. The difference this time is that its not the semi-agricultural bellow of a
Lamborghini V12 engine. Instead theres the offbeat hammering of a V10. The Gallardos shape just works.
Moving thirty yards from one of the workshop buildings to the security gate was all it took to get the thumbs up. Although it shares many styling cues with its bigger brother, the Murcielago, the Gallardo is surprisingly small and slightly more aggressive with its chopped off angles. Luc Donkerwolke, the man responsible for penning both cars has once again excelled himself. Obviously a Lamborghini, the Gallardos detailing does enough to distance it from the Murcielago.
Park the two side by side and any initial disappointment that the Gallardos design would prove cravenly derivative soon fade.
"Even with 493bhp on tap in a mid-engined car costing this much, the Gallardo never feels intimidating "
The doors open in a conventional fashion, Lamborghini choosing to reserve the upward swinging beetle-wing doors for the flagship sports model. Drop into the cabin and the first thing your eyes alight upon is the flat-bottomed steering wheel (good) and the centre console controls that appear to have been lifted wholesale from an
Audi A6 (not so great). Its a strange mix of bulletproof build quality and slightly disappointing cost cutting. Everything feels very well screwed together but certain features such as the plastic Gallardo kick plates feel a little out of place in a £117,000 car.
Theres certainly not the same bespoke feel you get when you drop into the cabin of a
Ferrari 360. The flipside of this is that the Gallardo never feels intimidating. Visibility is typical of a low slung mid engined supercar but the Lamborghini feels compact and chunky. If it had more luggage space it would almost feel
Porsche 911-style everyday useable.
Two transmissions are offered, a standard manual shift and the e-gear paddle-shift sequential as fitted to our car. Developed by Magneti Marelli, its not a million miles away from the system used by Ferrari and
Aston Martin. Lamborghini claim the superior twin-clutch DSG system developed by Audi is as yet unable to handle the Gallardos power. Displacing five litres and delivering a hefty wallop of 493bhp, the Gallardo isnt short on power.
Contrast that with the 400bhp of the Ferrari 360 Modena and the 420bhp of the Porsche 911 Turbo and youll appreciate the Lamborghinis potential. This is no crude big banger either. With variable-length inlet manifolds, variable valve timing on both inlet and exhaust valves, a drive by wire throttle and the ability to meet the worlds toughest global emissions regulations its a technical showpiece. Deploying drive through all four wheels and backing this traction advantage up with a whole host of electronic control systems, the Gallardo can at first feel a little gluey.
Switch the stability control off and prang the Sport button and the fun really starts. The shifts come more quickly, each upshift sounding like a staccato bark as the box grabs the next cog. The engine howls behind you, sounding like a pair of Audi Quattro rally cars in full cry. The scenery explodes through the widescreen view from the drivers
seat and the Gallardo sears through 60mph in 4.
0 seconds on the way to a top speed of 192mph. Stopping us achieving that figure are a set of bends that nibble a corner from a farmers field on the flat Emilian plain. With 70% of the drive diverted to the rear and control systems off, the Gallardo dances nimbly through, the rear of the car edging between grip and slip in well telegraphed slow-mo. Flicking down through the gearbox with the shift paddle evokes a meaty blip form the electronic throttles but you soon realise that such is the Gallardos flat torque curve that its rarely worth revving the engine to the redline.
The brakes, steering and engine feel bulletproof without the nagging flakiness that has dogged Lamborghinis of the past. If one were to design the ultimate useable supercar, it would have Italian charisma and German build quality, the looks of a Lamborghini and the utility of a Porsche, but would go, stop and steer like nothing else. The Gallardo comes closer to that ideal than any of its key rivals. Its been a long time coming, but the wait has been worth it.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Lamborghini Gallardo
PRICE: £117,000
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 450g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 192mph / 0-60mph 4s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 21mpg WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE ? Length/Width/Height 4300/1900/1165mm
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