We race a rear-wheel-drive Gallardo after a soaking rain shower and live to tell about it. For $200,000, you can, too.
Lamborghini has long been a name associated with automotive dreams. And, if I’m honest, fear.
When the sensuous Miura of the 1960s gave way to a more radical and exotic Countach of the 1970s, owning a Lamborghini became a little more intimidating, and not just on price and maintenance costs. The very mystique surrounding a Lamborghini relied on the driver's ability to handle it.
Since the Countach, Lamborghini has continued to build mid-engine powered exotic machinery with equally aggressive designs and breathtaking performance, all the way through today's flagship Aventador. When I was invited to drive the Gallardo LP550-2 at Pacific Raceways outside Seattle, I met some Lamborghini owners who were just as eager as I was to understand the true capability of these handbuilt machines.
One of the first people I met at the track was Arian, the enthusiastic owner of a Murcielago LP640 finished in Verde Ithaca paint, an electric green hue.
"The guy who sold me my first Lamborghini Gallardo told me, 'If you're not going to drive it, just park it in the garage, buy yourself a poster, because it’s a lot cheaper,'" Arian said. "That was my motivation for driving it more and I went from driving my sports car 2,000 miles per year to 8,000 to 10,000 miles per year, and I’m enjoying it."
While the rainy spring weather in Seattle no doubt deterred some owners from bringing their cars to the track, Arian was one of the first to arrive and the last to leave, despite the wet conditions.
"Since I bought the Murcielago LP640, I come to the track quite a bit and it teaches me how to drive better every day, every time I come out here, so it’s pretty fun," he said.
This particular track day at Pacific Raceways was organized by Bellevue Lamborghini as an opportunity for Lamborghini owners to experience their cars and for prospective owners to drive one as it was intended.
"We call it a race day event, but it's actually not a race. It's for people to drive the cars in a liberated way," said Shahin Zonoonix, a salesman at Bellevue Lamborghini. "It's not the average test drive but to expose the car, what the capabilities are and how comfortable they are to drive. The more you teach people how they are, the more people become intrigued."
And, of course, to overcome that Lamborghini fear factor.
My opportunity to drive the Gallardo LP550-2, a special rear-wheel-drive model, came after the sporadic rain showers had turned to a steady drizzle, ensuring the aging track surface would be soaking wet and dotted with spots of standing water. While the rain slowed down the track speeds, the conditions were actually perfect to experience the drivability of the Gallardo in all conditions.
The Gallardo is powered by a 550-horsepower V10 engine mounted behind the seats, and while the Gallardo is typically offered with all-wheel drive, the LP550-2 delivers all the power to the rear wheels. The e-gear automated manual transmission allows the driver to shift manually with paddles mounted behind the steering wheel but also includes a fully-automatic mode for highway cruising.
On the rain-soaked Pacific Raceways course, the overall balance of the chassis and the excellent directional stability, even in the rainy conditions, was impressive. The communicative steering really gave me the information I needed to determine how much traction was available from the track surface in what were very slippery conditions.
Coming out of Turn 3b onto the back straight, the e-gear transmission allowed full-throttle upshifts without upsetting the car’s balance, adding to the confidence of driving the Gallardo in less than ideal conditions. The electronic stability program is very unobtrusive; it's there to help when needed, but under most conditions, it doesn't interrupt the driving experience. But I wasn’t stupid in the rain, either, and I didn't experiment with the more aggressive CORSA program on the ESP that allows more slip.
What may at first appear to be an intimidating and overpowering machine is actually a sophisticated and refined car that is meant to be used and enjoyed. And every person I saw climb out of the driver's seat, or even the passenger seat, had a huge smile.
autos.msn.com
No comments:
Post a Comment