LP112.com

1465

RE: [VintageLambo] Re: Gallardo

Robinson, Aaron

Hello all from Geneva. As promised, here"s the data download on the Gallardo. I spent about a half hour talking to Ing. Massimo Ceccarani on the stand and got enough to fill three pages in the mag. Interesting to note that the glossy "press kit" is mainly pictures, the entire written text reading: Abusive words. (turn page) There are some abusive words about Lamborghini you didn"t know. (turn page) Cute. (turn page) Sweet. (turn several pages) Decent. (turn some more pages) Nice. (more turning) Cosy (sic., turn page) The new Lamborghini Gallardo. Definitely different. (the end) Hookay. Lots of big news with this car, starting with Lamborghini"s first ever extruded-aluminum space frame. It"s quite a bit different than the 360 Modena"s in that it uses more extrusions and less casting, in fact only four cast nodes, two big ones to the left and right of the scuttle that form the upper suspension mounts, and two in the back that are the upper suspension pickups. The skin panels are all aluminum and are either welded or glue-bonded to the frame. The space-frame is assembled at the Audi Aluminum Center in Neckarsulm, Germany and shipped to ThyssenKrupp Druaz in Heibronn for the skin panels and paint (Krupp does about 40 percent of the Porsche Boxster structure and has a long history with VW/Audi). The complete body-in-white weighs 527 lbs (Lambo quotes a dry weight of 3153 lbs for the car with a 42/58 f/r weight split). It goes to Sant Agata for powertrain, suspension, and trim-out. As usual, Lamborghini doesn"t cast the engines but does machining and build-up. The 90-degree DOHC 4-valve V-10 is very loosely based on the VW group diesel V-10 but I didn"t have time to get into the main differences in architecture (it"s also a touchy subject for the Italians). It sounds great, mainly because it has an 18-degree crankpin offset which makes the firing pulse an even 72-degrees instead of 54-90-54-90 etc. etc. that produces the weird exhaust note in a Viper. Displacement is 4960.7 cc (302.7 cubic inches) with an 82.5 mm bore and--for a Lamborghini--rather long 92.8 mm stroke. How do I know how it sounds? Lamborghini had two cars, a yellow one and a black one that were driven out from under their covers during the preview (the black one stalled three times, DOH!) A glass engine cover will be offered as an option, similar to the Modena"s. All 4 cams use variable valve timing and the induction system is quite conventional compared to the Murcielago"s. The Gallardo uses two throttle bodies and dual-length intake runners in each plenum instead of the Murcie"s complex 4-throttle body/4-chamber and flap design. I get the feeling that this is another reflection of the Audi influence; the German"s probably nixed the Murcie"s system in favor of a more efficient, less complex design. Power is quoted as 492 hp @ 7800 rpm (367 kW) and 376 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm (510 Nm). Assuming with a full 23.8 gal load of fuel a Gallardo weighs about 3300 lbs even, that puts the power to weight ratio at 6.7 lbs/bhp. Considering that a Murcie"s ratio is 6.4 lbs/bhp, the Gallardo at $160k represents a pretty good performance value relative to its sister car. Lamborghini says 4.2 seconds 0-62 mph. I bet it will be faster (our 4400 lb AMG E55 with 469 hp did0-60 in 4.3, albeit a much easier car to launch). Perhaps Lamborghini is hedging on performance numbers to keep the Murcielago from looking bad, but we won"t know until we get it to the test track. There"s a choice of a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed paddle-shift transmission similar to Ferrari"s F1 system. The shift-mechanism supplier is the same: Magnetti Marelli, though Ceccarani claims the Gallardo has a next-generation controller that makes it shift more smoothly than a 360 Modena"s. No, it doesn"t have double clutches like the Audi system, so we"ll be suitably cautious on that point till we drive one (supposed to be in June). The Gallardo"s brakes are a l