Gallardo?
 

Anyone on here owned or driven one? What were your thoughts?

Only been in passenger seat. Nice acceleration, but interior left me cold. Didn't make me lust after one. Maybe it needs to be driven.

This is what I wonder, looks and noise with an exhaust makes me lust after one... a passenger lap of the 'Ring disappointed me and gave me that "never meet your hero" feeling.

Just wondered are they special to drive, or pretty bland. Might book a driving experience day to sample one, the more I look into them the more I fear I'll be let down.

Maybe a 996 / 997 GT3 or a F355 / F360 may be more up my street for driving involvement and pleasure, only downside with the Italian stallion is unless it has the sports seats I find the F-cars have a poor seating position for me.

Not driven one Craig, but I nearly bought one a few years ago. Running costs put me off all the exotics though.

Let me know your thoughts if you get one.

I drove one on track at Oulton with e-gear and felt ok. Felt very safe when it started raining in the afternoon. The inside felt quite solid more than the 360 and 430's

I drove on track a 360 and a 430 , good machines but i always felt on edge if a new noise was there.

Do drive them all before you take the plunge. Those cars are bought more from passion than reason i think :)

Eduardo.

Before buying my Cecil in 2009 I was seriously considering a basic Manual Gallardo Coupe as they were down to the all time lowest (mid to low £40K @ the time) and I actually went to view & test drive one with intention to buy. The V10 engine is an event, even @ idle :smt055... just turning it over gave me goose bumps. The interior was OK, very AUDIesk which is not a bad thing. It drove really well at normal road speeds and exceleration was immense :supz: but... and it's a big but... what really & truly put an end to my Lambo dream was the Servicing/repair bills the previous owner was subjected to :119: that were evident in the Service history file. Even the smallest of them was still in four figures :smt120 Could I have bought it @ the time , Yes... could I have afford to run it for say 6 months to scratch that Super Car itch ? maybe ... could I have afforded it's Servicing/ repair bills... simple answer was NO! Being a boring realist sometimes :wink: and Captain "Tight Wad" I forced myself to walk away :( If you can realistically stomach the HUGE bills associated with Supercars then I'd say GO FOR IT ! :thumbs: Scratch that itch but unless you have very deep pockets I don't see it as a long term proposition... oh and if you're thinking of Tracking, it forget it ... and aim for Fast Pork instead, which is designed for it :smokin:

Few weeks later I bought my Cecil and never looked back :thumbs: It just gets better every day :smt055 May it continue.

Exactly the reason why I didnt buy one Matt, Im simply not rich enough. :supz:

Join the club :( Seriously you should have seen the Service/Repair bills :119:on the one I saw and wanted to buy.
It was a 2004 MY car with 30 ish K miles on the clock (which "some say" is high mileage for one of these) 2 owners and Full Lambo History. It was priced @ £42 000 ONO and there was a potential for a good deal to be had (Depth of recession Part 1) but when I quickly added up all the invoices, they totalled in the region of the asking price of that car at which point I think I heard my wallet scream.

I'd love a V10 and thought these looked the nuts when they came out but I don't think they've aged we'll. Version 1 of SL is a rare beast....was having a beer with an ex- owner the other day who exported his to Asia....think the UK numbers are teens or single digits now.

A mate of mine had one for a while.

He is a member on here - nigelonich
Fire him a PM and I'm sure he will happily share his experiences.
I'll let him know tomorrow about this thread.

Came close to buying at the same time Matt, the reason I've always not took the plunge is the costs as like you say to buy is one thing, to run is another... a lot of the mechanicals are Audi (body and trim Lambo) so was hoping I could cross reference parts and do a lot of the spanner work myself.

Would a GT3 be a safer bet, or have equally large running costs? I'm in 9,564 different minds as to what to buy it ranges from cheap track fun, to middle of the range sports cars which I can afford to run and drive as I like right through to mental supercars which I would probably always be worried about getting a large bills with.

One thing that's taken my fancy recently, and for those who remember I liked my Exige S and Lotus in general, is this;

http://images.thecarconnection.com/m...00413242_m.jpg

http://www.topgear.com/uk/assets/cms...ge%20Image.jpg

Lotus Evora S - Good second hand price, and cost of running should be more manageable I'm just not sure if its right for me as I like a touch of aggression in the styling and these are very smooth lines. I might take one out to see what I really think, least the V6 should give a good noise as opposed to the inline-4 of the Exige.

The list is;

- e46 M3
- e92 M3
- Exige S
- Evora
- 996 GT3
- 997 GT3
- Gallardo

I also like the F355 and F360 but will have to see how comfortable they are to drive, the F355 is pretty basic mechanically and they've been around long enough that certain parts are available at a fraction of the Ferrari cost.

Don't really want to own a car I've had before again, and as much as I love M-car's I think the e92 M3 is too practical to have as a garaged car. I've owned a CSL and an Exige S.

Buy Terryb 996gt3....

Or Dazzas 997 GT3.......

Depends on your track/road use.

355 look ace but getting silly money now.

I was underwhelmed by 360 around Silly.

Terry's car is always calling my name, I wonder if he's in a sell or keep mood today... :D

I bet you were attracted by the lowish purchase price these were back in 2009, like me ;) Engine & gearbox are still Lambo and they were assembeled by disgruntled Italians, resisting the NEW Germanic AUDI way :wink: Try doing the clutch change on one of these yourself :whistle: Engine out job IIRC + it would hit it's residual hard if you tried to service it your self and then attempt to sell it on without Official Lambo Service stamps in the book. Not worth it IMHO.

Fast Pork like 911 GT2, GT3 RS, non RS & Turbos are always a safer bet then any Italian Supercars :supz: and you can enjoy them on & off Track, in equal measures.
I'm not saying Porsche are cheep to service, just not as expensive as Italian Super Cars and generally they are more reliable with much longer service intervals :thumbs: I don't know much about LOTUS so I've not much to add on that front.
What's happened to the Red Shed ? She looked splendid last time I saw her :smokin:

Pax'd in this at the Ring, Spa, Donny and Silly. It's mega and if I was in mkt and not have CSL it'd be top of my shopping list :smokin:

Matt,

Red shed has been sold :( but fortunately to a close friend who is keeping it as it is, finishing off the bits I wanted to do (Team Dynamics / Exhaust) and then using it as its intended too, I have buy back rights too!

I just found I had no more love for spending money on the car after its last bump, any money spent would have been the equivalent of just putting it in the dust bin so decided it was time for a new toy, a new venture hence not wanting to buy something I've previously had.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there mate :smokin: Terry's Beetle looks like a proper,well sorted Fast Pork and has you name all over it. :whistle:

I can't believe you'd even mention a 355 in the same breath as the other cars (they're no faster than a CSL). I know they look pretty, but unless you're buying one for the "look at me" factor, I would have thought you'd want something with real performance.

I think out of your list, a GT3 would offer the best bang for buck value.

I've always likes the F355, I know it isnt 'fast' but it should be involving to drive and offer a nice sound track!

Also on the list is a Cayman, mega car for the money just I don't fancy taking a risk on the engine and the later DFI engined car's are going to loose too much in the next few years for my liking... trying to buy an already depreciated car!

Fair enough mate... I hear you :smokin: At least she's still being used for the intended purpose. Onward and upwards I say :beer: Terry's Fast Pork really has your name all over it :smokin: like I've already said in the previous post. Catching him on the "willing to sell" day may prove to be more difficult.

In that case, a 996 GT3 RS - before the values get too high.

Thought about this Mike, in fact again a car I looked at many moons ago when they were cheaper than they are now!

EVLEXG needs to sell me his orange 997.1 RS that to me is pure perfection.

They are lovely, just the gearing on them is a bit long. They need more power (fixed with the V.2). I don't think they've stopped depreciating yet though.

We must be related......:beer:

No chance at the moment chap :smokin:

Thats the first time ive heard someone say they are underpowered. Yes the 3.8 has a bit more poke but after driving 3.6,3.8 and 4.0 I didn't feel lacking with mine. They have more than enough poke to get you in bother, certainly a lot quicker than the CSL. Saying that would I like a 3.8... of course I would but lack of orange (Not keen on the gen2 colours as much) and the 30k price increase from mine put me off. I think the Gen1 RS values are fairly steady now though.

Craig I really do think a GT3 (of some description is for you) knowing what your like with setting up your cars I dont think a gallardo is for you. Out the box a GT3 should tick most of what you want in a weekend car....Sounds good (especially with a bypass) got the looks (imo) and it handles well. Makes the CSL feel a bit soggy. Why dont you have a shot in mine when im home?

Not exactly under-powered, but the tall gearing does sanitise the performance some-what and they certainly have more than enough poke to get you into bother, but obviously I'm just commenting from an ideal position.

I'd certainly NEVER chose a Gallardo over ANY GT3.......

:hahaha: The Fiscal brothers, obviously :thumbs:

When i was thinking of staying in the UK i was thinking of a Gallardo with the E-gear. I really like the look of them and although the interior is a bit Audi ish i thought they were a great car.

Haven't driven one though so i might not like it as much :whistle:

I'm going to break rank here and say that I have contemplated a Gallardo several times - £70k is a lot of cash but would seem to buy you a decent spec version. At £40k, it's a steal, but those days are over. I'm still drawn to them.

Rager54 on here used to own a yellow e-gear one and I think one of the hoses came loose on the drive home and it ended up going straight on a flatbed back to where it came from. The acceleration and experience is great, but agree that it's no track car.

I can live with that, but the really challenging bit is the amount of abuse you would get with owning one. I used to have a 997 2S and that was bad enough. At least people respect the CSL :supz:

I have a l.p.570 superleggera, they look great and modern. e gear is something you either like our hate. parts are a joke as mentioned, it better be looked after by the dealer otherwise you will loose a ton because of the type of buyer in the market for the car. best thing is the pose. I sold my 570 to my friend last week and looking to get into the new gt3 pdk. it's a decent car with German reliability and Italian flair. the latter is one of the main reasons you would want one. my r35 smokes it in stock form on proper roads, but the lambo isn't about go fast, its about look fast and with some respectable go fast. if you have the itch, scratch it. happy hunting

Thanks for all the replies guys, I think I may have decided to skip the Gallardo itch and go straight for the GT3... I originally thought I'd go for a G, have a bit of fun then sell it for a GT3RS.

This may still happen, but only if the right priced Lambo came up and at the moment as mentioned to me the other day, the good lower end of the market cars are getting shipped straight out oversea's before even been advertised in the UK.

I'm going to keep my eyes open, see what I can find but the dilemma now is do I re-build the garage before or after buying a car *doh*.

have driven a few gallardos as good friend of mine who works in the city has had a few..hard top and spyders.

the best one was the SE version as loved the colour and shorter ratio box. awesome sound and presence.....

around the ring on the trip we were on it did not see which way my old CSL went.

they have lots of grip with the 4wd and wheel at each corner but they feel heavy and cumbersome compared to the CSL. plus the 4wd system and traction control would always jump in too early or got very confused by all the cambers and bumps.

the Spyder was an awesome car and with the top down it was superb.

avoid Egear and older cars if you don't like big Bills. they just kill clutches.

overall I would not say a true drivers cars and to be used on track; a GT3 RS or a CSL is going to give you a lot more fun.

dam sight cheaper to run as well as when you start pushing a lambo on the bills for tyres and brakes are hideous.

I still love em though and seeing them. they sound awesome. probably best to rent one for a day and see what you feel rather than splashing out.

I did drive another mates 996 GT3 RS (white/blue) at the weekend and that has to be the fave car of all time. WHAT A MACHINE that is.

Hmmm! :whistle:Could be tempted? :smt003

Doesn't float my boat as much as one of these would;

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__...rleggera_x.jpg

Oye !!!

Buy my 997 GT3 :hahaha: