Cool. How did you manage that? I breezed through the essay so maybe I missed how you had the oppurtunity to check those rides. I liked the pics and wish there were more, particularly of the F430.

I've driven the Z06. The Z06 is fast and that is all. I wish I could drive the others.

 

The blind spots couldn't really be worse than our cars... could they? Until I added my blindspot mirrors, I was afraid to drive top-up.

One more thing... can you give a little more detail about the metal gated shifter? I've always thought those looked horribly difficult to drive.

 

btw: you don't spell it "couple"... think more like "coupe" (or "coup

 

It's much easier then you'd think. I find the Lamborghini ones easier to use then the Ferrari ones... not quite sure why, but I think it has something to do with the throw and spacing. The Gallardo was especially easy to change gears, but it's not as short feeling as on the S2000, you really need to push the shifter well into the gates as it tends to wiggle around a bit on the "null" point, and only when you flick it well into the nook, will you engage the right gear. But it takes just 15 minutes to get the hang of it. Very satisfying in feel, and very easy to do on the Gallardo. Clutch pedal is sweet as well. Not hard at all.

 

Very different for sure, but I find visibility on the yellow rev dial to be easy to see, and IMO it looks very nice. The retro digital dash of the S2000 looks definitely very different (an aquired taste), but I find that it's easier for me to determine and regulate my speed with standard dials versus the digital ones of the S2000.

In F1, you don't need to know you speed, but when you've got to drive at the right speed in a police controlled zone, I find that my speed oscillates way too much to keep it steady, whilst a dial will let me keep the speed very steady...

The speedometer on the 430 is not as easy to see as it's smaller then the RPM one, but IMO the interior is VERY nice.

btw: Sebastian Loeb (famous rally driver) swapped his F430 for a Gallardo. He found the handling characteristics of the Gallardo to be just fantastic. I do know for sure that the Gallardo is incredibly steady on its feet. I drove one just a week ago with low temperatures at night, yet no squealing or tire screetching was to be heard as I took corners at considerably speed. It's very planted (but perhaps a bit boring for more rear-end flick-happy people).

 

It's essentially the Audi parts that's gone into the Lambourghini to make it a German car with Italian characteristics and styling. That's why the Gallardo is so good. No one ever complimented the Countach or Diablo on it's awesome track performance, you know?

 

you say: But we all search for something special in the cars we drive...
as if im making stuff up. i can accept that to be your opinion. but i'd didnt write all this to convince myself. to be honest, i think you're letting name brand and price dictate your opinion. i honestly said that if i had the money, i would like a f430, but i would keep the s2000 as it is more fun to drive.

the gated shifter is extremely restrictive. many people besides myself reported hitting the gates. diagonal movement was very difficult. the gallardo pedals were just plain bad, lacking in feel, poor placement and had a bad case of dbw delay.

the s2000 with top up has a horrible blind spot. top down, no prob. the ferrari spyder with top down, still couldn't see anything. it's elongated mirrors help, but don't solve the problem.

 

Great post and thanks very much for sharing. I think I see your point. I've always been a fan of "fine" sports cars and have always dreamed of a Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, "M" Bimmer and others.

Now that I have my S2K I would still love one or all of the above but I would not discard my S as I've learned it's truly a great car on its own merit.

I bought it because it was the nicest sports car I could afford but when I'm able to afford a "nicer" car the S will still be with me.

Thanks again for sharing and do keep the pics coming.

 

Foot space in the Gallardo is very restrictive, and at times during my drive, I found myself almost stepping on my own feet... But I found it much easier to flick the shifter on the Gallardo. This is why I said it takes a good 15 minutes to get used to shifting as you need to get it well in place for each shift, but the clink and clonk of the shifter as you get it in place flawlessly is quite a thing to behold. The Murcielago is a bit tougher to maneuver, even thought the H-gate has indentations in it to help you go from 2-3 and 4-5 smoothly...

Brand is of course a factor when buying a car like this, and anyone who says otherwise is just kidding themselves. But I think it's not "price" that dictates my opinion. If the car was cheaper, it would be worth it, but at over 250k swiss francs a pop for a brand new Gallardo or 430, it makes a lot less sense...

An S2000 goes for just over 50k brand new, so in that view you've got one he11 of a car in the S2000. Second hand Maranello's or Modena's go sometimes for a third of their original price with just 10-20k miles on the clock. Now "that"'s a price point where things become interesting.

But I still don't find H-gates to be difficult to use. I've clocked some serious mileage in cars that have 'em equipped (from Porsches to Ferrari's and Lambo's as well), so maybe I'm just kind used to them... After a while you don't even notice it anymore, but the S2000 shifter is still the defacto when it comes to "wrist-flicking" the shifter in place.

Personally, an S2000 is just not torquey enough for my taste to make the car "fun" for my use. I also don't like the way it can be so twitchy in some conditions... I just find that a Gallardo is much more planted and the Ferrari much more speed happy for the kind of driving "I" do. I like doing short bursts of speed at just about any gear instead of always having to go down. But that's my way of driving... not saying the S2000 way is wrong. Otherwise, what the he11 would I be doing here

It's just opinions... and here's another one. I found the Gallardo to not be rev happy at all. Ok, so if you plant her down at 1st gear, she'll let rip. But go up to second gear, and all of a sudden it takes ages for it to climb all the way up to 8000rpm redline (ok, so you're driving at around 100mph, but still).

 

Sounds like a fun day! I've driven a fair # of exotic/near exotic cars as well, and also feel the S2000 driving experience holds up very well once you strip away the nameplates, fancy styling, etc.

Yes, most of them are significantly faster, but that doesn't always translate in more fun to drive, esp. in the real world where traffic, cops, and traffic lights interfere w/ the fun.