Mileage, Smileage ...

 

Nice one Graham

Pity you cancelled this years Arran meet

(Bet it will be a bit of a handful on some of those Arran roads)

 

Graham, RE the mileage, just use it and don't think about it! You only live once apparently. You don't want to be like me at the opposite end, questioning if it's worth having an expensive toy as its not getting used. You will have better memories the more you drive it

 

That's stunning and just a little bit jealous but in a good way

I like MBs way of thinking, you didn't buy it to have it sat in the garage!

 

Hi Steven. Yes, a shame but to be honest it took me 45 minutes to drive from Brodick to Lochranza, the roads being so bad. I'd rather enjoy - and share - the car on the mainland at the moment. Saying that, there are still a lot of people wanting to come up in the summer and I know the car will definately be on the island a few days either side of the Arran Show, 1st August.

I should add that the car is not kept on the island.

 

Yes, I agree with what you're saying. I can increase my mileage allowance insurance-wise if need be and the car is not exactly high mileage (at 16k) but something stops me from taking it out on big drives every day. Can't explain it. Maybe I am just trying to keep myself in a state of disbelief!

 

+1 get out there!

 

Going on a tour tomorrow with a few lamborghinis. Will be posting pics.

 

Mmmmmm.

Still think i'd take prancing horse over raging bull!

Any first hand thoughts between the two would be interesting, Graham

 

Well, at the moment I am still a bit in awe at what is downstairs, so i am biased. I actually gave my dealer-friend the option of getting me either. I was incredibly lucky to get the 430 in the right colour and huge spec - it really was my preferred car.

Gearbox:
The e-gear on the Gallardo is, in my opinion, a lot rougher than the F430. Even the new Gallardos that I drove with Lamborghini's test driver a couple of months ago were quite tricky to "get right" so that you didn't launch yourself back and forth changing gear. The F430 is as close to the GTR as I have driven, bearing in mind the GTR is a double clutch and is as smooth as a baby's butt.

Driveability
Quite similar although I am uber-impressed with the Ferrari's smoothness going round corners at speed, even more so than the Gallardo. I will make it sound like I know what i am on about and mention that this is likely due to the e-diff on the Ferrari. Visibility is about even in both cars, the Spider's roof up does offer a bit of a blurred view out of the back, as it's a plastic screen. But then, I've not driven much with the roof up, of course...

Running Costs
I'm told they are similar. Gallardo may actually win here but I was speaking to another 430 owner today and he says that if you budget £2500 for a clutch every 15000 miles on average, plus £1500 for a set of tyres, then you can expect an annual service of £700 (or £1500 for a big one). After that, it's just fuel, tax, mot, insurance.... and as long as nothing "goes wrong". As we spoke, he intimated that the 430 is truly the bargain Ferrari in terms of ownership. You don't even need to worry about cam belts - the 430 is chain driven.
I believe the gallardo is similar in many respects to this.

Subtlety
Okay, you may want to blend in from time to time. Gallardo wins. It's not as visual as the Ferrari in my opinion. The Diablo/Countach, on the other hand...

City Driving
I have taken the 430 through Glasgow twice now. It's fine. It's VERY wide though. It's not me that needs to understand this, it's the taxi behind who thinks I can overtake that bus and still have room for oncoming traffic. The 430 is 6" TOO NARROW for my garage on Arran, which takes the BMW 318 with a foot to spare!

Future Value
Don't know what to think here. 430 production figures were never released. I am hoping, of course, that things remain at current levels and I think the Gallardo owners may be slightly better off here. Good examples of either car are all over £65k. If the economy gets better soon then I think we could look at any Italian thoroughbred actually increasing a bit. 458 prices are still crazy, which helps me. As the other owner and I discussed, you can pay £200,000 for a new 458 or pay a third of that and get a car that's 80% the same. Sort of...

Fuel Economy
It's simply something i don't want to think about. I don't want to know my mpg. I know it's low. It's a Ferrari. Lamborghinis are no better.

Time taken to wash them
Ferrari loses. Damn intakes are everywhere! And you have to be careful how much water goes into the engine bay. All manner of sensors can trip up if they get damp.

There you go. Not exactly a pro review, but just my 2p so far.