This year Lamborghini celebrates its 50th anniversary. The unusual and unique design of the legendary car moved it to an unattainable level long time ago.
In 1963 Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. as a subsidiary firm of his tractor company Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A. It's curious that according to the legend Enzo Ferrari was the person who provoked Ferruccio into supercar manufacturing. Lamborghini bought a few of Enzo’s cars but he was not satisfied with them and when he confronted Ferrari with some complaints, the latter told him to “do better if he could” in a rather rude manner.
It’s impossible to make a comparison whether it was it better or worse. Airy and graceful Ferrari with a prancing horse on its bonnet is totally dissimilar from the muscular and raging Lamborghini’s bull. By the way one more reason to create such emblem was the fact that Ferruccio was born under the Taurus sign. Moreover he was carried away so much that all his future models received the names which had some connection to bullfighting whether it was a breed name of a bull or any other object associated with it.
Anyway it was already in October of 1963 when the world saw the first Lamborghini 350 GTV prototype — two-seat coupé with a 3.5-litre V12 engine and an output of 347 hp. Then came the mid-engined Miura stirring up the market; next there were Espada, Countach. With the beginning of collaboration with Chrysler there came the Diablo; and after moving under the wing of Audi AG — the Murciélago (in 2001).
Gallardo became the most popular model (the right way to pronounce it is “gayardo”). It was released in 2003 and beat all sales records: more than 14,000 of cars have already been sold by now. In 2011 Aventador took over the Murciélago’s place. Today it is one of the most beautiful and recognizable supercars in the world: its body consisting of broken lines and diverse surfaces is one of the most photogenic designs ever created.
A new car to replace Gallardo is ready to come up — Lamborghini Cabrera. They say it will enter the market in the beginning of 2014. But the company itself confirms neither the name of the car, nor the release date.
The history of the company in Russia is rather complicated. Lamborghini management is not happy with the way the cars are being sold and decided to change the dealer once again. In the beginning of September 2013 a new dealership agreement was signed with the Avtodom company and in the beginning of October a new showroom will open in Moscow.
Lamborghini decided to celebrate its anniversary and new prospects in a rather unordinary way by inviting its friends and clients on September 23–24 to the Moscow Raceway (a racing track located near Moscow) and letting them test and experience two current major models: Gallardo and Aventador. The Gallardo cars were presented both in rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions.
By the way Ferruccio Lamborghini himself was not longing to create a racing brand as he failed in auto races in his day. But nowadays Lamborghini cars are taking part in three racing series — MonoCup, GT series and Blancpain series. The tradition to check the cars on the racing track became a regular practice among car manufacturers.
The event in Moscow was organized by Lamborghini Esperienza involving Lamborghini Squadra Corse driving academy in the form of training classes where all participants could test all car versions and models presented during the “Lambo-day”.
The organizers were joking that weather conditions were also “paid for” because rain and flooded racing track provided a great possibility to experience the cars’ potential on a full scale basis. Heavy and rather stiff to handle Lamborghini, balking with their horns like the bulls on the emblem, were insistently conquering the track circle by circle proving that rough weather does not trouble them at all.
During the day spent on the track we managed to test the cars in both the traditional exercises like moose tests and s-turns and in racing on the track. We even tried to practice controlled skidding — or drift in other words. All exercises were selected to show how restive and handy at the same time the Italian cars are; to demonstrate their response time, steering excellence and of course their power and force.
It is obvious that AWD Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550–2 was the most capricious on the wet track. Any driving mistake like stepping on the accelerator or brake pedal too early or too harsh could lead to car skidding or lack of control. But it also turned out to bring the most fun though it was not easy to make it drift or spin around the cones on the first try.
AWD Gallardo LP 560–4 seemed a bit boring on the track. Stiff acceleration and somehow hard steering (would rather get a sharper steering wheel reaction and more precise control) tell us that there exist more interesting versions of track cars. And straight away we were given a sports version of the same model — LP 570–4 Edizione Tecnica. Apart from having an original exterior, the Edizione Tecnica version received additional air intakes; more powerful, durable and light brakes; a slight power increase and weight loss. Racing bucket seats became the major characteristic feature of the interior.
Though Aventador will be celebrating its 3 year anniversary soon, this car will remain up-to-date for a long time. Larger and visually heavier, standing on wide wheels, with an incredible body design based on zigzag lines, Aventador impresses you at first sight. It is so beautiful that it’s impossible to take your eyes off it. Its technical characteristics are impressive as well.
Unlike Gallardo’s V10 it has a 6.5-litre 12-cylinder engine which produces 700 hp making it possible to accelerate the car up to 100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds. Aventador stayed true to the mid-engine layout thus creating an almost perfect weight distribution for the track. The whole car body is built around the carbon monocoque weighing only 229 kg which takes down the weight of the car and delivers a power to weight ratio of 2.25 kg/hp.
This car put on a sloppy racetrack feels like a locomotive running on rails. In addition to that Aventador like Gallardo keeps all the Lamborghini family traits. It is a powerful and restive car demanding for the constant concentration of its owner and not excusing any mistakes. You cannot relax even for a second when driving a Lamborghini or it might lead to disastrous consequences. You are constantly training your will and attention.
Unlim 500+ regular participants Yuri Milayev and Andrey Nosov were invited to take part in Lamborghini Esperienza. They tested the cars on the track and the ground, told us about their impressions and shared their experience of driving in bad weather conditions.
Yuri Milayev, the winner of Unlim 500+ spring’13 and Unlim 500+ autumn’13. Driving Nissan GT-R Alpha 12 AMS / Turbo Drive:
— I was invited by the representatives to perform real-time testing of Lamborghini cars on the track and I’m very grateful for this invitation. The truth is that I’ve been cherishing the idea of ordering Lamborghini Aventador but right now I’m confused by the fact that a new Lamborghini model, which is likely to be called Cabrera, will make appearance within the next half a year. I really don’t want to make the wrong decision here. On the other hand Cabrera (let’s call it this way) will lack any serious problems as both the engine they are planning to use there and the gear box have already been time-tested by Audi R8 and there shouldn’t be any “hardware” defects. There might be some suspension problems but there is nothing to be seriously afraid of.
— What are you impressions of Aventador?
— The car is wide, comfortable and softer than Gallardo. The visibility is much better. Aventador seems heavier but it is amazingly stable on the track and goes smooth both on the straight and in turns. And it also seemed to me that it holds the road better than SuperLeggera for example, though the steering of the latter is sharper.
— How would Aventador look in Unlim 500+ series?
— I think that it would definitely be the winner in “Stock car” category. Its only competitor could become Bugatti Veyron. The same goes for the “Exclusive car” category. Veyron is more powerful for sure but you need to know how to handle it first. Aventador would be faster in our conditions.
Andrey Nosov, driving Porsche 911 Turbo (997) Mk.1 Switzer/Protomotive:
— I really liked the event held on Moscow Raceway for the idea, the organization and the amount of new information received. Of course, it was not possible to discover the full potential of the cars but we surely made some conclusions. Gallardo is a great car — it’s bright, sportive and powerful. But for my liking Aventador is more up-to-date and more powerful, its reactions are more precise, but it is obviously more expensive as well. What concerns Gallardo, I think that its major advantage is that a great variety of customizing is available for it. Also sloppy surface is not fully illustrative. I drove a Gallardo on the dry surface on a racetrack in Las Vegas and it felt like a totally different car. It has great steering and you perceive it in a totally different way than on the wet track. Lamborghini is a real supercar to dream about and to aim for.
Editorial note:
Andrey Nosov became an absolute winner of all Squadra Corse Lamborghini Esperienza races held on Moscow Raceway on September 23, 2013 basing on all results. He received a valuable prize: Lamborghini Aventador model. The third place was taken by Sergey Rodionov aka Grey Wolf. Congratulations to the guys!
Maria Melnikova for Dragtimes.ru
