jtse30

From www.lamborghiniregistry.com home page: FOR DIABLOS & MURCIELAGOS EQUIPPED WITH KONI LIFTING SYSTEMS: As a permanent solution to chronic leaking of fluid from cars fitted with these front-lift systems, I have re-designed and re-manufactured internal parts and seals to rectify the problem with complete success. I have undertaken this as Koni no longer services these units. I hereby offer all Lamborghini owners and Dealers, the opportunity to re-manufacture your existing shocks, or replace them on an exchange basis. These re-manufactured shocks will have an unconditional written warranty of two years and unlimited vehicle mileage. The price for two of units is $1,900.00 plus, shipping and taxes. For inquiries, please call 714- 434-1412 or e-mail to the following address: [email protected] Claudio Zampolli's experience includes working at the Lamborghini Factory from 1967 to 1975, and he maintains his own precision machine shop, Cizeta Automobili. He also rebuilds engines and transmissions for select owners of Lamborghinis and other Italian exotic sport cars. -J

That's NOT an SVR (anymore, if ever), check the engine bay and the interior. On the engine, the air is coming in the wrong direction. On the interior, it has Air Conditioning. So, unless some one made some very serious modifications (one good -A/C, one boneheaded-changing the air intake) it is NOT an SVR. Of course it has power windows, wrong wing, headlights, etc. Looks like this may have previously been an SVR (thanks Placid) but totally redone, too bad if that's true, but an SVR it is defintely not any more. -J

Until the Murci I never heard of ANY Lambo having a problem with the shifter breaking. I have had 3 Diablos since 1996 and never a problem, over 70,000KM total driving. And I have lots of friends with Diablos, never heard of this until the Murci. -J

there was a second Monterey Edition in this exact same color (but with black interior rather than blueberry/purple). However, the car was in an accident and was repainted purple. So, in the USA, the answer is no. Otherwise, I know of one in Hong Kong and Germany and a Diablo GT in this color in Europe, other than that, I think that's it. -J

It is NOT an engine out job. Back in 96 my 94 SE 30's belt snapped, mechanic fixed it in about an hour, lots of elbow grease. -J

How does it compare to a Murcie? Well, in what way? I like the visual design of the SV much more than the Murci. I prefer the V12 of the Diablo to the more 'ferrari like' motor of the Murcie -- ferrari like meaning the way the air hoses connect to the cam covers, looks just like a 360! I also do not like how 'fat' the Murcie is, terribly overweight, lots of 'heft' when you drive it (I have never owned a Murcie but I have driven them). Sure, car will be in Cali some time, probably not this year, maybe the Concorso 2008. pics: -J

Way to go hijacking this thread SVR, love'm but need an a/c system....did you happen to put one in? Don't need it for the cooling, need it to keep the windshield from fogging up. Thinking that you may have put one in, you know, being in Seattle area an'all. -J

Watcha got for me? I'll try my best to answer. -J

I'd vote for checking the ignition coil wires, they don't last forever...if they are original I'd toss'm and get new ones. Had a problem like this on my SE30 years ago where after 140-145mph it would just go to pot, barely accelerate, replaced the wires, bam, off I went again. -J

The rear wheels are out too far making the track a little wider than it should be, that's all, they fit the hub correctly (so not that offset) -J

Pretty sure that Platnium Motors aka LamboOC made them available for folks to put on their Diablos. Several Monterey Edition SVs ended up with them as well as others. They are not the correct offsets but they 'work'. -J

Using Michelin Pilots Sports and PS2s, run at 32-34 lbs cold for regular driving. 36-38lbs if running in the rain. With Pirellis I would about the same, maybe 1 pound higher. -J

Oil cooler cracked...was a manufacturing defect, just start leaking, this was back in '98. As for the front marker lights, at least I'll know who it was! -J

No, didn't keep the original panel or glass, didn't really think of doing that at the time. What happened was the doors were flown back to Italy and the factory modified them and then airfreighted them back. It's funny because now I keep pretty much everything from cracked foglights to cracked oil coolers. Going on year 12 of SE30 ownership. -J

I have, had the factory do it back in '96. What they did was put in SV door panels and window channel. pics: window switches are just to the right of the power mirror control SV door panel DO you have an SE30? If so, what #? -J

* Use Italian Designers * Lamborghini management should not have German surnames (Italians please) * More agressive designs such as the Edonis http://www.edonis.it/immagini/auto/004g.jpg * Work a deal with Zonda to get the Lambo V12 as an optional powerplant * Lighten up the Murci / follow-on model, car is too heavy * Use an aluminum skin not carbon fibre (I do not believe this is mutually exclusive with the lighter weight request) * Do something about the "boat paddle" Murci side mirrors, please (no wonder they are never body-colored keyed) * Rely less on "platform sharing" with Audi/VW products - make Lambo its own platform * Why own Lamborghini if you are going to continue to erode its brand by "audi-izing" it? -J

Mako - 1. Don't be so sure...after all, Bentley has a much larger following and tradition and they are going to make them outside of the Crewe plant. 2. The press I have been reading clearly states the Lemans will be produced with deliveries starting in 2007, here's a sample link referring to direct quotes by an Audi rep: http://www.audiworld.com/news/05/lmq/content.shtml The fellow in the article above can be contacted here: Doug Clark, 248-754-5311 [email protected] Maybe you could help clear this up? 3. Low Quality Audi is a direct quote from the automotive press from an Audi representative, that's not my quote, I passed it on as a reference for the rest of what I was presenting, perhaps you could re-read that part of the thread. I wouldn't know a high quality Audi from a low quality Audi as I have never taken the opportunity to investigate this. Fine German Car -- this is my opinion after driving the car and my understanding of its construction (Audi Motor, Audi Frame, Audi Body (construction thereof vs design of), Audi Interior = German Car), I say "Fine" because I have driven them, seen them driven very hard (at race tracks by professional drivers). -J

Mako Check out this story: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/...rticleId=105556 Makes you wonder if the same thing will happen with the Gallardo once the Lemans begins production, heck, the Gallaro is mostly created outside of Italy already. If it does, that is, the Gallardo final production is moved outside of Italy (at least some of it), will that be a Lambo then? And I think there continues to be a misunderstanding of my comments, the Gallardo is a fine German car, I have no issue with that. -J

Placid - Regarding the motor, this link http://www.lambocars.com/archive/others/p140.htm states that Lambo's own engineers created it and that is a totally different engine than what was eventually used in the Gallardo. I think it is reasonable to conclude that it was a Jalpa V8 box was cast a bit larger and bored out with two more cylinders. The Jalpa engine specs are pretty close to what ended up in the Cala except for the 2 additional cylinders and 4valves per cylinder. Even max engine revs are about the same: Jalpa Engine Specs: http://www.lambocars.com/archive/jalpa/jal...lpas.htm#engine Cala Engine Specs: http://www.lambocars.com/archive/others/cala.htm And for grins, the Gallardo specs: http://www.lambocars.com/gal/galls.htm#engine -J

Hello Placid, Thanks for the reply, I didn't know about that, interesting news. I wonder what the actual "car" would have been, that is, the "Cala" design or something else, perhaps Lambo was going to do a front engine car (like the Espada)...any ideas on what the baby lambo was to be at that time? Thanks, -J

Wow, lots of replies to do here. First, here's my summary: I think the Gallardo, on its own merits, is a great car, no doubt a German engineered product that I have a hard time labelling as a Lamborghini, perhaps in spirit but not in production (car was completely engineered by Audi in Germany with major components being completely manfucturered in Audi's existing facilities with only final assembly performed in Sant'####). Because of the heavy cross-breeding, that is, loads of German influence, I now find myself saying "what about something else" because this fine car is not a Lambo in the traditional sense and that's what bugs me most. On to the replies: Allan - On the Murcie, didn't realize the Murcie whooped ass so much over the Diablo GT, that's impressive. On the Ferrari's, I never paid attention to them, yikes, not a style to emulate for me. Allan - Thanks for the welcome, and, I apologize for my bluntness on my initial Gallardo comments, I think I had some frustrations there that were not well sorted out before I "spoke", I certainly have no quarrel with any one on this board, just Audi's. DancingBenzos - I have seen a black/black Gallardo at night, but, only from behind the wheel, I can certainly picture it as you say and that is very cool...a word on Black for me is this, I previously owned a Black VT ('94) and found that the Black paint hid so much of the outrageous body that it really made the car practically invisible...to wit: whenever I took the Yellow SE out everyone saw me even those 5 miles behind me in traffic, whenever I took the Black VT out nobody saw me, for me, Black hides the beautiful bodywork too much but it is a very impressive sight. 5to1 - The colors in that picture are a little saturated, the yellow certainly stands out but I would not say anymore than any other yellow Gallardo, well, other than the wheels being "smokecoat grey", that certainly helps accentuate the car's appearance - the interior though does stand out, I like it a lot. Placid - On the Lambo factory asking Audi for a motor for the baby Lambo, I do not recall that, certainly it is possible, I wonder how that would have turned out. Doesn't the Spyker use an Audi V8? And a long time ago Koenigsegg tried and failed to get Audi to supply them with a motor. AllOutExotics - No doubt the Germans have landed, some time ago of course. It's always curious to see a German out there representing Lamborghini, to that end the Germans (at Audi) have been putting more "Italian" types in "public facing" positions, or at least Germans that don't look so German and speak fluent Italian such as Manfred Fitzgerald -- so Audi is trying to manage that part of public relations. Additionally, Check Motor Cars Intl, they currently list a low mile Red SE30, you might want to grab that. Check with Cosimo @ the factory, he can do the door mods for full power windows -- what happens is they take the doors off and ship them to the factory for modification -- the mod includes totally gutting the door since there is no "window track" or motor or even room for it, what you get is a Diablo SV door panel (one that's not so heavy on the leather like the VT/Roadster door panels). Thanks everyone for the active chat! And thank you Allan for having this board. -John

Shadowman, I would like their to be a new Lambo in my future...we'll see what tomorrow brings (Murcie SV?). -J

Hey Romandad, I noticed it first off, just walking up to the back of the car, I said "what's that" and took a look (this was a while back when I first saw a Gallardo at Monterey), I have an eye for detail, a pretty critical eye as it turns out and that visual got me to looking at why it was that way and that's when I found out all what that motor was. -J

abolfaz, Yes, it does give the rear character, but, why it is there is what bugs me. Regarding the '98 Yellow SV, no, that was the factory test car that I had the privilege of placing the first 3000km on before it was passed on to the motoring journalists (that car made a lot of front covers, they /the factory/ put a wing on it before giving it the journalists. The car is a blast on the track! -J

Hello Mako, Not so much joking as using this "hanging tranny" to point out that this motor is what I have a problem with. The motor has been "forced" to fit rather than powerly engineered for a mid-engine vehicle. The hanging tranny is symbolic of this, and, when I see it, it just reminds me of this and this I do not like. I have very analytical mind (engineer by training and trade) and I always prefer the elegant solution and this smacks of engineering trade offs. Therein lies the problem with Audi, they don't care enough to make it right, just good enough and there's too much of that going on out there, I expect more out of a Lambo, espeically its powertrain. By the way, this is also why the Murcie Roadster has crossmembers over the top of the motor, engineering tradeoff, rather than properly engineering the chassis they "put a chassis patch" over the top of the motor to help reinforce the car. I understand why race cars have such crossmembers (they are usually retrofiting someone else's design) but when it is your design, do it right. That I would expect out of Audi. Let's see the Lemans improves on this at all (hanging tranny). -J