chuckd

OK, I GOTTA know more details about that! I remember one local GT owner who was envious of my 430! What kind of race did you do, 0 - 60 in reverse? LOL

We've found that for some reason the seats in the 722 are more comfortable than the stock SLR. I'm pretty sure they are the standard US size (Large) in both of them. However, my legs don't get quite as squeezed in the 722 as in the stock SLR. I'm not sure I agree that it's more comfortable than the Gallardo, but our Spyder has standard cushy seats. Our 430 has sport buckets, so the 722 is definitely more comfortable than the 430. It's definitely waaaaay more stiff than any of our other cars. I don't really want to drive any of them for 200 miles straight. I'd be a little sore, but if I had to, I think I'd pick the Gallardo or LP640. But to get there the fastest? Definitely the 722! Absolutely the best car for an average driver to get the most out of (without potentially killing him/herself).

Well for us it's not just performance, seeing as we also have an F430 Spider and Gallardo Spyder too. For us it's fun factor (which does have performance built in), ease of use, and looks. Economics does factor in, which is why we haven't pulled the trigger on an Enzo (I can't make myself pay double sticker for anything), or a Veyron, because it just doesn't look that great. The CCX was completely undriveable in an everyday situations (I'd have to lean on the dashboard just to see a stoplight), as is a Saleen S7 (how many reverse pullups can YOU do just getting in the thing). Of course, we love knowing they're fast, but really, how often do you get to do that?

Well, I'll do what I can, but we've had the 722 for only about 3 days now. We've owned the basic SLR for over a year and a half, so there's a lot of experience with it. Also, I'm a fairly average driver. I'm not exactly going to take on the Stig at the track. Handling wise, they're very similar. The 722 has a bit more agressiveness, and in our standing start drag race, it only pulls about one car length gap at 130 Mph. In reality, it only seems 'slightly' faster than the stock SLR, so it's not a huge difference. Exterior wise, I like the black wheels with the red calipers much better, plus the front air splitter looks great. It's noticeably lower than the standard SLR, but not necessarily in the front (I was worried about how low the front would be). The whole car is lower, apparently. The biggest difference is the interior changes. The 722 is much, much nicer inside, with all the carbon fiber trim and suede leather. The steering wheel is much improved, with a soft suede section that feels really good. There's still some of that silver plastic in certain places (right around the radio and air conditioning controls, for example), but not near as much. They changed from the click buttons to paddle shifting, but the paddles are still attached to the wheel (they rotate with the wheel). The SLR/722 is the only exotic we have that the paddles rotate with the wheel, and I'm not sure I like it or not. It's nice in a gradual turn, but sucks in a tight turn (but then again you don't shift much in a tight turn, do you?) However, the BIGGEST disappointment (to me) is the paddles have virtually no 'travel' to them (they might as well still be those click buttons). Definitely different than the LP, Gallardo, F430 or DB9. Sitting in the 722, you feel much more agressive (think fighter pilot) than in the SLR, but it's probably due to the interior changes. Both cars lose a lot in the sound category. If you're a sound freak, the F430 and Gallardo are great, but you don't really get to 'live' the SLR engine experience. Earlier today my wife whipped by me on the highway (she was in the 722), and the sound reminded me a bit like a Harley!) I see driving the car much like the Veyron. Leave it in Sport Automatic mode, then left click when you want that extra boost, and switch back to automatic when you're done. In either car, the brakes will pull the teeth out of your head! We haven't stomped the brakes on the 722, but it's supposed to stop even faster than the stock SLR. That's quite scary, if you've ever done it in an SLR. SO wrapping it up, most of the changes are cosmetic and much improved in the 722. There just happens to be only 24 722's in the US (only 60 in the world at this point), and supposedly there will only be 150 ever built. All the US versions are identical in appearance, and were sold to previous SLR owners. Let me mention this.... a while back, we test drove the Koenigsegg CCX. The professional driver there (I won't mention his name), was intimately familiar with the SLR (base model). Behind the scenes, he thought the SLR was the far better car than the CCX. Very different beast (the CCX), but I definitely see what he meant.

Here's a question.... do you guys REALLY believe the LP can do a 3.3 second 0 - 60? Of course, if you use the speedo on the LP, you'll only be doing about 54 when it says 60 anyway. Oh, and I've test driven a Veyron.... it'll spank us all, for sure. It's just ugly and unimpressive to look at in person!

Hey, I'm always open to criticism, no problems here. Having traction control on obviously takes a bit of power away, but the 722 had it's on as well. This was representative of average drivers simply trying to drag race. In these normal modes, I can't see how in the world my LP could ever catch the 722. Haven't played enough without traction control (either car), so I have no clue as to what that would do if it was off. Also, obviously I can't rev it up and drop the clutch, since I have E-gear. Seems kinda silly though, we're kind of getting to a point of saying 'Gee, if Balboni drove the LP, with a true automatic launch, and the 722 had Stevie Wonder driving with 83 octane fuel and bags of sand in the trunk......'. We've driven the LP alot, the old SLR alot, and the 722 very little (2 days worth). In our opinion, there's no way the LP will ever catch it. Next video, hopefully this weekend, will be a rolling start from 50. I'll be in 2nd gear sport mode. Once we hit the 'line', we'll both punch it to 140 and see what happens. Oh, and I won't shift until closer to 8000 RPM.

I agree, and the 722 is like 604 in the torque department! By the way, after watching the video, that guy is taking advantage of the Murcie's launch mode. Think about the brief period there at the beginning that he had to rev before the tranny kicked in. The 722 would be waaaay ahead already. Imagine doing a 1/4 mile at the drag strip. How would you use automatic launch mode effectively there?

Admittedly, both cars had traction control on. The 722 was simply stomped to the floor (the LP640 was too). My wife's probably a bit better at drag racing than I am, and I know I'm not talented enough to take advantage of turning off traction control. I'd probably spin all over the place! Just a question here.... how would you launch the 640 better? If you're referring to it's version of Launch Control, how do you time that in a racing start? I simply waited until GO, pressed the pedal to the floor, then shifted at roughly 7500 RPM. The LP has always been a bit slow to react at the start, where the 722 just takes off immediately. And Alan, I'm working on an alternate means for you to see the video. Be patient.

Putfile converts the files to Flash format. I guess you have to have the Flash Player installed. It IS big, since I took it with a DV camera, but with good internet speed it shouldn't take more than about 30 to 40 seconds to start.

That was actually just a guess. We didn't do it much, but it seemed that the 722 wanted to pull away no matter what I did. Kind sad, really. I suspect that an Enzo might be eaten for lunch by the 722!

Just playing around on the highway on the way home, the 722 pulls away at any speed I want. For example, both of us running at 55, I (LP640) double left click to 3rd and punch it all the way. The 722 simply pulls away at about the same clip as the video. I have no idea what happens between 130 and 200 Mph, however. Not sure where I could even find out!

But we finally did THE race! SLR 722, which arrived last night, versus the Murcielago LP640. First the setup.... The 722 has a full tank of 91 octane gas, and my wife is driving (130 pounds). She's in Sport mode, fully automatic. All she has to do is stomp on the gas and hold on. I'm in the LP640, with 1/6 tank of gas, which is 101 octane racing fuel. I weigh 215 pounds. I'm in Sport mode too, but of course I have to paddle shift. PLUS, I'm holding the camera with my left hand, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. We're racing to 130 Mph, then backing off, using the 722 speedometer as our guide (The LP is waaaay off, like always). My wife starts us with a finger count up (1, 2, 3, GO!). I'm NOT using any launch control, just stomping on it and upshifting at around 7500 RPM or so. Both cars are stock. My start sucks, so please be nice! But, I think she got an early jump. See for yourself. http://media.putfile.com/SLR-722-vs-Murcielago-LP640 We raced again without me holding the camera, with similar results (I actually had a slight rolling start). Don't be fooled at the end of the video where I seem to be staying even (like if we raced to 200 I might catch up). She had backed off the gas already and was coasting, wondering what that little yellow speck in her rearview mirror was! As a side note, we spent all morning racing our standard SLR versus the 722 the same way. At 130 Mph, there was a one car separation. HOWEVER, it's a warm day here, and I got cool air vents! Her 722 just looks the same.....

OK, I'm a dork. Somehow when playing with the 430 awhile back in manual mode, I killed it right away, and 'assumed' that it didn't automatically downshift. So yesterday I tried it again, and it downshifts just fine on it's own. Generally around 1500 RPM when you're at any kind of speed, lower RPM when you're slower. All the cars (E-Gear, F1, SLR button click, DB9), seem to downshift on their own just fine in full manual mode. Now how in the heck did I kill the 430 the first time I tried it? No clue. It has had it's share of weirdness since we've had it, like the transmission overheating while waiting for a train to pass, and several starts in 'funky mode' requiring a complete shut down and restart. However, 722 comes next Tuesday!!! Totally pumped here!

Not so much too lazy, as I just don't want to think too much. I've become accustomed to slowing down for a turn, and being in somewhat the proper gear after the turn (with most of my cars I want to do one down click though). Going from 5th to 2nd coming off a highway would drive me nuts if I had to do it myself all the time, because I'm usually not driving at the limits. Plus, what if you're holding your Starbucks in your left hand.......?

Thanks guys. Must be nice to have a 722 already in Canada. We're only getting 24 here in the US, so it's quite hard to get one. Hopefully within a week.....