Has anyone here gone from a high horsepower, torquey car to a Gallardo?

Currently I drive a 800rwhp Corvette. Its a torque monster and of course quite fast. I very much enjoy it, but its been a few years and I want to try something new. A gallardo is on my shortlist of cars and also at the very top of my budget, so I'm a bit hesitant and trying to do as much research as possible.

While the car looks good and sounds good, I've never driven one, and I'm trying to gauge whether I'll be disappointed due to what I'm coming from. Driving one isnt really a possibility. I'm south of Tampa in a city no one has heard of, dealerships dont do test drives on these, and theres none on Turo.

Always been a fan of a loud, rumbling V8, always loved low end torque more than top speed sort of cars. While a TT kit could of course eliminate this worry, it isnt really in the cards right now. I built my corvettes turbo kit myself in my garage. Bought two turbos and fabbed all the piping and brackets myself. No reason I couldnt do the same thing with a Gallardo, but with what engines cost I dont think I'd ever have the courage to do it in case something went wrong, and I definitely cant bring myself to spend $35k on what is basically $5k in actual parts from UGR or Heffner, so turbos wont be happening.

Was hoping you guys could give some insight if you were ever in a similar position. What was the switch like? I havent decided yet on egear vs manual. I'd probably grab a manual if possible, but the egear is closer to my price range.

Welcome to the Bullpen. You'll find a lot of people here who have both high horsepower and stock powered cars.

You'll want to find a way to do a test drive. Get to a reputable dealer, or find someone nearby that would be willing to take your for a ride or let you behind the wheel.

That being said, going from a 1,000 crank-horsepower RWD Vette to a 500 crank-horsepower AWD will be quite different. Definitely not apples to apple comparison. I'd plan on being somewhat underwhelmed if you are looking for the same amount of drama you are getting from the Vette.

And a fair bit of warning, I won't be the last to mention this. These cars (while Gallardo's are fairly durable and, I hate to use the term 'bullet-proof') if it's a stretch to get yourself into a used e-gear, it more than likely isn't the right time to buy one. The repairs can be expensive and if you are tapped for the purchase, if you have some problems you're screwed. It sounds like you have a decent mechanical aptitude, but I'd err on the side of caution if you've never worked on one before. But that's just myself if you are brave enough and won't let anything hold you back, go for it. 

Hope that gives a little bit of insight, but keep us updated and any other questions you have, don't hesitate to ask.

3 hours ago, Destructo said:

And a fair bit of warning, I won't be the last to mention this. These cars (while Gallardo's are fairly durable and, I hate to use the term 'bullet-proof') if it's a stretch to get yourself into a used e-gear, it more than likely isn't the right time to buy one. The repairs can be expensive and if you are tapped for the purchase, if you have some problems you're screwed. It sounds like you have a decent mechanical aptitude, but I'd err on the side of caution if you've never worked on one before. But that's just myself if you are brave enough and won't let anything hold you back, go for it. 

 

No doubt, this is something I will need to look further into. I've got just about every regular maintenance item added up and noted the costs for some of the more common part failures. They arent *too* bad even considering the expensive and short-lasting clutches. Everyone has very different ideas of what afford means, which is what makes it hard to gauge what the norm is with other owners. To some a 144 month loan is affording the car, to others you cant afford it unless you pay all cash. I started looking at more impractical cars when I realized I drove my corvette about 1000 miles last year. I work from home so my driving is limited, which means cost:mile doesnt matter so much. My only real worry are catastrophic failures. I've found a few cases of people buying Gallardos where the previous owner changed the oil every 20k, and found they were looking at $40k+ for a new engine. That would definitely hurt. I think most would say I'm not stretching to afford the car, I just have some complex when it comes to being overly frugal and spending any money that isnt going to earn a return has always been hard for me.

Echoing the previous advice of driving a few Gallardos (egear/manual; AWD/RWD) to understand the car.  There are plenty of Lamborghini dealers in Fl so it would be worth a drive to one or two for test drives and education.  I suspect as noted you will not be thrilled with the base engine coming out of your Corvette.   A TT Gallardo may be what you're looking for and there always seems to be a few available at reasonable prices.  UGR appears to be the preferred system but I'll defer to the experts on TT advice.  Good luck and hope you find something you like.

12 hours ago, MindfulMoose said:

No doubt, this is something I will need to look further into. I've got just about every regular maintenance item added up and noted the costs for some of the more common part failures. They arent *too* bad even considering the expensive and short-lasting clutches. Everyone has very different ideas of what afford means, which is what makes it hard to gauge what the norm is with other owners. To some a 144 month loan is affording the car, to others you cant afford it unless you pay all cash. I started looking at more impractical cars when I realized I drove my corvette about 1000 miles last year. I work from home so my driving is limited, which means cost:mile doesnt matter so much. My only real worry are catastrophic failures. I've found a few cases of people buying Gallardos where the previous owner changed the oil every 20k, and found they were looking at $40k+ for a new engine. That would definitely hurt. I think most would say I'm not stretching to afford the car, I just have some complex when it comes to being overly frugal and spending any money that isnt going to earn a return has always been hard for me.

 

It appears you are doing your research, which will serve you well long-term.

And you are correct on "affordability" we had a few "I'm putting every penny I have to get a payment on a 2004 e-gear Gallardo with 60,000 miles" kind of posts, so most here are fairly skeptical when it comes to some style of questions.  A couple of experienced and financially successful members whose input suggested not going over 10-20% of your annual income into a vehicle. And judging from their stables, I'd say they are making A LOT of right decisions. Hardly gospel, but a perspective. 

Better to be safe than sorry, but it sounds like you already know that. Good luck with the search, and let us know what you find or if you have any other questions.  Keep an eye on the inventory of Cats Exotics. Roy has plenty of well sorted out vehicles at great prices, and everyone loves to work with him. 

Yes. I have. Gone form standard LP gallardo to a UR stage 3 TT as daily driver and now 2009 LP560-4 as a daily driver while re fettling my UR stage 3 TT after 50,000 miles of 'spirited' driving.

If you have a 800 rwhp vette, you will be underwhelmed with the performance of a pre-lp Gallardo.

A 560-4 LP Gallardo has stronger performance and is nicely balanced. A LP 570- 4 Gallardo even more so.
As you are a hands on mechanic, the manual Gallardo , if you can find one is easier to work on.,

A comparable car performance wise to your vette would be a stage 3 UGR TT, but pricing again a lot higher.

Prices coming down as more owners switch to UGR Huracans.

The naturally aspirated  Gallardo in whatever form are very reliable as a result of their german Audi  DNA in my experience.

The UR TT also very reliable due to the bullet proof UR engineering, in my experience.

The one thing that wont underwhelm you is the attention you will get on the road and wherever you park up as the Gallardo is a classic supercar.

So be prepared for that!

Whatever Gallardo you get into, I am sure that you will become a tragic as the other  forum members are.

cheers,

john

ps my brother is an old style vette tragic, so  we both go to our local classic cars and coffee together.

I ride with him at times. Love the V8 rumble

 

I wanted to revive this thread with a similar question.  I recently sold my Porsche 911 C2S Cabriolet and want to replace it with a Lambo.  I love the look, lines and SOUND of the Pre-LP Gallardo Spyder (Gated).  On paper, the G is not that much faster (if any) than my PDK Porsche was.  My plan B is to wait a few more years for Huracan prices to bottom out and get into a used H, which is much faster (although R.I.P rowing through gears myself)

My hope was the exhaust note, gated shifter and open top would give a more dramatic experience which could offset the car not being super fast.  Is that the case?  (I really prefer a very visceral feel in getting thrown back into my seat coming from motorcycles.  Frankly, I'd prefer a car to "feel" fast rather than be fast as I am not concerned with track times, and am just looking to have fun.

I realize that the best approach is for me to test drive, but as I live in Colorado every car that would be a contender is at sea level and far to test drive (and likely 18-20% down on power at a mile above sea level.   I was curious what the thoughts were here .