First drive in a Ferrari and Lamborghini
Discussion
For my birthday the OH paid for me to do back-to-back Ferrari and Lamborghini driving experiences at Prodrive with Everyman. I've been crazy about Italian exotics all of my life, but this was the first time I've ever driven one, on this occasion a 360 Modena and a Gallardo.
I've read numerous stories about how these experiences can be a bit of a let down due to not being allowed to drive the car hard enough, but I thought that both of my instructors got it spot on. I was allowed to stretch both cars to pretty much the limit of my ability (even if the cars had something left) and was told to change gear at about 6,000 rpm, which seemed perfectly fair to me. Both instructors did a superb job of gauging my ability and then allowing my to get the maximum from the experience without getting into trouble. It took a short while for me to get my head around the idea that I didn't have to look in the mirrors and trouble myself with the presence of other vehicles on the circuit (the instructors did all of the observation for you) but once I did I was able to focus and really get the maximum from the experience. The instructors' ability to facilitate my driving experience while observing other vehicles was impressive - something I imagine requires a great deal of skill.
Flappy paddles:
When I arrived I hoped that both cars would be manual as I'd never driven a flappy paddle gear change before and didn't want a chunk of my time to be spend adapting to something I wasn't used to. As it happened, but cars had flappy paddles, but I really needn't have worried. It was such an intuitive system to use that I had bonded and formed a deep and meaningful relationship with it after the first speeding up and slowing down cycle - I loved it! My only complaint, pertaining to both cars, was that the paddles didn't move with the steering wheel, so if you wanted to snatch another gear mid corner you'd have to take a hand off the wheel and try to guess where the paddle was. Also, the paddles on the Lamborghini were rather small, slightly too high and, therefore, easy to miss even when driving in a straight line.
Acceleration:
The 360 had lovely linear acceleration - couldn't really fault it. The Gallardo felt slightly too gentle initially, but then the power would start to build quicker as the revs rose - imagine turbo lag but less pronounced. The Gallardo was the more powerful of the two so I ended up going faster in it than in the Ferrari, but the 360 fell like it was telling you more of a story!
Brakes:
The 360's brakes were lovely. They required a firm foot (much like the brakes on my E36 BMW) and the amount of braking was directly related to the amount of pressure that I put through the pedal. That's how I like my brakes to feel! the Gallardo had carbon ceramic brakes which required a complete re-think! Hit the brakes and nothing happens. Then, suddenly, there's enough heat in the brakes and you're practically thrown through the windscreen! It less natural that the Ferrari's brakes but after adjusting to hitting the brakes hard initially and then reducing pressure as they heated up I was able to achieve some reasonably smooth braking.
Go-Karts:
Both cars felt like dirty great go-karts. The sensations through the steering wheel, brake pedal and the seat and the sheer 'crudeness' (for lack of a better expression) of both cars meant that I was quickly able to build a lot of confidence and to step out afterwards feeling like a noisy and very energetic Italian girl had just given me a very thorough seeing to!
Overall:
I've always been a dyed-in-the-wool Ferrari fan, and on the day the 360 felt the most user friendly and was the car in which I instantly felt most at home. The Gallardo, with it's slightly-too-small and slightly-too-high paddles, odd brakes, vague (though deceptively savage) acceleration and slightly-too-low seating position (at least for this 5'7" dwarf) was the harder car to live with, but actually shook me up more as a result. The purpose of these cars is to be unashamedly fast and to terrify you, so in that sense the Gallardo was the winner. I told the instructor I'd found it harder to drive than the 360, though his response was the the 360 is actually the harder to drive and maybe I'd simply been pushing the Gallardo much harder (due to it actually being easier to drive) and thus scared myself more and tired myself out more with it. Of the two, I'd probably buy a 360, though the surprising amount of differences between the two make it hard to compare them objectively.
Finally, if you don't own a supercar but get chance to do one of these days, you really should. I'll be saving up for more of these experiences in future - a 6th Gear one at Elvington next, I think
I've read numerous stories about how these experiences can be a bit of a let down due to not being allowed to drive the car hard enough, but I thought that both of my instructors got it spot on. I was allowed to stretch both cars to pretty much the limit of my ability (even if the cars had something left) and was told to change gear at about 6,000 rpm, which seemed perfectly fair to me. Both instructors did a superb job of gauging my ability and then allowing my to get the maximum from the experience without getting into trouble. It took a short while for me to get my head around the idea that I didn't have to look in the mirrors and trouble myself with the presence of other vehicles on the circuit (the instructors did all of the observation for you) but once I did I was able to focus and really get the maximum from the experience. The instructors' ability to facilitate my driving experience while observing other vehicles was impressive - something I imagine requires a great deal of skill.
Flappy paddles:
When I arrived I hoped that both cars would be manual as I'd never driven a flappy paddle gear change before and didn't want a chunk of my time to be spend adapting to something I wasn't used to. As it happened, but cars had flappy paddles, but I really needn't have worried. It was such an intuitive system to use that I had bonded and formed a deep and meaningful relationship with it after the first speeding up and slowing down cycle - I loved it! My only complaint, pertaining to both cars, was that the paddles didn't move with the steering wheel, so if you wanted to snatch another gear mid corner you'd have to take a hand off the wheel and try to guess where the paddle was. Also, the paddles on the Lamborghini were rather small, slightly too high and, therefore, easy to miss even when driving in a straight line.
Acceleration:
The 360 had lovely linear acceleration - couldn't really fault it. The Gallardo felt slightly too gentle initially, but then the power would start to build quicker as the revs rose - imagine turbo lag but less pronounced. The Gallardo was the more powerful of the two so I ended up going faster in it than in the Ferrari, but the 360 fell like it was telling you more of a story!
Brakes:
The 360's brakes were lovely. They required a firm foot (much like the brakes on my E36 BMW) and the amount of braking was directly related to the amount of pressure that I put through the pedal. That's how I like my brakes to feel! the Gallardo had carbon ceramic brakes which required a complete re-think! Hit the brakes and nothing happens. Then, suddenly, there's enough heat in the brakes and you're practically thrown through the windscreen! It less natural that the Ferrari's brakes but after adjusting to hitting the brakes hard initially and then reducing pressure as they heated up I was able to achieve some reasonably smooth braking.
Go-Karts:
Both cars felt like dirty great go-karts. The sensations through the steering wheel, brake pedal and the seat and the sheer 'crudeness' (for lack of a better expression) of both cars meant that I was quickly able to build a lot of confidence and to step out afterwards feeling like a noisy and very energetic Italian girl had just given me a very thorough seeing to!
Overall:
I've always been a dyed-in-the-wool Ferrari fan, and on the day the 360 felt the most user friendly and was the car in which I instantly felt most at home. The Gallardo, with it's slightly-too-small and slightly-too-high paddles, odd brakes, vague (though deceptively savage) acceleration and slightly-too-low seating position (at least for this 5'7" dwarf) was the harder car to live with, but actually shook me up more as a result. The purpose of these cars is to be unashamedly fast and to terrify you, so in that sense the Gallardo was the winner. I told the instructor I'd found it harder to drive than the 360, though his response was the the 360 is actually the harder to drive and maybe I'd simply been pushing the Gallardo much harder (due to it actually being easier to drive) and thus scared myself more and tired myself out more with it. Of the two, I'd probably buy a 360, though the surprising amount of differences between the two make it hard to compare them objectively.
Finally, if you don't own a supercar but get chance to do one of these days, you really should. I'll be saving up for more of these experiences in future - a 6th Gear one at Elvington next, I think
Edited by MitchT on Sunday 22 September 22:50
br d said:
Haven't driven a 360 but the 430 and the G are just about waking up at 6000.
360 is pretty much the same, you want to hear it screaming to the rev limit. Its a shame they dont let you take them to say 8000 in 2nd or 3rd if your on an airfield in a straight line, its not like there going to brake traction shifting into 4th.Well, after the stories I've heard 6,000 seemed quite adequate and, bear in mind, the instructors were giving me the instruction to change as the needle hit 6,000, so it would have gone quite a bit further in the time it took me to react and change up.
A couple more interesting things...
Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
Pedal offset:
After everything everyone's said about the pedals being offset to the left in RHD mid-engined supercars, and me being used to a BMW with the pedals offset to the right, I expected this to be an issue. As it was I didn't even notice! Perhaps if it had been a conventional manual with a clutch pedal crammed in too then things would have been worse, but even so, the inevitable offset to the left of the pedals was not remotely an issue and, there was adequate space for my left foot on the footrest next to the brake pedal.
A couple more interesting things...
Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
Pedal offset:
After everything everyone's said about the pedals being offset to the left in RHD mid-engined supercars, and me being used to a BMW with the pedals offset to the right, I expected this to be an issue. As it was I didn't even notice! Perhaps if it had been a conventional manual with a clutch pedal crammed in too then things would have been worse, but even so, the inevitable offset to the left of the pedals was not remotely an issue and, there was adequate space for my left foot on the footrest next to the brake pedal.
MitchT said:
Well, after the stories I've heard 6,000 seemed quite adequate and, bear in mind, the instructors were giving me the instruction to change as the needle hit 6,000, so it would have gone quite a bit further in the time it took me to react and change up.
A couple more interesting things...
Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
Pedal offset:
After everything everyone's said about the pedals being offset to the left in RHD mid-engined supercars, and me being used to a BMW with the pedals offset to the right, I expected this to be an issue. As it was I didn't even notice! Perhaps if it had been a conventional manual with a clutch pedal crammed in too then things would have been worse, but even so, the inevitable offset to the left of the pedals was not remotely an issue and, there was adequate space for my left foot on the footrest next to the brake pedal.
Changing up at 6000rpm in a 360 is like changing up at 4000rpm in most other cars, very early.A couple more interesting things...
Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
Pedal offset:
After everything everyone's said about the pedals being offset to the left in RHD mid-engined supercars, and me being used to a BMW with the pedals offset to the right, I expected this to be an issue. As it was I didn't even notice! Perhaps if it had been a conventional manual with a clutch pedal crammed in too then things would have been worse, but even so, the inevitable offset to the left of the pedals was not remotely an issue and, there was adequate space for my left foot on the footrest next to the brake pedal.
John.
I did the Everyman gift about 6 years ago, superb, they let me overtake and corner as hard as I was able, did it in a testarossa. Had a 911 at the time and thought that the testarossa was a bus in comparison round a track, heavy, hard to handle, bit intimidating if honest. So I sold the 911 and got a testarossa, haven't looked back since. These track experiences can turn out a bit expensive if you're not too careful 
My first chance in a proper fast car was when my wife hired 997 in 2004 for my birthday, the nearest track experiences were too far away. I took a day off work and we had a great day driving around, I even forgot they'd swiped my credit card for the thousand pound excess in case I bashed it.
Word of warning, this event kicked off a long list of daft cars , none of which I regret by the way, infact one or two I really miss.
Word of warning, this event kicked off a long list of daft cars , none of which I regret by the way, infact one or two I really miss.
ro55a said:
I did the Everyman gift about 6 years ago, superb, they let me overtake and corner as hard as I was able, did it in a testarossa. Had a 911 at the time and thought that the testarossa was a bus in comparison round a track, heavy, hard to handle, bit intimidating if honest. So I sold the 911 and got a testarossa, haven't looked back since. These track experiences can turn out a bit expensive if you're not too careful
I did the Everyman experience a few years ago too....A 987 Boxster S soon followed, and now I have a F430F1 spider....!
Beware!!
MitchT said:
A couple more interesting things...
Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
The gear snap in the Gallardo is intentional - Lambo say they have spoken to customers and they don't want smooth changes [i.e. they want to feel the gear change].Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
22s said:
MitchT said:
A couple more interesting things...
Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
The gear snap in the Gallardo is intentional - Lambo say they have spoken to customers and they don't want smooth changes [i.e. they want to feel the gear change].Gear changes:
The 360 seemed to execute changes relatively smoothly, in the Gallardo there was a noticeable lurch, though this might have been due to the Gallardo's higher power meaning the momentary 'dip' in acceleration was more obvious.
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