Gallardo or Ferrari to the South of France?

[lafcadio]

Hi

I'm about to join a car club and one of my main aims is a nice long drive down to the South of France. Choices have been reduced to an F430, 360, or Gallardo. Helpful chap I spoke to said that the Gallardo would be the worst choice over a long journey - too uncomfortable - what does anyone think? And although the 430 is clearly superior to the 360, I'm tempted to go with the latter out of the two (simply as it uses less of my points).

All feedback from you old hands welcome!

ta.

[Harsh]

i did two trips of about 3000 miles each in my 360 spider last year.
two people, enough space for us and our (lightly packed) luggage.

and a host of other cars. we had a ball. the car wasn't lacking in any way at all so i can totally recommend it.

my only thought for you is if you're doing it via a car 'hire type' club isnt the mileage overage going to hurt you?

[lafcadio]

Yes - it'll use 2 of the 5 thousand miles - but still leaves 3k to play with for the remaining 20 days or so. Also I plan to buy a Vantage later this year anyway (when prices have dropped due to the new model due in July) so the car club is a bit of summer fun really! But thanks for the 360 info - as I thought. I've driven a 328 for six hours straight and loved every bit so I'd have been surprised if a 360 would be anything but better. But was still surprised about the Gallardo comment.

Edited by lafcadio on Wednesday 7th May 21:10

[ted 191]

I`v done the trip many times,including once in a 360 and twice in a gallardo, if it`s 04/05 model gallardo you will need a small cushion at the small of your back, the seats get very uncomfortable after 1 hour, if it`s the 06 model on gallardo the seats are fine

[andrew!]

lafcadio said:

Yes - it'll use 2 of the 5 thousand miles - but still leaves 3k to play with for the remaining 20 days or so. Also I plan to buy a Vantage later this year anyway (when prices have dropped due to the new model due in July) so the car club is a bit of summer fun really! But thanks for the 360 info - as I thought. I've driven a 328 for six hours straight and loved every bit so I'd have been surprised if a 360 would be anything but better. But was still surprised about the Gallardo comment.

Edited by lafcadio on Wednesday 7th May 21:10

i've done 5 hours solid in the sl, then driven past my house in order to drive a favourite bit of local road
relative to a gallardo, that's with cf bucket seats, taughter suspension, less sound deadening, plastic windows, no radio etc
having said that, the ac's not that great now things are warming up rtfm
a

Edited by andrew! on Saturday 10th May 13:09

[northo]

430 is a comfy car on a long haul - have'nt driven the others so far, but I would have said the Lambo was just as comfy, and is more likely to get you there and back than a Ferrari (takes cover )

[XaveOxf]

Being a member of a car club, I'm driving a Ferrari 430 Spyder to France very soon to celebrate my 35th in style. I'll let you know how it went

I've checked their Gallardo SL and whilst it looks stunning, the boot is too small to fit anything else than one pair wife's designer shoes. The Ferrari has a 250L boot, i.e. the same as an Audi TT Roadster. The SL is probably only 20L... You need to be a wee bit practical if you're going to drive for a few days! Go for the Ferrari or an Aston maybe.

my 2 cents.

Xave - driving a 997 Turbo this week - what a lovely car.

[Harsh]

northo said:

430 is a comfy car on a long haul - have'nt driven the others so far, but I would have said the Lambo was just as comfy, and is more likely to get you there and back than a Ferrari (takes cover )

to Edward

he's right though, as long as you don't use the clutch in a Lambo!

(only kidding before this erupts into a F v L debate! my girlfriend's after a Gallardo to upstage me)

but in terms of practicality there really is no luggage space in the Lambo so if you're touring 2 up that needs to be a consideration

[andrew!]

XaveOxf said:

I've checked their Gallardo SL ... the boot is too small ...

one bag behind each seat on the bench, job done
a

[AndrewD]

I've done a 6-7 hour drive Zug to Spa in my Gallardo Spyder, no problem at all, and you'd have thought the wind & road noise would be a bit wearing with the soft roof. The only issue for long distances is the luggage space...but that's what DHL is for

[bad company]

I have toured Europe in a F355, 360 and now 430 all spiders. I did look at the Lambo but the lack of luggage space for a 2 week break ruled it out. Shame really - I fancied a period with the Gallardo.

[trackdemon]

lafcadio said:

Hi

I'm about to join a car club and one of my main aims is a nice long drive down to the South of France. Choices have been reduced to an F430, 360, or Gallardo. Helpful chap I spoke to said that the Gallardo would be the worst choice over a long journey - too uncomfortable - what does anyone think? And although the 430 is clearly superior to the 360, I'm tempted to go with the latter out of the two (simply as it uses less of my points).

All feedback from you old hands welcome!

ta.

I'd definately plump for the 430 out of that list, simply fantastic to drive and comfortable enough for that distance. Has a surprisingly large boot too, as well as some space behind the seats. The 360 is great fun but a 430 is a significant step on from it dynamically.

I think I can guess which club your talking about - if I'm right I do some work for them so PM me for any 'insider knowledge' as it were

[blot]

We did the trip in a 360 in 06 and that helped us to decide to get the G spyder for 07. Did non stop from N.Yorks to Monaco very comfortably in a day with the roof down all the way. Only downside (?) was lack of packing room, but I saw that as a big bonus personally.

But driving across from Nice to Monaco, with the sun gradually going down, roof off, picking up a maser & 430 along the way to play alongside, was........ a purfect moment

[XaveOxf]

Bad company: do you reckon a 430 spyder could fit a cabin size luggage, a suit holder/carrier and 2 pair of ginas (designer shoes)?

I'll check the SL again then I intend to drive the club's one to the Fat Duck or Calais this summer.

[chillo]

I'm doing a similar trip in my csl in June but would love to do it in spider too!
which car club's allow this? do you have details etc?
ta

[Thorny]

chillo said:

I'm doing a similar trip in my csl in June but would love to do it in spider too!
which car club's allow this? do you have details etc?
ta

I think they prob all do, I was a member of P1 and you just had to let them know you wnated to take it abroad.

[MogulBoy]

Calais to the South of France via the autoroutes is a nice drive but if your car club membership has a milegage limit I'm not sure that it would be worth it to use up those miles on the speed enforced French motorways!

You could always put the car on the motorail?

Presumably all cars in car clubs ahve GPS tracking devices in them? So you might have to explain how the car disappeared in norther France and then reappeared in Avignon or wherever!

If you just want to drive one of these cars in the South of France, probably better to rent an LHD one down there....

I'm tempted to join a local car club here in CH (residents only I'm afriad for some reason) as they have a Gallardo and will soon get a F430 spyders and have unlimited milage if you have the correct membership. The set-up looks a bit low budget though compared to the P1's of this world.

[XaveOxf]

Hi,

I'm with P1 and they do allow you to take the car pretty much wherever you please. email me via my profile if you have questions.