Supercar Reliability..

[simonspider]

We're about to update a few of our supercars but thought it may interest you to see how these cars coped generally with a huge amount of track work with additional road mileage thrown in - average mileage about 40,000k. I suppose you could say equivalent to 7/10 years road mileage?

Aston Martin

Vantage V8's : Really good all round, great on the track with no common issues whatsover.

DB9 : Not brilliant, poor on the track due to wallowy suspension, repeated issues with hoses splitting/coming off be it fuel or hydraulics. Poor trim fixing. Not a big fan.

DBS : Like its been made by a different manufacturer compared to the above. Fantastic on track, very very durable, heavy on brakes and tyres which one would expect given its the best part of two tons.But a superb bit of kit and looks the nuts. Very attractive to the opposite sex.

Ferrari


360 Modena/Spider : Very average. Trim issues with bits falling off, terrible battery life/ keeping charge, various repeated electrical problems.

Challenge Stradale : Much much better. Fab on the track (surprise surprise) none of the above issues apart from poor battery, much better screwed together. Alcantara fads badly though.Pretty much superb

430 Spider : As good as the Stradale build quality wise. Trim much more durable, electrics loads loads better, excellent all round and also great on the track.

599 GTB : Excellent all round. Couple of minor issues with radiators leaking and oil sensors. Great on the track, great on the road. Trim even in magnolia much much better than 360's

458 Italia : I'll come back on this but what a car

Lamborghini

Gallardo/Spyder : Good all round, stable on the track, very very heavy on oil (a common issue) and ahem if you own an 05 car or before GET YOUR POWER STEERING HOSES REPLACED. Trim wears fairly quickly.

Murcielago : Epic on track although heavy on brakes/tyres (to be expected). Usually minor electrical issues - engine bombproof and uses little oil. Clutches very strong as long as you use full travel and don't slip.

LP640 : as above but can give gearbox syncromesh issues probably because of extra power. Apart from that excellent and a mobile carnival on the road.

Porsche 997 Turbo's : hate to say it but utterly faultless.

Audi R8's : Excellent again, couple of problems with paddleshift gearbox electrics thats it. Manual version superb reliability

Ariel Atom Supercharged : Very good all round. Exhaust back boxes blow from time to time. Very sensitive to set up and need adjusting constantly but otherwise an experience and a half. Not something you would take the missus to a restaurant in.

Thought some of you may find it interesting

Edited by simonspider on Tuesday 26th April 10:05

[Craig]

thanks Simon - great post and very interesting

getting the power steering hoses checked on the Gallardo at the next service

[Soovy]

So the DBS gets the damp patch vote does it?!

[simonspider]

Soovy said:

So the DBS gets the damp patch vote does it?!

I should have said yes - until the 458 came along.

I've just been polishing it. Must be like massaging Cheryl Cole

[Soovy]

Soovy said:

So the DBS gets the damp patch vote does it?!

If the orange murci is for sale.......

[Harris_I]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

In a domestic GT championship we have found the 'GT4' versions of the Vantage and 430 to be quite troublesome, so it's interesting to note their road car equivalents make reliable track toys.

[lordbluf]

You forgot to mention the clutches on gallardos are made from leerdamer cheese!

[franki68]

Lord bluff,I'm sat in Lamborghini Manchester speaking to the service people,they have a manual car with 70k miles still on it's original clutch,there were issues with the o4-05 cars ,but not now,I fact the clutches last longer than the equivalent Ferrari clutches (heard this from several places as well)
They are not an issue now.


Interesting read the original post,especially ref the 997 turbo considering the problems I had with mine.suprised by the durability of the astons.

[lordbluf]

franki68 said:

Lord bluff,I'm sat in Lamborghini Manchester speaking to the service people,they have a manual car with 70k miles still on it's original clutch,there were issues with the o4-05 cars ,but not now,I fact the clutches last longer than the equivalent Ferrari clutches (heard this from several places as well)
They are not an issue now.


Interesting read the original post,especially ref the 997 turbo considering the problems I had with mine.suprised by the durability of the astons.

Hi, perhaps you are right - i had a 04' G - so therein may lie the problem.

[franki68]

Simon can I ask ref the DBS your comment regarding the brakes...doesn't it have ceramics and if so should the not have lasted a long time,and how much were they to replace ?

[Doshy]

simonspider said:

Porsche 997 Turbo's : hate to say it but utterly faultless.

Edited by simonspider on Tuesday 26th April 10:05

Why hate to say it? It should be like that considering they've been making it for so long! Great post , thanks.

Phil.

[TR Boy]

Great post Simon
Thankyou

Tr boy

[355f]

lordbluf said:

franki68 said:

Lord bluff,I'm sat in Lamborghini Manchester speaking to the service people,they have a manual car with 70k miles still on it's original clutch,there were issues with the o4-05 cars ,but not now,I fact the clutches last longer than the equivalent Ferrari clutches (heard this from several places as well)
They are not an issue now.


Interesting read the original post,especially ref the 997 turbo considering the problems I had with mine.suprised by the durability of the astons.

Hi, perhaps you are right - i had a 04' G - so therein may lie the problem.

I had an o4/05 G and it was a reliability disaster.

Interestingly, my associate still has one and i can only assumethat the car mentioned above from lambo manch has not changed gear very often! if its true, the clutch will shortly outlive the rest of the car which will fall to bits v soon! latest c or d revisison clutch- or whatever they call the latest one has just been replaced at 12k ( and yes he knows how to drive it)

needless to say the significant problems I had are still in my associates car now- steering hoses, steering pumps, clattering suspension, diff breakdowns, numerous engine check lights and bits dropping off/ leaks- please i got rid!

and judging by the way the egear cars still stink of burning clutch, in reverse especially, I doubt the longevity. The clutch diameter has more to do with life

Edited by 355f on Tuesday 26th April 16:33

[iluvmercs]

Although I own none of the above, it's always a good read when one of these threads pop up - this one in particular with the variety of vehicles. (Purely a nosey thing )

Thanks for posting

I also notice that the EVO Murcie has now travelled over 200,000 miles! How has she stood up to that kind of mileage? Last I read anything about it, IIRC, I read about a potential retrim and some paintwork. Has anything more been done to this fine machine?

Darren

Edited by iluvmercs on Tuesday 26th April 17:15

[CliveM]

Thanks Simon, really interesting post. Good to hear facts collated over a period of time.

[simonspider]

Well I did a positive write up on the old girl for Evo this month then the very next week :

Both radiators started leaking so much so radweld wouldnt plug them, head gasket went with water in the oil and fluctuating temperatures, and now the clutch has just started to slip

[simonspider]

franki68 said:

Simon can I ask ref the DBS your comment regarding the brakes...doesn't it have ceramics and if so should the not have lasted a long time,and how much were they to replace ?

The ceramics were good but on the track its heavy on pads which resulted in disaster when the pads wore through and knackered the discs which at a dealer are about 15k.
So the discs were replaced with steels of the same size which cost about £2750 to manufacture and fit inc new bells.
599 GTB also has steels as does the Stradale. The braking performance really is unchanged but the penalties for pads wearing through are a lot less.

[iluvmercs]

simonspider said:

Well I did a positive write up on the old girl for Evo this month then the very next week :

Both radiators started leaking so much so radweld wouldnt plug them, head gasket went with water in the oil and fluctuating temperatures, and now the clutch has just started to slip

Sorry to hear that
I hope you get her fully sorted and back on duty before too long!

However, thank you for letting us know about the write up. I'll make sure I have a read

Darren

[gjf764]

Thanks for the update Simon.
Have you got your eye on any replacements? My girlfriend tormented you about a Veyron last time we were at kenilworth, fortunately she then fell in love with the radical!

[wineman02]

Great write up Simon. Really interesting to read real life experience of costs involved in running these hard working cars.

When will the 458 be added to the 6th Gear experiences? I took a look today to see it was there but could not see it. Your two car weekday experiences are very good value BTW! I want to book one of those but will wait to see if I can afford to book a drive in the 458 as well on the same day.