Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Lamborghini Gallardo

Lamborghini Gallardo specs
Top Speed: 191 mph / 309 km/h
0-60 mph: 4.1 seconds
0-100 mph: 9.2 seconds
0 - 1/4 Mile: 12.4 sec @ 118 mph
Engine: V10 DOHC 4 valve 5-liter

Italian cars have always been on the wish list of every sports car lover, especially the Lamborghini. Of all Lamborghini supercar models, Lamborghini Gallardo holds a very special place and deserves a very special mention. It is an entry-level sports car from Lamborghini and its success is so big that it remains the most-produced Lamborghini car of the company to date. Ever since its introduction to the market, over 5000 supercars have been built which is an unparalleled achievement in the history of Lamborghini. It is considered a competitor to Ferrari 360 and Ferrari F430. The Gallardo sports car is named after a popular breed of fighting bull, which fits it perfectly. When the project of Gallardo was about to get started, it was conceptualized to be a sports car which could be also used for everyday uses. Looking at its details, we will have to say that they have succeeded in doing that.

The supercar is amazing to look at with a stylish aluminum space frame. It has a mid-rear mounted engine and the gearbox is placed behind the engine. The Gallardo sports car has a permanent four wheel driving system with low center gravity which makes for a great drive. It has two mounted water radiators in the front and a one sided mounted oil cooler and an independent double wishbone suspension which aptly fits the system. As per the rich tradition of Lamborghini sports cars, a whole lot of attention has gone into the weight distribution system of the car. 42% of the weight is distributed to the front and 58% of the weight is distributed to the rear end. This weight system is said to be the perfect one for a sports car, in order to achieve the best possible traction and for easy braking and handling. It is a compact car, just about 167 inches in length and has been packaged well. In fact, it is considered one of the best two-seater high performance cars in the segment.

The supercar Gallardo engine is largely based on the good old straight-5 design of Audi. It has a 520 bhp V 10 engine which is powerful to hit high speeds on both country and city roads. The sports car can hit a maximum speed of 196 mph and can clock 0-60 in four seconds. It has two types of transmissions – the traditional six speed manual transmission and an electro-hydraulic auto clutch manual, which is aptly called the E-gear. You can make shifts very fast thanks to the control offered by the manual. You don’t have to manually operate the clutch, as it can be controlled by the paddles fit behind the steering wheel. This gives great convenience while driving and works way better than the conventional transmission system. Perhaps the best thing about Lamborghini engineering, particularly in this sports car, is that it has been designed in such a way that it is equally pleasurable to drive on a race track as well as on city and country roads. A lot of attention went into the engineering to make sure that the supercar gives the same performance while racing as well as pleasure driving, and they have just got that right.

The cost of Lamborghini Gallardo ranges from $175,000 to $200,000. There are four variants of the Gallardo available in the market namely the Gallardo Spyder, Gallardo SE, Gallardo Nera, and Gallardo Superleggera.

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