Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (November 2008)

Lambo to Nardo

Wheels Magazine
October, 2008

Where do you start with Nardo? The four-lane, 12.6-kilometre circular track on the heel of Italy is the home of European high-speed testing. All the obvious suspects use Nardo to wring out the last ounce of handling and speed from their prototypes: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and others, as well as the serious motorcycle manufacturers. No wonder, for this is Vmax heaven, the circular bowl having officially seen speeds of over 400km/h. Here, in July 1979, a Mercedes-Benz C111 averaged 403.98km/h to break the world circuit record.

To put that into perspective, Holden's Lang Lang high-speed bowl is just 4.7km long (Ford's You Yangs is slightly longer at 4.8km) and the highest average speed a paltry 270km/h.

Incredibly, this enormous 16-metre-wide bitumen circle in the ancient olive groves of southern Italy can be seen by the naked eye from space. NASA sites Nardo as one of the few man-made objects, along with the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, that shares the honour.

From the moment Fiat opened Nardo in 1977 and the Wheels office first learned of the circular track, I swore to visit the place. My fascination, heightened by ongoing stories from drivers and engineers of record attempts, hit a peak when I learned that four English colleagues had lapped Nardo at an indicated 320km/h in a Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

Making good on my promise took 31 years. The premise for the visit is that Wheels wanted to be among the first to try the newly opened 6.2km handling track.

To do justice to the 900km journey from Modena to Nardo and back, clearly wheels of the Italian supercar variety would be required. Why not the recently revised Gallardo? The new 412kW LP560-4 pulls 0-100km/h in 3.7sec, a top speed of 320km/h, and is a Lambo I'd not driven since the Gallardo's launch five years ago.

Lamborghini's decade under Audi ownership has transformed the Sant'Agata factory from a charming, if sleepy little facility into a modern glass complex that hides the old yellow assembly plant from outsiders. Inevitably, the car park is full of Ingolstadt- registered A4s and A6s, there's a small but impressive museum, and the obligatory (and busy) merchandise shop. The symbols of success - Lambo is profitable and on track to sell a record 2600 cars this year - include three gorgeous women at reception. In the old days, I knew the lone security guard by name and would simply wave on my way through. Now one of the glittery uniformed women swaps your passport for a visitor's pass.

Five minutes after arriving, the familiar face of test driver Moreno Conti appears with our white Gallardo. It's all tiny and newly aggressive and so low I stoop to slide through the shallow door opening, missing the drama of Lambo's trademark upward-lifting scissor doors. My futile search for a starter button is embarrassingly long, until I remember that, happily, Lamborghini has resisted that temptation and you still need to turn a key. The V10 starts, after a long, deep whirr, with an evocative rev blip that sets the mood. First gear engaged via the paddle shift and the Gallardo slips hesitantly out on to via Modena, getting plenty of attention from the camera-wielding, Lamborghini-loving factory visitors.

Fifty kays later and I'm relishing the instant responses, the almost intimidating sound and fantastic performance of the 5.2-litre V10 as it taps the 8400rpm redline. I'm delighted to find that while the ride is taut, it's also surprisingly comfortable and the fine seats seem properly supportive. Except, after an hour or so, I realise there is no lateral adjustment and they lack lower lumbar support. Still, the Gallardo is way better transport, I reckon, than a V12 Murciélago for our 2000km trip. This despite also discovering the gear change is clunky in traffic, and the carbon brakes are slow to engage, impossible to modulate cleanly and ridiculously grabby in the last millimetres of the pedal travel. Nasty.

Collecting snapper Tim Wren from Verona airport means back-tracking 95km. It's 11:30pm when we book into a hotel in Castel San Pietro Terme, just beyond Bologna and (not by coincidence) next to Imola where on May 1, 1994, Ayrton Senna was killed during the San Marino Grand Prix. I was never a great Senna fan - like Michael Schumacher, he was too much a win-justifies-the-means racing driver - but we want to find the memorial statue. Following the directions of willing locals, we venture into Parco Acque Minerale on the inside of the track. There, beyond the modified Tamburello corner where he crashed while leading, we find the bronze sculpture of Senna. He's sitting atop a two-metre tall base looking reflective, a Brazilian flag on his shoulders and fresh roses at the base. Nearby, hand-painted graffiti in several languages confirms that Ayrton Senna is well remembered.

After shooting the Gallardo in front of Imola's spectacular castle, we join the A14. No time for more forays - this is fastest route south to the Hotel Paradise in Porto Cesareo, on the Gulf of Taranto, where many of the Nardo-based engineers stay for weeks at a time. After a $200 refuel - average 15.0L/100km over 531km - Wren takes the wheel.

The autostrada runs high above the Adriatic Sea, and south of Ancona passes through an almost endless series of long tunnels. Wren can't help himself. The moment the Lambo enters a tunnel he downshifts to the lowest possible gear to redline the engine at every achievable opportunity. Windows down, we soak up the gloriously dramatic high-end sound, followed instantly by an explosive cackle on a trailing throttle, and wonder what we've done to deserve all this.

Wren's picked up on my complaints - "I've no confidence in the brakes" - and is worried by reflections from the alloy console. At an indicated and legal 130km/h that Italian motorists have finally been forced to recognise, the V10's crank is spinning at 3250rpm. But we've discovered that it's impossible to resist the melodious induction sound that kicks in like you've turned a switch at just over 3800rpm cruising in sixth. Anyway, south of Pescara, as the traffic finally thins, speeds rise and it's clear that the police aren't as vigilant, and speed cameras virtually non-existent. Welcome to old-style Italy and 200km/h, the Gallardo utterly lacking in nervousness. Tim finally relinquishes the wheel after the next fuel stop, the 14.1L/100km over 549km reflecting the autostrada-only driving.

Switching between the five E-gear modes, I prove to myself that the most fluent shifts occur by manually changing gears in Sport, momentarily lifting between ratios. The shifts, claimed to be 40 percent quicker than those on the old Gallardo, are still far from convincing. Yes, Stahly claimed otherwise (Wheels, July 2008 - more here), but I'm not persuaded and wonder why Lambo doesn't use a DSG system, especially since the VW Group was responsible for developing the concept (and the Bugatti Veyron proves the dual-clutch tranny can be adapted to a mid-engine supercar).

What we totally approve of is the ability to raise the nose (via the adjustable dampers) when the Gallardo sneaks down a steep ramp into a secure car park for its overnight stay. It's a feature we appreciate a dozen times in our four days with the car. Too many rival supercars - including its cousin, the Audi R8 - would have worn their spoilers pulling similar manoeuvres, and we wonder if the Aston V8 Vantage in the garage escaped unscathed.

On the drive out to Nardo the next morning I half convince myself that with experience the brakes aren't too bad. Until I'm forced to apply them suddenly, throwing Wren forward so violently the inertia-reel belt engages as the car jerks to a halt.

Nardo is now screened behind 40km of 2.5-metre high concrete wall, and scoop photographers have mostly given up using it as a lucrative location. To enter the proving ground, you drive under the bowl, aware that most of the inner area remains farming land.

The various car makers have all been told a journalist and photographer are here on official business and we've given our word not to snap any of the still-disguised but clearly visible prototypes. What is equally obvious is that in a world where supercars are the norm, the manufacturers aren't too concerned about rivals seeing their new models two years before launch. Seems there is an unwritten etiquette between the engineers not to photograph competitor vehicles.

All have large individual garages, some with long-term contracts - Porsche signed up for 12 years in 2007 and built four workshops. The attraction is (mostly) fine weather for 12 months, freedom from outsiders and a brilliant facility that includes virtually all manner of development and emission testing.

Getting time on the high-speed bowl isn't easy. It's in use 24 hours a day, 363 days a year, closing only Christmas and New Year's Day. We've negotiated a small slot on the new handling track, where an hour costs $315. Nobody wants to admit to knowing the lap record.

"That would push it into a race" says Nardo CEO Francesco Nobile. "We are about handling. Only the Nürburgring offers anything like this in Europe."

Only later do we learn that a Ferrari (I suspect a 430 Scuderia) lapped the 6.22km circuit in 2 minutes 43 seconds, an average of over 137km/h. This is a seriously fast track, 10.5 metres wide, with changes in elevation, seven bends to the right and nine to the left, making it a truly exciting and a marvellously hard-to-learn challenge. One that the Lambo willingly accepts. It is so planted to the track no matter what I try it's impossible to get the tail to move out, even at full noise in second gear through the slowest corner and deliberately lifting. Instead, the Gallardo gradually moves into high-speed understeer from which there is no escape. Down the kilometre-long straight, we top 250km/h before briefly braking for the long left-hand sweeper that I manage to consume at 200km/h in fourth. Gentle turn in, a tad more lock than expected, and the Lambo slices through the corner. In the hands of a decent test driver? Who knows. The following left-hander is tighter. Here, yes, the ceramics are fantastic. I can understand why the Porsche and Ferrari test drivers love the flowing nature of the track. Equally, I suspect even they lift for the spectacular hump - memories of the 'Ring - that instantly hurls a very fast car into space. If Nardo is to join the F1 testing rota the hump will sadly be eliminated. At race speeds I'm constantly fighting the understeer. All-wheel-drive ensures great traction, but my preference is for the agility and handling adjustability of the Ferrari 430.

Aston Martin has booked the bowl for an hour (at $800) of exclusive use at lunchtime, but there's a chance we can sneak in a lap or two before the others return. Speeds of up to 240km/h are allowed in general use, when the cost is a very reasonable $46 per car/per hour, but high-speed testing demands the bowl be restricted to one car manufacturer.

Ten minutes before the track is opened to everybody, the Gallardo tracks the camera car under the bowl and up the ramp that brings you out into the slow lane beside the concrete wall that separates it from the two-lane truck area. One lap for photographs and then, only if there's time, one high-speed run. Following instructions via a two-way radio, I track Wren's Nikon across the four lanes. It's slow work at 100km/h. But we sneak another lap without the camera car.

So vast is the diameter that on Nardo's gently sloping top lane, the hands-off speed is 240km/h. At 200km/h, the circle feels more like a super-wide motorway sweeper. Wren has stuck his Nikon between me and the steering wheel in the hope of snapping the speedo above 300km/h. Through the gears the engine sings to 8400rpm, but the sounds of speed - wind, tyres and engine noise - are diminished by the width of the track … until we move above 250km/h. At 280km/h the Lambo begins to move around on the bumps that 31 years of testing have finally provoked. Barely noticeable at 60km/h, by 300km/h the Gallardo is being punished by the lumps and is becoming less than steady. Throttle hard against the footwell, the speedo needle is still climbing, the track seemingly endless, until a voice crackles over the radio. Time to back off and return to base. Seems the Bugatti and Lamborghini engineers are also unhappy with the bumps; Ferrari and Porsche don't mind so much. Make of that what you will. But having the circle resurfaced is now Nardo's first priority.

The Lamborghini engineers recognised our car and asked if we have any questions. Yes - what's with those brakes and the gearbox? Teresa Lama, co-ordinator of research and development, gives us the spin. She prefers the carbon to the steel brakes and claims there is no issue after the first stop. Legendary development engineer Giorgio Sanna is more forthcoming. Admitting to a problem, he says, "We have two solutions: the brake cylinder pump and the pedal action are being modified to make the brakes more progressive. They came too late for the first cars."

But Sanna's not convinced by our criticism of the E-gear 'box and suggestion that a dual-clutch transmission is the answer. "The double clutch is not sporty enough for our cars," he claims. "You can be sure we won't use the double clutch in the future. We prefer to use software solutions."

After 2269km - averaging 15.2L/100km - the Gallardo is returned to Sant'Agata. It is, like so many Lambos, flawed. Yet this remains a wonderful Italian supercar, as dramatic visually as it is aurally. Especially through those tunnels. And Nardo? Brilliant - driving heaven.

More research
Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 -- Wheels review: here

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