Feature: Beauty and the Beast
December 1, 2007
Both of these cars are in the top performance echelon for production
vehicles, but the Lamborghini holds a decided edge in firepower, doing the
zero-to-60 run in 3.4 seconds and topping out at 211 mph. The 599 GTB reaches 60
in 3.7 seconds and goes on to a top speed that Ferrari quotes as "over 205 mph."
Nevertheless, the LP640 feels like it has a bigger performance advantage than it
actually does, because it delivers a more brutal experience. While the 6-liter
Ferrari motor shrieks its exotic wail as you move up through the gears, the
half-liter-bigger Lamborghini V-12 emits a bassy roar that conjures images of
World War II dive-bombers. The Ferrari’s F1 Superfast sequential manual
transmission changes gears so fast that it feels nearly instantaneous—and
consequently, quite refined—while Lamborghini’s e-Gear executes full-throttle shifts
with such force that you’ll want to start a charity called People for the
Ethical Treatment of Clutch Plates. Both transmissions pull off wonderful,
throttle-blipping downshifts that make it sound like you invented the
heel-and-toe maneuver.
Each car enjoys the kind of interior you’d expect for $300,000,
and each can be customized to your liking. So you want a quilted leather
headliner on your LP640? No problem. How about a carbon-fiber steering wheel
with built-in LED shift lights for your 599? Right this way. Gadget-lovers will
enjoy experimenting with the 599’s manettino switch, which allows the driver to
instantly tailor the car’s electronics—traction control, stability control,
shift times, and magnetorheological suspension damping—to conditions ranging
from snow and ice to an all-out racetrack blitz.
The LP640 console is adorned with some intriguing buttons as well. One of them raises the front of the car to negotiate speed bumps and steep driveways; another deploys the motorized cooling intakes on each side of the engine, which also rise automatically when the motor gets hot (the fact that you can manually control them is purely for gratuitous fun). While you can easily spot the Audi switchgear in a Gallardo, the Murciélago appears bespoke. Even the air-conditioning’s recirculation button, rather than depicting a generic car’s silhouette with an arrow pointing back into the cabin, is instead emblazoned with the unmistakable shape of a Murciélago. That’s attention to detail.
So let’s talk price. The Ferrari starts at $275,000 with the F1 Superfast transmission, and Ferrari tells me that each car is delivered with, on average, $30,000 in extras—the carbon-ceramic brakes alone are an $18,550 option. The LP640 with e-Gear retails for around $325,000 and, like the Ferrari, gets even more expensive rather quickly. The transparent engine cover, for instance, is a $7,020 option. So the Lamborghini is decidedly more expensive, but at this level, is anyone really basing a decision on $25,000 here or there? Probably not.
What it comes down to is that these two cars distill years of history—and, occasionally, hostility—between Italy’s premier speed merchants. The Ferrari is high-tech, blisteringly fast, relatively restrained in its appearance and refined behind the wheel. The Lamborghini comes across as more of a throwback, a vehicle born of the belief that supercars don’t coddle nor make amends for a driver’s ability, and they certainly don’t downplay their abilities. I know there are sports-car bigamists out there who own and enjoy both marques, but I know many more people who seem to identify with one or the other, and wouldn’t dream of crossing the fence. One American who I met in Sant’Agata told me he owns 16 Lamborghinis. I asked how many Ferraris he owns.
"None," he replied.
So do you go for the car that is likely the best GT ever made, or would you rather have the brash, in-your-face rocketship that embodies a primal image of what a supercar should look like? I can make an empirical argument for either choice, but I suspect that this is a case where numbers are more important to barroom arguments than purchase decisions. This one’s all about emotion.
They say that one’s culinary palate is formed at an early age, thus the gastronomic choices you make as a child influence the food you eat as an adult. I’d suggest that Italian exotics fall into the same category, our automotive lusts shaped by the posters we had on the bedroom walls of our childhood. Which car would you want, the Ferrari or the Lamborghini? I suspect that you made up your mind a long time ago.
Ferrari, www.ferrariusa.com
Lamborghini, www.lamborghini.com
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