The Lamborghini Gallardo - my first taste of supercar awesomeness.

A workhorse Vauxhall VXR8 demo-car
 and a more exotic Lamborghini Gallardo. 

Yesterday I finally had my first true supercar experience. My girlfriend bought me a “Supercar Blast” with Everyman Racing for my birthday last year and, having booked it several months ago, it was finally time to drive a Lamborghini round a track for a few laps. On the phone I had been told I’d be driving a Murcielago and I was disappointed when I arrived to discover that I would instead be driving the smaller, slower Lambo, the Gallardo. However, having driven the car in its original spec, I now realise that 500 horsepower and four-wheel-drive in a car that weighs less than 1500Kg provides more than enough oomph for a supercar virgin like myself. The abundance of workhorse Vauxhalls and Subarus as well as the exotic Aston Martins, Ferraris and Lamborghinis there was enough to keep me entertained while I waited nearly an hour to start my drive. However, this was because I got there far too early, because I was too excited to stay in bed that morning, not because of an administrative issue with the event. 

Until yesterday, the fastest driving I had witnessed was from the passenger seat of a BMW M3 (with the Competition Pack fitted), on my way to lunch with Nick Trott and Steven Dobie of Evo Magazine, during my work experience there last year. With Nick Trott at the wheel, I felt safe as I knew he would have driven an abundance of supercars at high speed. With me at the steering wheel, in control of a 500 horsepower throttle, it was a very strange experience, involving a conflict between my head, my heart and my driving instructor, Phil. In my mind I was constantly thinking “slow down you idiot, you can’t go through a chicane at over 100mph,” while my heart demanded more of me: “you’ve got four laps in this car so make the most of it, and if you do die at least it’ll be in a flaming ball of Lamborghini!” My instructor was impressed with my willingness to full-throttle out of the corners, but did think I broke too early and too hard, but that was the result of my head, I’m afraid. I could not believe the speeds at which the Gallardo could take corners, particularly as this is considered to be one of the less-hardcore, playboys’ supercars and not a race-car for the road. Overall, I scored 35/40, but I’m assuming the instructor would award marks generously as most people are there as a result of a birthday or Christmas present. It’s unlikely they would simply say “you were terrible so I’m giving you five out of forty. Happy Birthday.”

The Gallardo I drove - not the nicest colour choice, but
an absolute beast behind the wheel.

As for the car, it was incredible. The Gallardo hasn’t always received favourable reviews from experienced motoring journalists who can obviously outline the minute differences between the various supercars that are available, mainly due to its sensible four-wheel-drive system and single-clutch paddle shift gearbox. However, because the fastest car I had driven until yesterday was a diesel Ford Focus, during my Pass Plus, I thought the Gallardo was mesmerising. Firstly, when I climbed inside I was introduced to an incredible amount of black leather and very luxurious switchgear. Whilst I’m aware that most of this is borrowed from Audi, it still felt very special. I also had to acquaint myself with a paddle gear-shift system which I have never used before and when attempting to select first gear to set off, I inevitably hit the windscreen-wiper stalk, resulting in an embarrassing flourish of the wipers for all the queuing customers to see.

We set off, slowly at first but had a clearing of traffic for some distance, so I began to pick up speed quite quickly. My first challenge was to get over the sheer force that the car generates in a straight line. Imagine a go-kart, that can accelerate to well over 100mph, very quickly, and sounds like a howling Barry White receiving a prostate examination – that’s what the Gallardo felt and sounded like. The next challenge was to force myself, under instruction from Phil, to go through the chicane of cones at over 100mph, which just felt wrong to me. The car took it all in its stride and we began to go faster and faster with every lap until, on my last official lap, we got stuck behind an OAP in an Aston Martin Vantage. Despite my flashes of the high-beams he failed to move out of the way. Luckily, Phil decided I could have an extra couple of laps as the Aston driver had been so annoying and because it took nearly a lap to creep past him cautiously. As a result of this luck, I decided to hammer it as hard as my stomach would allow in the corners. By the end of my stint, I felt like a maraca at a Tito Puente concert – shaken up with a cool film of sweat over me. The Gallardo had certainly done its job, offering bags of excitement within the safe confines of a four-wheel-drive system.

Given that I never really pushed the car as hard as it could go, I cannot report as to whether that four-wheel-drive system is a limitation on the thrills the car can provide, or not. I never put on enough throttle in the corners to experience understeer, or oversteer, but I am sure there are many more experienced drivers who could. The only frustration was getting used to the paddle gear-shift. Phil said that I should keep the throttle on when shifting up, to gain smoother changes, but this was something I couldn’t get used to in the time I had with the car, as I’ve only ever driven manual cars before. I inevitably lifted on my gear changes and this did cause a very jerky shift, something which I’m sure typifies a single-clutch, semi-automatic gearbox when the driver is unsure how to use it. I’m sure that, in time, I would get used to it and the idea of never using a clutch when stuck in traffic, but still having control over gear-shifts is an extremely enticing one.

As you can imagine, I’ve been searching the internet all night for equivalent cars which I can afford – Toyota MR2s, MG TFs and even Honda Beats. However, I’ve come to realise now that these would only provide 10% of the thrills the Lamborghini did, especially when pinned down by road laws and speed-cameras. Such attempts to emulate a Gallardo with about £4000 to spend are futile. Either way, the smouldering desire for a new, sportier car that was within me has now inflamed into a raging inferno of determination. I am about to leave the house and look for a new car and it is all thanks to my supercar experience yesterday. Thanks to Phil and Everyman Racing for providing me with the most exciting twenty minutes of driving I’ve ever had.