Source: "Biturbo form Rteam"

These are not the kind of cars you want to be driving on a double-demerit points weekend. You could lose your licence simply by thinking about driving them, let alone taking the key out of your pocket.

With their blistering acceleration, these two vehicles are the best Germany and Italy are selling.

Both bring out the nerves in even the most experienced drivers. On full noise these cars are so quick, they're almost too fast for your brain to comprehend. Effectively, they are race cars with number plates.

Such machines are more at home on the speed-unlimited autobahns of Germany, where their potential could occasionally be explored. So who would stump up more than $400,000 AUD for one of these to get stuck in the bump and grind of Australian traffic? About 18 Lamborghini and 30 Porsche customers, to be precise.

Don't expect to see many on the daily commute. Buyers of these vehicles generally take them out only on weekends - and usually only to and from a race track where they can be let off the leash.

Which is why we're at Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway, the closest place in Australia to the natural habitat for these supercars, before we head into the nearby Blue Mountains to see what they're like in the real world.

We're here because Porsche has released a new GT2 - the flagship of its 911 fleet and the most expensive Porsche on sale locally - and because ... well, any excuse will do.

By the time on-road costs and insurance are included, we were looking at close to $1 million worth of supercars. Seriously, would you have knocked them back?

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Porsche 911 GT2

The 911 Turbo is already a quick car. So imagine what happens when the boffins in the white coats at Porsche manage to extract more power from the same engine - and then strip about 100 kilograms out of the car's body.

That's basically how the GT2 was created.

Every nut, bolt and panel was examined and checked to see if it was required. One of the items that happened to be deemed non-essential was the group of cogs that drives the front wheels. You see, the 911 Turbo is all-wheel-drive, which helps it claw its way out of corners and from a standstill because the front wheels are helping the back wheels distribute the power to the road.

In the GT2, however, all the power goes directly to the rear wheels. In this case, the front wheels are merely there to steer the car and keep the front bumper from hitting the ground.

I'm sure it was just my imagination but under hard acceleration you can't help but get the feeling that the GT2 is balancing on its back wheels, just as in a cartoon.

The Porsche's twin-turbo engine packs a wicked punch and the super-wide rear tyres do their best to transmit that power to the ground. It's not always easy, however.

The tyres that come with the GT2 are a highly regarded Michelin tyre designed for weekend track days. They have the bare minimum tread depth to meet road legal requirements and usually take two or three laps to warm up. Caution is required for at least the first 30 minutes of street driving.

In the wet, as we were unlucky enough to experience, you may as well forget it. The tyres will eventually get up to temperature in an hour or so but even then it's not wise to be brave. It is about the only time the GT2 is vulnerable - and anyone in a Toyota Yaris could see it off, no question.

In the dry, however, it comes into its own, although caution is still required. Until the turbo cuts in, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a Daihatsu Charade, albeit one with really good seats and a suede steering wheel. This odd sensation only lasts for about, oh, half a second, however. The Daihatsu daydream ends when the Porsche's two turbochargers suddenly come to life like a clap of thunder.

If you haven't anticipated this abrupt surge of power you won't have time to select second gear before you meet the engine's rev limiter and discover the seatbelt pre-tensioners as your body is thrust forward momentarily.

To give you some idea of the acceleration, count to four. If you were in a Porsche GT2, you'd be doing 100kmh by now.

Perhaps more incredible than the acceleration is how easy the GT2 is to drive. After driving the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, the GT2 feels like a Corolla. The clutch action is light, the gearshift is precise and fuss-free and the steering is no different to an average car.

Compared with a regular car, however, you can better feel what the front tyres are doing. I'm not sure if that's because of the quality of the steering wheel itself, or simply because Porsche has the steering geometry just right but it's a delight either way.

The GT2 has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Despite being smaller than the Gallardo, it makes better use of its available space.

These cars aren't bought for practical reasons but at least there is decent storage room behind the GT2's seats, under the bonnet, a good-sized glovebox, and deep, covered door pockets. (In the Lamborghini, the pockets have been replaced by a carbon-fibre panel to save a few grams.) A high-end sound system drowns out the drone of the engine and tyres at freeway speeds on long drives to and from the racetrack.

The GT2 also has a tighter turning circle, which makes it less embarrassing than the Lamborghini when it comes to U-turns.

Surprisingly, however, the GT2 doesn't cope with some aspects of the daily grind as well as the Lamborghini. For example, the GT2 can easily scrape its front bumper on speed bumps and even some petrol station driveways. For good reason, the black rubber edge is flexible and easily replaceable.

Because it is so light over the nose, the front wheels can easily "tram track", that is, follow the contour of the road. When braking heavily on a bumpy road, you hold your breath as the front end squirms slightly. This, apparently, is the true spirit of a Porsche. The fanatics say it's not a Porsche unless it scares you. At least a little bit.

Lamborghini Gallardo SL
It's no coincidence this car looks like a jet fighter. The colour was inspired by the stealth bomber.

The baby in the Lamborghini range, the Gallardo has been around since 2003 but last year it came in for a power upgrade - and a weight-loss program, the standard fitness regime for all good supercars.

At the heart of the matter is a massive 5.0-litre V10 that has to be heard to be believed. Ferraris have a high-pitched scream, Porsches have a gruff moan but this Gallardo has a deep, throaty growl that makes bitumen shake.

We put it down to a triumph of multiculturalism. The Germans know how to tune bass into their mufflers and the Italians know how to make engines rev. It's the next best thing to putting schnitzel and lasagne on the same plate.

The Gallardo was the first all-new model built under Audi's guidance. The German maker bought the Italian supercar brand in 1998 and, although the Murcielago was released in 2001, the Italians were already well ahead with the development of that model.

The Gallardo, on the other hand, had much more input from Audi. The company wanted a slightly smaller - and slightly more affordable - car to sell alongside the mothership Murcielago and compete with the Ferrari 360 (and, later, the F430).

And so the Gallardo was born. Named after a famous breed of fighting bull, Gallardo (pronounced "gay-ar-doe") is also Spanish for "gallant".

The Superleggera is the even hotter version, with lightweight wheels and more power, as well as other go-fast bits.

It is perhaps no coincidence that both the Porsche and the Lamborghini have identical power outputs (390kW for the tech heads) and almost identical 0-100kmh times (a claimed 3.7 seconds for the Porsche versus 3.8 for the Lamborghini).

Unfortunately, it was wet when when we planned to do our own 0-100 tests, which wouldn't have been fair on the Porsche. You see, underneath the Italian's sharp suit is an all-wheel-drive system that doesn't waste a drop of the V10's power, on wet or dry roads.

We did, however, get enough time behind the wheel of both cars to define their shades of grey.

The Porsche's turbos come on like a light switch while the Gallardo has a much more linear power delivery. Acceleration is instant and the engine keeps pulling all the way to its giddy 8000rpm redline. It is rapid but doesn't feel as brutal as the Porsche because the GT2 is making up for the time it lost while the turbos were still figuring out what to do.

To that end, the Lamborghini is easier to drive on the limit because you know what to expect. Accelerating hard in the Porsche GT2 is like going for a nice stroll in the park - and then being clocked over the head by a mugger who's trying to steal your briefcase. By the time you've figured out what's happened, it's too late, and the horsepower has bolted.

The GT2 has a regular six-speed manual stick shift, whereas most Gallardos sold have an automated manual gearbox, which Lamborghini calls e-gear. It means you can pluck a gear mid-corner without having to take your hands off the wheel. Because the V10's power is so seamless, it doesn't upset the car as much. By comparison, the GT2 is dancing on hot coals.

The e-gear system isn't for everyone, however. There's a decent shove between gear changes and as each cog is selected there are the distinct sounds of mechanical things going on. Some people hate it. I loved it because it sounds like a race car, which is not far from the reality.

In corners, the all-wheel-drive grip becomes apparent. At first the Gallardo wants to push through a corner but it's simply a matter of adjusting your driving style, and that means taking it a little easier on the way in and pointing it straight on the way out.

In most conditions the Gallardo's onboard computer system apportions 70 per cent of power to the rear wheels and 30 per cent to the front. However, during "enthusiastic driving" (as the brochure says) the system may send up to 80 per cent of the power to the rear wheels, to give the car the character of a rear-drive car. If the system senses any slip, all bets are off and it subtly shifts more power to the front wheels.

From the behind the wheel, however, you're oblivious to all of this. The car just gets on with the job without fuss and, it's safe to say, makes good drivers out of ordinary ones, covering up minor indiscretions.

The grip of the Pirelli tyres was astounding but for me the most impressive aspect of the Gallardo (after the exhaust sound) was the performance of the brakes. They have a good, solid pedal feel and settle the car beautifully on the approach to a corner. Perhaps it's a combination of the Gallardo's relatively even weight distribution but the stopping performance of this car is phenomenal. It doesn't follow ruts in the road as readily as the Porsche does. According to internal tests by Lamborghini, the Gallardo can generate 1.1g on deceleration on a smooth, dry road.

Bad points? It's not subtle. Getting in and out of the car is difficult. Oh, and, sadly, I can't afford one.

 

 

I concur...

 

my two favs!

 

Shocker

 

i'll take one of each.

 

Thanks for the post! Was an entertaining read.