Well old eagle eyes bigbob spotted my post on PH about 2 mins after I posted it...
Yep, I'm looking at Gallardo Balboni, 1 of 250 ever built.... Although they now do a 2wd version without the Balboni association.
I had a little drive yesterday and didn't really get on with it too well as I had big boots on and, as I discovered today, the steering wheel not properly adjusted. So my left knee was rubbing the steering wheel. Also when in manual mode it changed up by itself 500rpm before I wanted to change which was terribly nannying and bloody irritating!
Today however was a different kettle of fish. The right shoes helped a lot and then adjusting the seat perfected it. I switched it to Corsa (no traction control and no auto up change) and took my own route rather than the 40mph Forrest route.
.....what a car!
In a nut shell it's like a big, very powerful Elise... Other than the fact that the steering isn't quite as communicative.
The chassis is nice a stiff without being crashy, managed to get the rear wheels off the ground over bumps under acceleration but otherwise I'd say it was well damped.
It is a bit lairy though. It's very easy to get the back loose but, as with the Lotus, if you don't jump off the throttle and keep the weight on the rear wheels it's very steerable. Did I mention it's fast?
It is undoubtably the fastest thing I've driven, yet when I took delivery of my GT-S and gave it some for the first time I was shaking with adrenalin. This didnt have the same effect, maybe because I'm more used to quick cars now? The jump from a 4.2GT to a GT-S is bigger than a GT-S to the Gallardo though.
The brakes are awesome. The brakes have in my opinion always been the weak point on the GT-S so perhaps it's not difficult for a lighter car impress on that front. The pedals however, are set up for left foot braking. Using your right foot feels like you're reaching across to push a clutch down. Left foot braking would be the way forward but I'd definitely need practice!
Meridian were so busy today that there was no chance of doing a back to back test with a F430 sadly, however, I've booked myself in Friday to take one out instead. And once I've done that it's decision time.
The Lamborghini has grown on me, if the F430 is significantly better I'll probably buy it there and then. The problem will be if there's very little in it. Then it'll require some proper thought.
So far I'm leaning towards the Lamborghini... Watch this space.
On another note, they're offering me peanuts for part-ex on the GT-S, so anyone who's in the Market for one, I'm open to offers....