The sun blazes down as Jon and I swap over, and I begin to regret not putting on sun cream. Clambering into the Lamborghini, I also regret not being shorter. Straight away it’s clear that I’m too tall for the car, and Jon’s smile suggests he identifies. The carbon-backed bucket seat is moveable only forwards and backwards, so I can’t lower it. Which is a bit of an issue, as my head protrudes out of the car and the steeply raked windscreen ends right in my eyeline. As we set off, I have to stoop to see anything in the distance. Or stretch upwards to look over the top, but that just feels silly. Stooping is the most natural option, as the seat design itself wasn’t made with those of a long back in mind. The headrest digs into the back of my neck and it’s not long before I start getting serious backache.
So far, I’m wishing I was back in the Audi, but then I open the Performante up. It’s such a more feral, ferocious beast than the R8 with a high-pitched engine note that’s not clean and tuned like a Ferrari, but raw, intense and banshee-like. The surge forward is savage; the Lambo pulls and pulls and pulls to the 9000rpm redline, when a tug on the large right hand e-gear paddle results in a violent bang and a punch in the kidneys from the V10. The R8 is fast, but the more powerful, lighter and more sensitive Gallardo is a large step ahead when it comes to pace.
It’s got huge amounts of grip both at the front and at the back, letting me barrel into corners, turn the heavy wheel and rely on the front tyres, push through the middle of it with the faintest hint of understeer that’s modulated on the throttle, and then awesome traction on the way out as all four-wheels meld rubber into tarmac. The gear change is so jerky that mid-corner changes are a big no-no unless you want to be spat sideways. The steering isn’t the sharpest I’ve ever felt in a supercar but it has a reassuring heft to it and it’s quick too. I never worried about where the fronts were going to go on turn in, and I never worried about stopping either; the brake pedal has a fair distance of travel, but once the brakes kick in they scrub off speed with immense, neck-straining power.
The Lambo is very easy to drive very fast, and I’d really like to try it on a track. While it felt a little skittish on the admittedly very sandy roads of our test route, I still had plenty of faith in it. The limits are not to be fully explored on public roads, it’s too hardcore for that, but I’m nonetheless grateful that no police were around.
It’s not terrifying to drive at speed, but it’s an experience you want to focus on. Turn off the radio, hush the passenger and really concentrate, whereas the R8 doesn’t have the same sense of drama to it. That’s a machine that will happily be driven fast while you have a conversation. The Performante experience reflects its no-comprise looks. It’s dramatic, but after an hour in the seat it didn’t scare me as much as when I first opened up the throttle and felt those Latina hips shimmy.
But I’m nevertheless exhilarated and prepared to forgive all its faults after a good hack through the twisties. At least, until I drive it more calmly again. My back aches and I’m fed up of being thrown around by the gearbox. And as the thumb rests on the wheel spokes sit at 20 past four rather than quarter past three, I feel like I’m squeezing my elbows into my ribs to hold it properly. The interior’s not a patch on the Audi either, with – ironically – far too many Audi switches and controls.
After an enlightening few runs, Jon and I convene. “They are both really fun, exceptional cars in their own way,” he muses. “The Lamborghini though is a third or fourth car for the uber-rich; a toy, something you’d use on a winter’s evening. You’d maybe take it for dinner and park it outside a flash hotel. But as a drive it’s uncompromising and doesn’t suit anyone over 5ft 10in. The seat’s uncomfortable and visibility is awful, but it is a lot of fun.
“The Audi on the other hand is a beautiful car from any angle. It still has a big wow factor, but not quite the show-off factor of the Lamborghini. It’s a car that people will look at and admire, and it’s definitely got the practicality to be a daily driver if it was your only car, which is quite saying something as it’s a full-on cabrio and a full-on sports car.”
He’s hit the nail on the head. There’s no way I could live with the Performante day-to-day, unless I got a police waiver to commute every day at maximum attack. It’s the weapon of choice for the ultimate road or a racetrack, but completely impractical. And yet, cut from the same cloth, the R8 Spyder has a far broader appeal. You could go to the shops in it and have a fantastic drive home. It doesn’t have the edge of the Lambo, but it’s considerably cheaper and does a much better job of being all things to all men. Just so long as those men have large wallets.
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