The Rivalry: Ferrari vs Lamborghini

Since 2003 Ferrari has had a fight on its hands. Lamborghini has always offered an exciting and sometimes challenging alternative to Enzo’s thoroughbreds and the noisy neighbors now have the money to make a concerted challenge. In 2003 the Gallardo was launched and Lamborghini was given a new lease of life. Despite the money being sourced from Wolfsburg the Gallardo was unmistakably a Lamborghini, with subdued aggression matched with clean lines, a four wheel drive system that inspires confidence and a visceral V10 to top it all off.

I’m going to have a look at the two manufacturer’s lightweight models. They demonstrate the progress of the two manufacturers and the refinement of their differing ethos. Will my love of the cars from Maranello be challenged?

360 Challenge Stradale vs Gallardo Superleggera

Last week I dropped the Lamborghini Gallardo into my ‘Top Ten Italian’s’ feature, it sits there on merit in my view, as a hugely significant car for Ferrari’s main natural competitor. Unfortunately for Lamborghini this does not mean the earliest Gallardo was a particularly good car. It lacked delicacy, the gearing was all wrong, and when one looked beneath the surface they weren’t put together all that nicely either. Ferrari was keeping a watching brief, but at this point they may not have been unduly worried.

The Ferrari 360 is not a car that will go down in history as one of the greats either, but the 360 Challenge Stradale will. The standard car sounded good and went decently, but the Gallardo dwarfed its 400bhp power output and the chassis is temperamental at the limit or in wet weather. The Challenge Stradale, on the other hand, was a revelation. It was launched in 2004 with 425bhp, it had also been on a strict diet that shaved 110kg from the kerb weight. These changes may not sound like much, but somehow they were more than the sum of their parts. Eight years on still I want a Stradale and prices on the used market reflect the affection in which this car is held.

Lamborghini had been shown by Ferrari and Porsche what could be done by removing some sound deadening, increasing power and cutting some of the more unnecessary gubbins from the options list. In 2007 they decided to have a go themselves. 10bhp was added to take the total to 530bhp and the engineers at Lamborghini cut the weight by 100kg. The Superleggera was most definitely sharper than the standard Gallardo, which underwent a facelift and mechanical overhaul in late 2005, and it sounded spectacular. However, for all of the brutality, it lacked tactility and subtlety.

The question is: given that Lamborghini had three extra years to develop the Superleggera and with the facelifted Gallardo a higher baseline to work from, was the Gallardo Superleggera more of an achievement than the 360 Challenge Stradale? No, I’m afraid it isn’t. I still crave a 360 Challenge Stradale, while I remember being a touch disappointed with the Superleggera every time I hopped behind the alcantara wheel.

1-0 to Ferrari then.

430 Scuderia vs. Gallardo Superleggera

Round two was always going to be exciting when it comes to these lightweight, track oriented Italian fire breathers. Ferrari was back with a lightweight F430 before Lamborghini had laid to rest even their first Gallardo Superleggera. They launched the 430 Scuderia at the Frankfurt motorshow in 2007.

The second generation Gallardo Superleggera was based on the much improved LP560-4 Gallardo. The LP560-4 had 552bhp and the LP570-4 Superleggera added another ten onto that, meanwhile, extensive use of carbon fibre made sure that this would be the lightest Lamborghini available. The good news for Lamborghini is that by this point the basic Gallardo had been improved beyond recognition. It now felt tactile and responsive, with a lovely pointy front end and a far nicer, and less intrusive, four wheel drive system that kept you out of trouble but didn’t encroach upon the driving experience. On top of this the Lamborghini has a truly special engine. The V10 sounds both cultured and raucous all in one fabulous crescendo. This new Superleggera was a very real contender for the Ferrari’s crown.

Fortunately for Ferrari the car they launched was pretty special too. If there was one major criticism that could be leveled at the Challenge Stradale it was the ride quality, which left something to be desired on English roads at least. I remember standing in the pits at Silverstone with some chaps I know. It was 11pm and they were competing, and doing rather well, in the annual BritCar 24 hour race. They were using an Aston martin V8 Vantage, but the Scuderia had just come out, talk turned to the Ferrari. We came to the conclusion that a standard road going Scuderia could tootle round the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit at a speed that would see it placing quite high in the final standings. Such was the measure of Ferrari’s newest contender.

The two cars represent very different experiences. The Ferrari was by this point becoming a more digital experience, making use of the steering wheel mounted mannetino where just a solitary button was available in the brutal Lamborghini. This round goes to the Ferrari, but only just. I’ve had some good times in the 2010 Superleggera and I wouldn’t feel short changed if someone placed one in my custody.

2-0 (but the gap is closing)

Lambo Murcielago SuperVeloce vs 599 GTO

So far I have examined the two great Italian manufacturer’s junior models. Now I think we should move into an altogether more rarified sphere, so, let’s add six figures to the list price and see what wins then. Lamborghini applied the now familiar formula to the Murcielago and Ferrari gave us the 599 GTO. Both manufacturers were looking to the next model and in this case it was Lamborghini that blinked first.

The Gallardo may have been the game-changer for Lamborghini but the Murcielago was the first car to be launched in the VW era. It came with a measly 571bhp from its V12, so it is no surprise that Lamborghini first increased it to 631php in the LP640 and then 661 bhp for the LP670-4 Super Veloce. Of course, the 661 bhp engine was not radically different to the LP640’s. Rumour has it that the V12’s were strapped to the dynometer and the strongest units made their way into the SV and Reventon. Either way, the SV certainly felt faster than the standard car, although some of the difference is due to the obligatory 100kg weight reduction. Far better news for the enthusiast was the improvement in the handling. The Murcielago was never an overly scary beast to drive, certainly in LP640 form and the SV built on this. As is usual Lamborghini made the Murcielago sharper, with the balance shifting from understeer to a seductive neutrality that shifts to power oversteer when treated to a dose of right foot. It is a measure of the achievement that I would rather have one of these than a new Aventador, which lacks the thrill factor of the older model, despite an extra 30bhp.

Some people have criticized the 599 for its sterility, but in reality it is a pretty special car. So, yet again, this isn’t a bad baseline for Ferrari to work on. The GTO sounds even better than the standard car and produces 50bhp more than the standard car. Ferrari even improved the handling. Sadly for us English they only made them in left hand drive. However, that this car is good enough to justify its £313,000 price tag and, more importantly, its GTO badge should tell you enough. Arguably the GTO represents good value for money.

This is a close one to call. I love the SV, and I’ve had some great experiences in them. However, in every key area the Ferrari is better.

3-0 to Ferrari.

What’s now and what’s next?

This is where it gets complicated. The 458 is an awesome piece of kit. My only worry is that it has become a touch too digital for me. The double clutch gearbox and stupendous chassis flatters one’s driving so much that I am almost terrified by the possibilities, to the point that I (almost) hark back with fondness to the idiosyncrasies of the F430’s F1 gearbox and the 360 Modena’s challenging handling characteristics. Either way I am looking forward to the light weight 458.

However, for the first time there is a Lamborghini I’m even more excited about. Lamborghini unveiled the Sesto Elemento at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. It weighs under a tonne, has a carbon fibre body and a relatively paltry 570 bhp. You can probably tell that it’s the weight I’m most excited about.

It’s 2012 now and I have given the last decade to Ferrari (feel free to disagree), but the gap is closing. I wonder which manufacturer the next ten years will belong to? One thing is certain, it will be exciting.