Interesting read on "LamborghiniTalk"

General Discussion
#1

There’s a thread about an e-gear Murcielago owner who’s looking into a custom rear gear job. Changing it from 2.53 to around 3.

He has a good line - notes that top speed will be reduced to 185mph - and says “I don’t spend much time in the 200mph range”

Anyhow he then mentions that in reverse a Murcielago is geared to go 75mph. So when you put it in reverse and creep along at 1mph with your foot on the brake…you must be almost able to smell clutch burn. He says the amount of clutch life lost to slow reverse driving must be staggering.

Why the hell would a car be geared to go 75mph in reverse? I see no real world benefit of that remotely possible.

#2

maybe so its not a rocket in reverse, say it were geared like 1st gear and could only hit 30mph, it would accelerate much faster in reverse if you blipped the throttle

#3

exactly. Beem nailed it.

I’ve heard from 2 golf friends who each drive Murcielago roadsters that the clutches are all kinds of hassle. One of them had a theory on how to improve it, but I can’t remember what it was.

#4

remember when we had lunch with that high end used salesman, and he said he sold a perfect Murcielago roadster and the customer brought it back for a clutch 5000km later? Yeah…that sounds like a hassle.

He had a theory on what was burning them out - the custom exahust. Said it robbed the works of low end torque so you’re not getting full engagement until a higher rpm.

I’d like to hear an improvement theory. Of course there’s always iron clutch. Give new meaning to the expression “brake stand” lol

#5

oh yeah, that was the theory I heard. Nice memory.

#6

and to really illustrate that hassle…for those of you who don’t know, replacing the clutch in a Countach/Diablo/Murcielago, egear or otherwise, calls for removing the motor from the car to get at it.

#7

I thought the engines in the V12 Lamborghinis are mounted backwards so the front of the engine is facing the rear bumper and the transmission is right in the middle of the seats under the car of course. Now the V10 Gallardos looks the same as the Audi R8 setup with the trans sticking out the back from the Underground Racing pictures. Speaking of Underground Racing, it is even more incredible that their kits work as well as they do if there are that many issues with the clutches.

#8

All of that is correct except the clutch and tranny aren’t accessible from underneath. They’re enclosed in a tunnel and only accessible by pulling out the whole shebang.

I listened to a Diablo owner recount the terror of being on hand to watch them hoist the 700lb V12 out the back for a clutch job.

Fun fact: in Lamborghini nomenclature, “LP” that you almost always see stands for longitudinale posteriore. Engine longitudinally mounted posterior. First was the LP400 Countach. The P400 Miura had a posterior mounted 4 litre motor, in there transversly.

Another fun fact I just read today on LamborghiniTalk… an Aventador caught fire on a test drive out of Lamborghini Houston. Recall the Aventador is carbon fibre body and carbon fibre monocoque. What chemical reaction happens when you set fire to carbon? It turns into charcoal, another carbon derivative. So the car, by the time it was hauled from where it sat in flames to wherever the hell they hauled it, had literally reduced to an engine sitting in a pile of soot.