Throwback: Tested: 1992 Ferrari F40 Meets Lamborghini Diablo

[buster]

Link

"Around town, both of these cars are difficult to drive—heavy steering, high-effort brakes that are also vague, fussy metal shift gates. Without a fully warmed transmission, admission to first gear is often not an option."

"Of the two, the Diablo is the more demanding, with more wasted motion. Its clutch is as heavy as that in a Ryder truck we recently rented. After one hour's drive, no man among us could any longer hold the clutch depressed for the time required to outwait a red light. Under 10 mph, the steering is so heavy that you occasionally wrench your upper torso an inch or two from the nearly prone seatback."

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by buster
After one hour's drive, no man among us could any longer hold the clutch depressed for the time required to outwait a red light. Under 10 mph, the steering is so heavy that you occasionally wrench your upper torso an inch or two from the nearly prone seatback."

Had a discussion with my GF recently about driving the BMW in my sig.
Last Thursday we had to move it from our apartment downtown, to a garage where it's going to be restored (about an hour's drive each way). To be nice, I drove the Lexus while I let her drive the BMW for one last spin before it goes to pieces.

While the clutch and all associated mechanical bits are functioning properly and are in stock configuration (engine, steering, suspension, transmission, clutch etc.) she mentioned how stressful it was when slowing down and start again from a standing start.
Traffic lights, pedestrians etc. all became issues of contention that made the drive stressful.
By the time we arrived, despite her being in good shape physically, she was mentally and physically exhausted and was glad to crawl into the passenger seat of the Lexus for the ride home.

I can honestly say, cars have REALLY spoiled us over the last 30 years.
Especially those equipped with an auto transmission.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted by buster
Link

"Around town, both of these cars are difficult to drive—heavy steering, high-effort brakes that are also vague, fussy metal shift gates. Without a fully warmed transmission, admission to first gear is often not an option."

"Of the two, the Diablo is the more demanding, with more wasted motion. Its clutch is as heavy as that in a Ryder truck we recently rented. After one hour's drive, no man among us could any longer hold the clutch depressed for the time required to outwait a red light. Under 10 mph, the steering is so heavy that you occasionally wrench your upper torso an inch or two from the nearly prone seatback."


Interesting read. Loved the F40, though I was in 5th grade or so... So much of it didnt mean much to me.

Reading the review language now makes it very interesting.

I remember seeing one picture - the dash looked like a flat plane with carpet on it, and I thought how could it be so ugly in such a great car....

All the same, it was one of my favorites.

Whats funny after reading this is how adolescent teens thought that these super hot models drove Diablos in Beverly Hills as DD cars. The review would indicate otherwise...


Originally Posted by Lolvoguy

While the clutch and all associated mechanical bits are functioning properly and are in stock configuration (engine, steering, suspension, transmission, clutch etc.) she mentioned how stressful it was when slowing down and start again from a standing start.
Traffic lights, pedestrians etc. all became issues of contention that made the drive stressful.
By the time we arrived, despite her being in good shape physically, she was mentally and physically exhausted and was glad to crawl into the passenger seat of the Lexus for the ride home.



Very interesting. After a good deal over 100k miles of driving my 318i in some of the most congested (DC to NYC) traffic in the country, and having owned:
-91 318i
- 94 integra
- 03 saab 9-3
-08 VW rabbit
-11 135iM

All with MT, I can say that the 318i is the easiest and least stressing to drive in traffic. Stop and go? Tollbooth? Drop it in first, drop it in second, dont care, wont stall - just go. Easy.

Both my brother and I learned on that car, and it was still on the original clutch when I sold it due to rust with ~188k miles.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by JHZR2


Very interesting. After a good deal over 100k miles of driving my 318i in some of the most congested (DC to NYC) traffic in the country, and having owned:
-91 318i
- 94 integra
- 03 saab 9-3
-08 VW rabbit
-11 135iM

All with MT, I can say that the 318i is the easiest and least stressing to drive in traffic. Stop and go? Tollbooth? Drop it in first, drop it in second, dont care, wont stall - just go. Easy.

Both my brother and I learned on that car, and it was still on the original clutch when I sold it due to rust with ~188k miles.


Yeah, we live in one of the most densly populated cities in Canada.
Rolling stops in 2nd aren't an option. It's complete or nothing.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Car & Driver
Link

"....no man among us could any longer hold the clutch depressed for the time required to outwait a red light."

Ummm, put it in neutral