It pays to be open to the special things and moments in life, you don’t need to constantly chase after the latest fads to stay on the leading edge.
The same can be said for the world of super sports cars. Need proof? We recommend the Porsche 911 Turbo S and the -Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4.
We’ve made it, we have nothing left to prove to anyone, only to ourselves. This philosophy can be attributed to and experienced in an astonishingly congruent manner in two super sports cars. Rarely have two cars been so closely aligned with this magazine’s theme as these two.
“Stay cool” is more than just another slogan. It expresses a way of life, reminding us not only to be cool, but also to stay that way. Like these two cars, which seem so effortless in their appeal, their ingenuity, their radical nature and their talent for timeless perfection.
2010 was obviously a good year, perhaps it even held that moment we are all looking for, the moment in which time stands still. We’re constantly searching for moments of happiness, inventing fashions in order to chase after them posthaste, but the impression is mounting that it may be worth turning back a few chapters. Steve Jobs presented the first iPad. Sebastian Vettel became the youngest Formula 1 world champion to date. And the Siberian iris was flower of the year in Germany. Still with us? We don’t want to overdo it either.
The Porsche 911 Turbo and the Lamborghini Gallardo are reliable benchmarks for technical and conceptual endurance; they stand for an avant-garde class of practical supercar that has proven itself over the vector of time, something that perhaps wasn’t even listed in the product specifications. Because you can always rely on their essential consistency, the constant evolution of their technology. It’s a fine line, both for experts and connoisseurs: driving a well-aged car with all of its primal power and beauty without having to join a vintage club or take part in Sunday drives over the Stelvio Pass.
What is really fascinating about these two cars in the fourteenth year of their existence is the seriousness with which they commit to their vision and the focus with which they still confront the poetic questions of high-speed driving today. These two driving machines are accessible for effortless straightforward lifestyles because they themselves still belong to the no-fuss generation: get in, fasten your seatbelt and drive off with a casual glance in the rear-view mirror – the equivalent of a motorcyclist who slowly lifts his booted left leg theatrically from the asphalt as he accelerates rapidly down the road.
In this Turbo and Gallardo, there’s no one constantly trying to take the wheel from you, there are no grandpa apps that are constantly pushing your coffee cup more snugly into its holder, any electronics that are on offer are there for a reason, have been thoroughly tested and are helpful in the best sense of the word. Which means we can get down to business on the performance side of things; the Gallardo’s 552 hp have not been relegated to retirement. An alert mind, vigilant reactions and real skills are required to drive it – or to handle the acceleration of the Turbo 911 with its challenging and explosive character. One thing reinforces the other here, because the car needs you as much as you depend on the car. This Gallardo and this Turbo, completely different in their concept, are so similar when it comes to the sheer power, the hard braking, the tight steering, the taut seating position, everything as matter of fact as you would expect from a super sports car – and yet without causing you any fatigue or exhaustion, always full of response and information, from the front axle, from the rear slip, from the depths of the all-wheel gearing, bursting from the dynamically mounted furnace, the fervent machine, frenetic in its revs, milling and howling in the extremes. Wicked, yes, but – the years are our witness – still reliable after all this time.
Before we get completely carried away in our euphoric enthusiasm, let’s take a small break with the most important specs to catch our breath:
Porsche 911 Turbo S (997.2): meteor grey metallic, natural leather interior in cocoa brown
Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4: also grey metallic, black Alcantara interior
Both sports cars impress the observer as timelessly modern driving machines with the ultimate in connoisseur quality; owners of one or the other are guaranteed to be an established sports car enthusiast, while the choice of color reflects their stylistic restraint. A profound appreciation for aesthetics and design is obvious. They are character actors of a fading era, a time when you still had something real in your hands in the sense of direct access to the machine, to the road, to life, before the generation of digital natives took over. These automobiles are no referential marketing tools with a driving experience button, but exist in and of themselves, just like animals – or children.
At this point, we would like to shout a word onto the stage: sprezzatura. This is the Italian term for effortless grace and casual elegance. Germans aren’t very good at it, of course, but we don’t want to get into that here, we just want to mention it as an essential character trait. Though if you think about it carefully, the Gallardo actually benefits from the best of both worlds, as it contains a lot of components from the VW Group, developed in advance and in parallel. In particular, it shares more than a few parts with the Audi R8.
As an evolution of the old-school Porsche, the 997.2 is fundamentally rooted in a strong tradition, a classic rear-wheel car for the daily drive, an icon, a consistent and logical continuation of the technical and model developments. In this respect, the sixth 911 generation continues to embody the incredible evolution of the classic rear-engine sports car concept, the image burned into our retinas from childhood. But, hello, we’re talking about 523 hp in the Turbo S version, dynamic engine mounts, brake-based torque vectoring and the ultra-quick seven-speed PDK for top acceleration values.
And, yes, Porsche is the braking world champion, especially when, as in this model variant, the carbon-ceramic option is fitted behind the center-lock rims. Center-lock rims! The highest distinction of racing-orientated track suitability.
But it is precisely in this discipline that the Gallardo holds a subjective trump card. And that has to do with the seating position. The driver directly faces the road, without any distractions, in a line of sight that is not even clouded by self-perception, as the front end ducks out of the way. Porsche, as a classic example of fine driving, attaches great importance to the guiding edge in the form of the right-side headlight dome. The classic vertical dashboard also causes a certain amount of visual inhibition, whereas in the Gallardo the visual flow pulls your sight forward with the momentum of a river’s rapids. Still, the Lamborghini always lets you feel as if you could stop at any time should a cornering situation becomes too dicey.
To fully exploit the potential of the Turbo S, press the Sport Plus button. Then the PDK relinquishes all composure, shifts late and hard, skips up to gear level seven and the variable turbo blades ensure optimum throughput. The suspension is in merciless mode and has a banging hardness. Now you really appreciate and feel the Porsche’s bolt-tight workmanship.
On the other hand, the Gallardo brings an element of the exotic to our daily lives, characterized by its stringent design, with which Luc Donckerwolke created a modern classic right from the start.
Unfortunately, we have abandoned and given up so much from this era. New cars today are constantly pestering us with their electronic interventions, interfering in our driving maneuvers, which we protest in the strongest possible terms, because ultimately we still want to bear full responsibility, and full freedom of choice is only logical. The Lamborghini Gallardo and the Porsche Turbo are an exciting and intense reminder of those times.
And of the fact that you really only stay cool by living free.
Text: David Staretz
Photos: Matthias Mederer · ramp.pictures
rampstyle #32 Stay Cool
A professional survival tip for beginners: If you become lost and a search is initiated for you: Stay put. This may sound simple, but it is not. In stressful situations, our brain releases a substantial amount of norepinephrine into the relevant receptors, which unfortunately significantly impairs cognitive function. Find out more
