r8m8

Will I kill myself if I pick one up in a foreign country at the airport from day 1 and drive it to my new home?

I am about an average driver but I have never driven anything over 200bhp. I'm sure I have the capacity to feel comfortable with any car after a few weeks of driving, I'm just wondering whether I need to go for another car as well as my daily driver or if I can jump straight into it.

Opinions?

r8m8

Added note: The R8 will be an r-tronic, and I have never driven a semi-auto.

randombloke

It's a very easy car to drive - just apply as much power (gas) as you're comfortable with

AofC_RR

That's a bit more tricky. Read up on proper usage so you don't destroy the clutch.

randombloke

why do you think the r-tronic more tricky with regards to clutch damage?

JMSIV

For instance, when you come to a light, shift it into neutral. If you do not, as the speed slows, it will downshift one by one all the gears to first, slipping the clutch every time. But that is not how you drive a manual... you would put it into neutral, sit at the light, and then put it in first when it turns green.

You have to be careful in reverse, as the clutch slips more in reverse than in first gear. Backing up a grade can cause a fair amount of clutch wear. Once or twice, probably not such a bad thing. But if you regularly back out of your driveway up a slope, you are going to have faster clutch wear.

randombloke

it strikes me as yet more r-tronic fear-mongering, like all that nonsense about the r-tronic clutch only lasting 5k miles that did the rounds on r8 forums before there were cars that had piled on a whole heap more than that and not big volume of complaints of early clutch death.

April

No dragging the brakes.

Early Gallardo E-gears went though a number of clutch revisions, with short life quite common. One thing many owners learned was to remember to drive it like a stick, not a conventional auto.

http://www.r8talk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-201.html

http://www.lamborghini-talk.com/vbforum/f4/egear-wear-12-000km-i-feel-good-10528/

http://www.lamborghini-talk.com/vbforum/f47/gallardo-egear-clutch-where-buy-7686/

http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic236172.htm

http://www.evo.co.uk/buying/buyingguide/233671/lamborghini_gallardo_checkpoints.html

justhacking

I don't this is the transmission or the power that you need to worry. It is more of the fact that it is quite hard to see out (by normal car standard) if you haven't driven a mid engine car before. If you are unfamiliar with the surrounding and have to find your way then it can be a handful. Although that's true for any car but harder in the R8 (or any exotic). Just my .2 cents...

r8m8

Thanks justhacking. I hadn't even considered visibility issues. I think I may go with an M3 to start off with. Won't be as much fun I guess.