Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale

Pride taken to a better, faster and more aggressive level.

It is quite sad the Gallardo production now, which has been with us for about 10 years, has came to an end at 2013 and was succeeded at the helm by the new Lamborghini Huracan model. Its production may have ended but the Gallardo will not be easily forgotten. Personally, the Gallardo in my eyes is one of the best looking supercars of all time and perhaps even more flamboyancy than its new successor the Huracan. The Gallardo is one true unique car in many aspects especially when it comes to its natural aspirated V10 engine. One of the reasons why I find them unique is also because V10 engines are harder to come by unlike V8s and V12s. We do get V10 engines like the Porsche Carrera GT, the Lexus LFA, the Viper and of course the Audi R8 but the numbers draw fewer as the time flies by like BMW who has pulled their V10 engines away from their M Power cars, like the M5, to V8s.

Being Lamborghini and with the Gallardo being an enormous success they have brought the Gallardo into a huge variety of cars into the lighter and more powerful Superleggera, to the rear wheel drive Balboni (usually Gallardos are all wheel drive)  to limited edition paintjobs like the Singapore and Malaysia limited editions. As the time drew closer to the end of Gallardo production, out comes another limited edition. With only 150 units, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale is basically a more limited version of the Gallardo Superleggera with some enhancing performances.

I was fortunate enough to encounter one of the 150 “Stradales” on my trip to Dubai at the Dubai Mall. Intrigued by such a large crowd taking pictures I knew it was going to be something special. It was obviously hard to see what it was with such an enormous crowd and an obstructing traffic from afar but as I drew closer to it I noticed it was a vibrant red Gallardo with a massive wing and I said to myself  filled with disbelieve “It can’t be right?” Surely enough I wasn’t deceived by my eyes, it was. While slowly examining the car with my brother and avoiding the crowds from obstructing I laughed to myself and said “Typical Lamborghini, always drawing the eyes of many.” I guess this is always one of the best features of a Lamborghini is always being an attention seeker and creating wild fantasies in many minds of the young or the elderly to own one hence the Gallardo as I said before is one of the best looking in the supercar world.

The first few noticeable features of this car were the beautifully vibrant “Rosso Mars” paint, a lot more carbon fibre works especially at the diffusers, engine cover and, of course, that massive rear wing which I think is the most distinctive aspect of the Super Trofeo which brought to my attention it is adjustable. With the tough lightweight construction, a mid-mounted 562 bhp 5.2 litre naturally aspirated V10 powerhouse and a more sophisticated aero dynamism from the front the rear you know immediately this beast was built to fly on the straights and handle with impeccable precisions. While visiting the colossal mall I was so glad this car stayed from noon to the night, it gave me more time to pay attention to the car while taking a rest from the tiring walks. Exploring further into the car’s arsenal of speed and handling you have more carbon fibre throughout , forged wheels with bolts which I believe to be made of titanium in the addition to weight saving, red brake callipers and thumbs-up Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres. Peaking through the windows you will observe a simple but sporty interior of mostly alcantara from the racing seats to the dashboard with touches of red accents on the seats and lower dashboards and contrasting red stitching.

 

Yet being a Lamborghini with its raw power and quad exhausts you know in your heart nothing can go wrong with its monstrous noise of revving, acceleration and downshifts which instils you. One of things I always admire about Lamborghini and their limited enhanced models like this Super Trofeo Stradale is they always make sure they are distinctive to the eyes of the car enthusiasts, it is true they have sacrificed a lot on the comfort and practicality in the pursue of extreme driving pleasure and I agree what they are doing is right. This is what this lightweight monster is all about because if you are asking for comfort and practicality I think it would be better to look into another car. Another incredible thing about this car is the aero dynamism and that rear wing. It gives the Gallardo, besides better performances, a more aggressive looking car. My Dad himself admitted that this car was one of the best cars he had seen in the trip even though there are other cars more expensive, rarer and faster than this one.

This car marks as one of the last chapters to the Gallardo family, the Gallardo production has ended,  but it will never be forgotten in the hearts of the world’s car lovers especially the purists. It began well and it ended well. 

2014 August ~ KL Supercar Hunt

Hello viewers, I’m back!

August has been busy at the same time a fantastic month, maybe even the best so far for 2014, because I have some really fast and beautiful cars to show and tell from my KL (Kuala Lumpur) trip. Unfortunately it was only a 4-day trip so I did not; sadly, get as many pictures as I wanted. The main reason, firstly, I had this trip was to visit my relatives and some friends living there and secondly, of course, is to hunt and snap for some exotic machines and share it with you all.

During the trip, time was always against me even though I planned the schedule ahead. Another thing you have to know about KL is everywhere it’s far and it really was time consuming even if you drive fast on the highways. And some of the showrooms I intended to visit like the Lamborghini and McLaren showrooms were not accessible to me at that time. Most the pictures were taken from the Pavilion Mall and NAZA. And lastly, I had to spend time with my big family whom I had an awesome time with.

And really before I go through some of the cars I must give a big shout out to my friend Alvin who has been the one driving me around to find these cars and also for some good food. Without him, none of these pictures and experiences will be possible!

Day 2 was the day where we had most of the pictures shot. We headed out to the Pavilion Mall because my Aunt and cousin decided to treat us for some amazing ramen. There we explored the underground car park and the famous Pavilion valet car park where there were a couple of Porsches, Ferrari and this bizarre VW in chrome blue. Sadly, we were there before lunch time and it was a Friday working day so we did not see as much as we wanted. We also went to the Bentley showroom which was in the Mall itself to see several models like the new V8 GTC and the GT Speed.

After the lunch and some awesome gelato we split up and headed to NAZA. To be honest I was really tired that day and had a nap while Alvin was at the wheel. I can tell you how my energy charged up immediately when Alvin woke me up. From my eyes, I saw a blur of bright yellow and as my eyes settled suddenly there was epic bright yellow Ferrari 458 Italia right in front of our car. I wish you could see my reaction that moment. I was seriously wide awake…better than the coffee!

NAZA’s complex was massive so we started at NAZA Italia where it’s the official showroom for Ferrari & Maserati. One the ground floor is where they hold Ferrari cars and the upper floor is where they hold the Maserati cars. Sadly yet again when I was there, the Maserati MC12 and the Ferrari Enzo were sent away for service so I did not get the opportunity to snap. There were a number of Ferraris mostly F12 Berlinetta-s and 458s. They have the usual selection of colors especially red. There were two Ferraris that really caught my attention from the epic floor. One was this tangerine orange Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, next a full white Ferrari 458 Spider, then a black Ferrari 458 with a “Kuching” license on it and lastly a customized Ferrari 458 Speciale. I am not allowed by the sales people to post this unique car because it hasn’t reached the customer but I must say it looks epic. I’ll describe it. It is painted in a two tone matte black and white with a nice red and black strip and at the front intakes they were painted chrome red and it is surrounded by ribbons. I was told this car is bought as a birthday present. How I wish it’s me because it looks fantastic and because it’s the Speciale. For your information all Speciales are sold out in the whole of Malaysia. On the Maserati floor, we had the usual Gran Turismos, the new Quattropotte and the Ghiblis. The highlights were the MC Stradale in white as well as this Maserati in beautiful matte blue. It really looks good with the indoors and sun light.

After Italia, we went to the main NAZA hall where it was renovated specially for NAZA Swedish Motors where they are the official dealer for one of the fastest manufacturers in the world, Koenigsegg. There they had a black Koenigsegg Agera S. Unfortunately yet again; we could not see the whole car as it was under the cloth. We also had a look at the BMW M6 Gran Coupe, Audi R8 V10, Bentleys, the new S63 AMG and some superbikes like Ducati and Aprilia which I am not really interested in. I guess my favorite part was the trying the only-2-in-Malaysia limited edition Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera LP570-4 in this lime green paint. We also happened to meet and have a good chat with the manager about the sales of this car and learnt a great deal manager’s experience with the cars. He was really kind to let us have a go at the Lamborghini and, my goodness, the sound it makes is so different compared to the normal Gallardo LP560s. I barely floored the gas and it set up a blast throughout the hall and even stunned some of the people both customers and employees nearby. I know to many the new Lamborghini Huracan is the new replacement and many are chasing and even buying it now but personally I don’t think I will ever like it. I believe the Gallardo Superleggera is still the better car, it looks more of a supercar, it sacrifices all the practicalities to perform faster and to save weight, it looks more insane andit is a supercar that is built purely for driving fun. The Huracan in my eyes is more of after plastic surgery Audi R8 with more horsepower and I also think the design is a little boring. But maybe it’s just me! The Gallardo holds a special place in my heart even when it first came out.

I just wish my timing was better and my trip was longer. It was an epic trip! I had tons of great fun with my relatives’ and friends and even though there were unfortunate moments with the cars, it was really worth it! I did at the very least take quite a number of pictures and explore the cars.

For more pictures, do like and follow me on my new Facebook page for this blog. I promise I will bring up more news in the future! Cheers!

Throwback – Sunday, 30 June 2013

Hills Mall Supercar Show, Kuching 2013

There are many memorable moments in my car-obsess life especially the car shows. I love car shows. The big noisy & excited crowds from the young to old, the beautiful models, the photographers and most importantly are the supercars filled brutal noises and plenty of horsepower. I was in my exam week with the last paper coming up in a few days so I decided to just take the afternoon off to de-stress myself and really was it worth it. 

Car shows are the perfect time to just feast your eyes upon these amazing cars and meet & talk to friends or even strangers all about cars. The one thing I love most about car enthusiast meeting another car enthusiast is it establishes relationships rather quickly. It is like conversing in another language and it is just all about the interest the two parties share in common.

Kuching is a pretty small city so to have a supercar here is quite rare and also hard because there are no official supercar showrooms and it is not easy to find maintenance for these expensive machines and because the import tax are high. Kuching unlike the capital city, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore is not your typical place to look for supercars even though the number has been climbing a lot the past few years.

During that car show, two new supercars joined the Kuching Supercar Owners Club fleet which were a Maserati Gran Turismo and the brand new Aston Martin Vanquish.

I guess the highlight of the show were the Lamborghinis, it was just a large crowd trying to view around the car and taking pictures. It was unsurprising for the Lamborghinis to steal the show. We had the rare (and it was the first time I saw it) Verde Ithaca Aventador, the Arancio Atlas Aventador, the full black Murcielago and of course the Gallardo LP560.

Next in line, we had the WALD R35 GT-R, a blue Audi R8 V8, a yellow F430 Spider and a two-tone red/black Ferrari F430 coupe. Then we have a couple of cars like the Porsche Caymans, the Bentley Continental Supers and the Continental GT.

I only stayed until the middle of the event where the photo-taking session was taking place with the beautiful models posing next to the cars. It was nice to see Asha, a beautiful Kazakh who was studying the same subject with me in Swinburne, with the modelling team.

For me I really had a good time during that car show. The exciting atmosphere and the amazing cars put together. Yet again, it was not the full fleet of the Supercar Owners Club, some did not attend which was pity but either way it was nice to see these cars especially the Aventadors and the beautiful Aston Martin Vanquish. These two cars were the big boys with their massive V12 engines that caught my attention. The Aston the star for in eye, it is the latest car in the fleet and because the Aston Martin is up to now one of the most stunning supercars I have ever seen; it has such a beautiful design from the outside to the inside. It is a very good looking car, no second thought on that! I was really impressed too with stunning upholstery. Sure did I remember it took my breath away just to see the detail of this car.

Personally for me I really love car shows, it is a nice to time just concentrate on one’s hobby and it also acts as a motivation to work harder and smarter to be able to afford these cars. Maybe one day, who knows?

P.S. Thanks once again to the Kuching Supercar Owners Club for making this special occasion an awesome one.

Throwback – March 30, 2013

Kuching Supercars gathers at Swinburne University Sarawak Campus

As you might know I study at Swinburne Sarawak Campus here in my home town. Usually you don’t get much news of supercars rolling in for a show in Universities but the amazing fact was last March 2013 it actually happened right at my Uni.

The University was holding a carnival with games, dance performances & food. The Kuching Supercar Owners Club actually came to join the fun along to capture the eyes and bring the crowds of students, lecturers and staffs. I was a little disappointed all the supercars didn’t fully turn up. Usually there are more supers like the F430s, 458s, Audi R8, Ferrari 599s and Bentley Supersports. However, it was the first time I actually had a good detailed look around the arancio atlas Lamborghini Aventador. We also have the two Lamborghini Gallardos and a Ferrari F430 Spider. Then we have a couple of Porsches like the Cayman and Panamera and a Bentley Flying Spur.

I was there like 80% of the time in the Swinburne Carnival to admire, taking some pictures and talking to people about the cars even though it was a really hot there and I was sweating mad but looking and chatting with friends and strangers was a real joy so I didn’t care and the other 20% of the time is food and join some of the games.

I seriously hope they do this gathering at the University more often although disappointedly this year 2014 there wasn’t any supercar gathering during this year’s carnival. I pray the next coming carnivals the owners can bring these gorgeous cars. It’s nice to see loads of people crowding and just admiring cars even though not all of them are car fanatics. This event was definitely one of the most memorable of the Kuching supercar gatherings I have ever been although there were not many of them.

It’s late but big thanks to Swinburne Council and The Kuching Supercar Owners Club in making this wonderful event possible.

P.S. More to come on the Kuching Supercars Owners Club.