Picked up my Gallardo few questions for any experts..

Light grinding noise is probably your front differential. Probably nothing to worry about, some put a bit thicker oil in it.
The clunking noise with full lock is completely normal and a "factory standard option" They all do so. Heavy steering in a way is normal too. Especially compared with most Ferrari's. Ofcourse dependable on how far gone your tires are. I have driven carbon ceramic brakes, so can't compare there. They are responsive.
I don't own one (yet) my experience is in reading, talking to carsellers and testdriving. Thinking about trading in my F355 for a 560 Gallardo.

 

I removed my awd years ago, 2wd is so much better driving feel.

 

Great!!

 

Some additional tips:

- For an e-gear car, contact RSC Tuning regarding a TCU software update. A good improvement can be had in the shifting and day-to-day drivability of the stock tranny. As it's a Pre-LP, unfortunately you might have to look at sending the TCU unit in or borrowing a programming device from them, dunno. I Have an LP so for us we get our own little OBD2 plug-in to install/remove the program at leisure. At least with the LP program, the software also unlocks some power (enough to notice it) that the factory had dialed back for conservatism (and yes, purely on the TCU side; does not touch ECU programming).

- As a Spyder owner, get a SmartTop. It's cheap (~$325), easy enough to install, and provides several great features for the top, the best of which is opening and closing the top via your factory remote control buttons, and 1-press open & close operation inside the cabin instead of having to sit there holding the button down waiting for the top to finish. There's other misc stuff like configuring if your windows open or close after opening/closing the top, increasing the MPH lockout for top operation, etc etc.

- If someday down the road you want the lighter & improved steering feel, improved handling feel and "added fun" of RWD, just an FYI that the cost is very minimal to try it, and easily reversible. It's about $1k parts & labor to convert to RWD and it also drops around 150 lbs off the car.

- There are a couple good options for upgrading the size of your shift-paddles, the stock paddles are too tiny. On lamborghini(dash)talk dot com there is a vendor who has made large metal paddles that are a complete replacement for the stock units. It's more expensive and a more involved install but they are the largest upgrade. If you want an in-between solution (not quite as large, and a super-easy install you can do yourself in 2 minutes) there are the Fabspeed paddles. If you decide you want the latter, feel free to drop me a PM, I have a spare set I could sell you at a discount.

- If you haven't already put an aftermarket exhaust on the car, I'm assuming you know this is absolutely mandatory and unlocks one of the best-sounding exotic engines ever made.

Congrats & good luck!!