Has anyone turned their AWD gallardo into RWD?

Most are probably going to be completely opposed to this idea, but I know many people that have removed the front axle/associated components from their 996 Porsche Turbo to make it RWD with stellar results. Frees up a lot of power from the parasitic driveline loss and just turns the car into a whole other beast (ie GT2)

Just curious if anyone has done this to a gallardo or if it would even be possible

For the skeptics out there, when this alteration is done to the P-turbo the traction control does not go haywire

 

There was a mercy that was done like that. Pretty impressive handywork and not just the mechanicals but the electronics had to be reworked to compensate for lack of traction assist information etc from the non driven wheels. That car was reciently in a fatal accident the 2 men who had borrowed it from a friend lost control on the road and were killed...

 

I am very sorry to hear about the loss of life and car. A RWD murcie must be quite a handful, like the rwd-verisons of the diablo.

out of curiosity, was the aforementioned murcie red?

Just shooting from the hip here, but I expect the gallardo would be easier to drive in RWD layout given it's shorter wheelbase

 

in the hands of a skilled driver the (yes red) car was quite easy and predictable (i drove it prior to accident) Lambo even sent people to inspect the work

 

I keep hearing that an official RWD G variant is on its way. Is that just rumor?

 

I hope its not just a rumour. It would be fantastic - this month's Evo magazine (UK edition) gave the G Spider very high praise indeed and to my mind, it can surely only improve an already great car to drop the 4wd.

I have a couple of questions about this kind of work, I wonder if someone could answer:
1) what kind of kerb weight reduction does dropping the 4wd componentry achieve?
2) how much extra horsepower (at the wheel) does dropping the 4wd give/how much horsepower do you lose through the extra drivetrain drag that 4wd creates?
3) what components do you need to remove/replace to do such a job, for example does it go so far as requiring new steering/front suspension componentry?
4) what would be the likely cost of doing this work?

I'd really love to see stripped out, RWD versions of both Gallardo and Murcielago, I guess the above questions go toward ascertaining how possible it would be to do something like this by yourself.

 

Lambo needs to come out with rwd gallardo and murcielagos. The AWD is cool but RWD is so much more fun.

 

I can only speak for the 996 porsche turbo, but I expect the process for a gallardo/murciellage would be quite similar

1) the front axle, drive shaft, and associated components weigh about 75lbs on the 996 turbo

2) i don't have any exact figures, but if memory serves me correctly, driveline loss for RWD manual cars is typically ~ 12-15% and with AWD manual cars it is ~ 22-25% . . . so a gain of around 10%

3) you do not need to buy any new front suspension components nor new steering rack, all you do is remove components, not add/change anything. Incase you are wondering, it is easily reversable as well

4) cost . . . varies by the shop, from a mechanical standpoint it is about 4 hours of work first time around (depending), but I don't know about electronics revamping, personally I would just pull the fuse on the traction control


anyone else is welcome to chime in . . .

 

thanks Chase - I'm hoping to buy my first exotic in summer 2007 and have been thinking about 355 or 360, though could be tempted by getting a Gallardo and doing a RWD conversion - only problem would be that in order to buy even an early G I'd need finance and I don't think a finance company would be too pleased with me modifying a car in this way.

I seem to remember seeing BHP figures for G-Force's Gallardo Twin Tubro quoted as 'rear wheel HP' - anyone know if he did rear drive, although with the extra power of the twin turbos, surely it would have been a consumate tyre shredder!!

 

I think you might be right about the TT Gallardo, if I remember correctly (albeit hazy) I think they disconnected the driveshaft/front axle during dynoing because they couldnt locate an AWD dyno that could handle such high HP/Torque . . . I might be mistaken however

for anyone interested, this thread has some good information about the process as it applies to 996 turbos

note: it is completely reversible

http://6speedonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51662

 

Maybe it's different where you are but in the US, the finance company has no say in the matter provided you keep making the payments (on a purchase, not a lease...).

Go for it!

 

i wonder if that would void warranty....

 

I just did the other day. Pulled out the driveshaft, now it's RWD.

 

No other comments?? Just "oh.. (yawn) i popped out the drive shaft.."

 

sensing a bit of sarcasm here . . . maybe i'm wrong though

 

No sarcasm. That's all you have to do. Pulled out the driveshaft so we could dyno the car on a RWD dynojet. I really don't see a point in pulling everything else out. Just a waste of time.

 

i guess the only point of removing the other stuff would be for reduced weight and to reduce the rotating mass per wheel/axle, but in reality it would be a waste, like you said, for driving on the street (and even on the track for 99.9% of drivers)

out of curiosity, do you intend to keep the gallardo RWD? Have you driven it yet? How does it handle? Is it tail happy at all? How do the electronics cope?

 

Does removing the driveshaft or any of the other stuff make the suspension require retuning - because of the reduced weight does the car's ride height increse on the front axle line? (I read about a Porsche turbo that had to have this done because of the reduced front end weight after a rwd conversion)

 

We have left it out for only dyno purposes. I have yet to drive the car but Allan won't have a problem with me testing it once were done. I don't think it will be a big difference. The factory driveshaft is pretty light to begin. Maybe I should weight it and see what type of weight we're saving. 95% most likely, it will go back in.

I'm sure there would have to be some type of suspension tuning. The way I see it, Lamborghini would be smart to incorporate all their spring rates to work correctly with the weight of the car. If the weight loss is gone, the original spring rates being used might not be up to par for the removal of all the parts and the change of weight balance. So, IMPO, I would not convert the AWD setup to RWD. I'm an AWD fan. =)