im thinking of g spider to replace my 997gt3 when its lease is up. i use it in everyday suburban driving and up to 10 track days/yr. ive seen them on track with the retractable roll hoops in the up position which is pretty ugly. do most tracks accept that? i drive northeast tracks. can a 5'9'' driver with helmet fit in a broomstick test? do the hoops fit under the roof? is there any room to fit a better roll bar like f430 has? thanks
...without the dealer computer software. They are designed to deploy only when the computers sense that the car might turn over. Is it possible tha the car you saw at the track simply was pushed a little hard and the bars deployed (I have seen this happen on M-B SL's before that were driven in a track environment)? If you can in fact manually deply them, then I bet that you would clear the broomstick test. They extend fairly high. I would check with your local track to see how they treat convertibles with automatically deploying roll bars. I have not seen any aftermarket options and would not expect to since so few people track a Gallardo Spyder with any regularity. Good luck, JJB
ive seen several different g spiders over the last few years driving on track with the hoops in the up position. they do seem high enough that the roof might not even clear them. maybe the dealer can put them up just for the event?
if no one here knows about tracking a g spider, who can i ask?!?! tried 6speedonline and no luck there either. oh well
On your questions: They deploy when the car senses that it could roll (as was noted earlier). You can get them to deploy via an ODBC computer. I also think there is a fuse that you could yank to make it go up - but have not looked into that. At 5' 9" you should pass the broomstick test I have only seen it in pic - but I think the poster above might be wrong - I think the top can be up and the roll bar deployed. If not that would be a large issue if driving with the top up. If you are looking for a car to track on more than an 1 or so time a year basis - get a coupe not the spyder. I will not go into the advantages of a coupe on the track since you have a GT3 - but spyders lack in many regards (only one being saftey) as opposed to a coupe. I would say however having owned both a coupe and now a spyder - there is no better sypder in the world than the Gallardo. In the midwest we have found it nearly impossible to get a waiver to track spyders anymore with the liability. That is a downside since the local F and L clubs do a few track events each year and it was nice to be able to join in on that with my past cars. Now with the spyder - all those track events are now coupe only due to track liability. I think you are going to see that more and more - specifically with the high power nature of the exotic spyders out there... If tracking is up there in your list - you might consider a nice used SE (great prices right now) or even an SL - which from what I understand is a great track car and built for it. Rich
As of the host of the two largest Lamborghini track events in the country I can answer the question. Yes they can and must be deployed to drive on the track. It has nothing to do with what the track regulates but the insurance company for the event. It is doubtful that the roof would fit over the extened bars, however you would not want to track the car with the top up. Joe Image Unavailable, Please Login
I don't think you'll have trouble at 5'9" driving with the top up or down; I'm 5'5" and there is plenty of room to clear with my helmet on and top up. I have manual seats though, if you have power seats, you'll be up higher as they do not go as low, so that could be an issue. The roll hoops can deploy with the top up, they're the only thing that's going to keep your head from being crushed if you roll over, you just would not want to deploy them if the top is up as they'll damage it since it will not clear them gracefully. I've tracked my spyder at Sebring several times and it was fun, however I would recommend strongly against 10 times/year or even ten times over the life of the car if you are an aggressive track driver; the chassis just isn't stiff enough and the car is not rugged enough. The last time I was out, I melted the brake pads onto the rotors and knocked the engine cover out of alignment so I couldn't put the top up at the end of the day; had to take the car in to have the top realigned. Image Unavailable, Please Login
thanks guys. i knew this site would come thru for me. i like to drive on track but at an intermediate level. used a 348 spider for years without trouble so i bet the lambo is more than up to it. gt3 had 10 track days plus 10k road miles before needing new pads and just started 2nd set tires. i like the coupe too but gets a little claustraphobic for me. do you have to push the bars back down or is it powered. how much force to push down? continued thanks
Sebring is a highly abusive track, always has been. It isn't known as a suspension killer for nothing. Joe
