very early diablo are some of the quickest: Myth or Truth? | FerrariChat

very early diablo are some of the quickest: Myth or Truth?

Discussion in 'LamborghiniChat.com' started by EMILIO, Jul 5, 2016.

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  1. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    #1 EMILIO, Jul 5, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    from my lost youth i had a old memory in my mind: i thought the original diablo was very close in acceleration time to the F40....yes, i know it sounds stupid to most, is sounds not possible given the F40 is so much lighter and has similar power and torque.

    growing up i honestly thought this memory was more the desire of young lamborghini fanatic than reality ;)
    i thought it was not real, but more like "i hoped the diablo was as quick as an F40" but is not possible...the quoted statistics tells the F40 must be far quicker

    almost everyone that had experience with both cars could confirm the F40 was much quicker accelerating: in the end, it makes sense since diablo has few more quoted hp and some 300-400 Kg heavier than the Ferrari rival.
    The only statistic they were really comparable, and were the diablo was a bit better than its "competitor" from Maranello, was the "hiper-useless" over 320 Kmh top speed...thanks to lower drag and some more ponies the diablo is a tad faster than a F40 in its final speed. But who really cares? would you ever be able to push a diablo to its 326 Km/h final velocity? hardly...

    Now, do not get me wrong: i know for SURE the F40 is far superior as a trak machine, i know it is built as a no compromise, track oriented machine, i know it is much faster on a lap since it is much lighter, has better handling etc..etc...
    but still the memory of these close acceleration times was somewhat in the back of mind....

    Now back to 2016: chatting with some lamborghini owners lately, as well as some lamborghini aficionados, i got often the opinion the VERY early diablos were among the quickest of all diablo versions.

    some guys that owned many lamborghinis and other that drove even more of them, told me that the early diablos are quicker in acceleration times compared to ALL later road models, with the only exclusion of Jota and GT, ( it is not a mistery the Jota and GT are close to 600 hp and they had a lot of engine upgrades to make them so powerfull).
    the SV-R and GTR are also quicker but honestly not comparable since pure racer, not road legal cars.

    it is no mistery the 2wd diablos are lighter than later VT, roadster and 6.0. but the difference in weight should be compensated by the extra power on late cars.
    and also: the SE30 and SV should be quicker than a early 2wd since they should be ligther and more powerfull, but is it really the case? not so sure...
    please keep in mind statistics and quoted performance - weight figures from Sant Agata factory were far from accurate years ago, please note it was not so uncommon back then to states the "new" version was quicker regardless of real performance gain: i think most lamborghini guys know what we are talking about

    1 month ago, a guy that owns both a VT 6.0 and early 2wd told me, there is NOT one single doubt his early car is a quicker car than the 6.0; yes the 6.0 is better built, its brakes are 3 times better, handlig is vastly improved....basically the late car is superior in almost everything, but for pure acceleration? NO NO way... the old 2wd is for sure much quicker!


    please note we are not talking about all the 1990-1996 2wd diablos, most opinions i collected coincide: just the VERY early cars...then they got somewhat "less quick...probably less powerfull"

    So how many of these quick diablos were made?
    i really have no idea, but it looks like only the first cars
    some say 20 cars, some say 50....but all these "guy in the know" agreed that after some diablos were sold, the cars became slower and less powerfull.
    why the cars were "detuned" after ?
    this i do not know but if i had to guess, they may had some reliability doubts
    the car was plenty fast aniway and worth the risk to have reliability problems so ...detuned just to be on the safe side?
    could be, they may had enough good press and results from early magazines test

    yesterday i was reading some old magazine i collected when i was a child and i found this old autocapital from the early 90's, with a comparative btw some of the quicker cars of the era, i noticed the F40 and diablo acceleration times were much closer than most would aspect: i scanned the times.
    take a look and please tell me if the diablo had only 14 hp more than the F40 how it could be as quick or even a bit quicker in 0-100, 0-200 Kmh as well as in the 400meters or 1000meters from still! no way

    So ....are some early diablos as quick as an F40? there is some truth behind this myth?
    i'd like to hear opinions and even more direct experiences with them

    for sure i remember when the diablo was to be launched it was the F40 performances that lamborghini wanted to match and possibly defeat: the diablo project was pushed to be a world beater supercar and intended to be a F40 competitor more than a Testarossa competitor.
    last note: i think these fast diablos are only early european cars. so please do not post US test results of USA diablos being much slower Vs USA F40: i already know it is
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  2. Lemacc

    Lemacc Formula 3
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    #2 Lemacc, Jul 5, 2016
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    Truth, very early cars had very strong engines. Difficult to say how many cars were that fast. I think we speak about the first 40 cars.

    In the attached pictures you find only prototyps. These cars had some differences to the later production cars:

    -different front bumper (position of the lights)
    -some cars had side markers on unusual position and a different third brake light
    -window switches next to the gear level
    -front trunk opener on a different position
    -leather around the gauges in the dash pod
    -different door lock latches

    And far more details which i can´t identify because there are no very early Prototyps around.
    The earliest i know, is the yellow Diablo 2wd from Tonino´s museo (8th of 10th prototyps)
    This car was original red, but has the production front bumper.
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  3. Lemacc

    Lemacc Formula 3
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  4. Lemacc

    Lemacc Formula 3
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    #4 Lemacc, Jul 5, 2016
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  5. ralfabco

    ralfabco Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Interesting.


    I believe some claim the Murcielago was cooled off for 2004.
     
  6. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    the pop up lights are also different inside compared to production cars
     
  7. Lemacc

    Lemacc Formula 3
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    Correct i forgot this point! Thanks for correction ;)

    I cannot confirm this, but i think the first 2-3 cars (for example the red car with pre-production bumper) had an higher roof than the production cars or maybe the doors were slightly different.


     
  8. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    yes, this has been confirmed by many different sources. 2002-2003 cars are quicker than later.
     
  9. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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  10. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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  11. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    #11 EMILIO, Jul 6, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  12. SupercarGuru

    SupercarGuru F1 Rookie
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    Not sure about stats but I have always felt that the 1990-1992 and SE30 1994 cars "felt" the fastest.

    Prior to warming up the P Zeros, my former 1991 2wd coupe rear wheels would spin upon full acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear...
     
  13. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    #13 EMILIO, Jul 6, 2016
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  14. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    #14 EMILIO, Jul 6, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2016
    thanks for your impression, John

    i think you talk about this 91?
    http://wearecurated.com/2015/11/20/the-pure-diablo/

    very interesting since i know you drove many diablos
     
  15. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    #15 EMILIO, Jul 6, 2016
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  16. PineChris

    PineChris Formula 3

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    I dont know about the first 50 cars being fastest, but Ive always said the early Diablo is among the very fastest. Made same hp as later cars, without the additional of weight of adjustable suspension, power steering, abs etc..
     
  17. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Great thread Emilio!!!

    As I said elsewhere, if you want to see a certain type of thread, START it.

    The first 50 cars faster than the later cars? :eek:

    Truth! :D

    There is a similar thing that happened down the road at Maranello concerning Ferrari's F40, the 'Father' of the F40 Ing. Nicola Materazzi (who wrote the introduction for my 288 GTO book) told me so himself.
     
  18. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    #18 EMILIO, Jul 6, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    probably the very first book on the lamborghini diablo
    written by the italian lamborghini writer, Stefano Pasini

    i believe it is featuring a very early yellow car
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  19. SupercarGuru

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    #19 SupercarGuru, Jul 6, 2016
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    Yes, I actually miss the white car A LOT.

    Yes, the clutch was very stiff and the AC was not the best, but as long as I did not get stuck in Miami traffic it was amazing!

    I took it on the BullFest rally here and EASILY kept up with Murcielago's, Gallardo's and even Aventador's.

    My 1998 SV did not feel nearly as fast.
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  20. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    thank you, Joe
    :)

    very interesting about the early F40, did not know that

    and an other thing in common to its competitor from Sant Agata
     
  21. Diablo_4_Ever

    Diablo_4_Ever Formula Junior

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    The very early Euro cars are without a doubt the most interesting and desirable of the 2wd.
    A bit off-topic but does anyone know the story behind the dark gray mirrors? They are also found on 'later' 2wd ('92-'93) that do not have the other features of the early 2wd.
     
  22. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    looked great in white.

    we have an other witness that a 91 was faster than a 530 hp 1998 SV
    would be interesting to know the VIN of your former 91, John
    can you share the VIN ?

    to see if it is or not one of the first "5o" or so cars
     
  23. mikael82

    mikael82 Formula Junior

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    I don't know if very early cars had darker gray paint over mirrors, but all car left factory with least mirror base painted metal grey (please inform if not so) it was because it made side windows form original desing look, that you can for excample found on owners manual cover.
    pre VT cars should all have mirrors fully painted to metal grey.
    MANY cars are overpainted, and MANY cars got base and mirror painted to body color as they are not so easy to remove for painting.
    I spot overspray cars by it's mirrors...
     
  24. SupercarGuru

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  25. skierlawyer

    skierlawyer Formula Junior

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    #25 skierlawyer, Jul 6, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Sometimes when I drive my '91 Diablo, I think to myself "Why are we allowed to have these?" it is scary fast. At 50 mph if I stomp on the throttle the rear wheels spin and I giggle. And I don't need to remind everyone they are huge rear tires. In a curve, I have to be careful with the throttle as it will rev so fast you can go right off the road, I know why the car was tamed with 4wd and why so many 2wd were wrecked. The long gearing isn't bad, just use a lot of 1st and 2nd gear to keep the revs up on a spirited canyon run. I think of first as second in a normal car and 2nd as third, etc. from about 5000 RMP the engine feels extra strong to redline. Oh and the sounds, can only be experienced no video does it justice.

    Only 2 modification to my car:
    1.Al Butoni Exhaust (no cats)
    2. Big Brake kit (and 18" wheels)

    The biggest drawback to the early cars is the brakes, but with a brake kit the early Diablo is sublime. Far far from a daily driver, but that is the whole point of an occasion car. I have a daily driver (Porsche) and a sports car (F355), the Diablo is my super car.
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