Lamborghini Diablo SE30 VS. Ferrari F512M

I cant speak for the 512..dont have enough knowledge on it..but the SE30 HERE WE GO>>

First off..out of ALL the 250, break it down further..ONLY 13 delivered with the Factory JOTA kit on them, approx 8 others left the factory with the kit along with the car in a box/crate.

ONLY 2 USA JOTA cars exsist with factory kits installed after delivery. The JOTA kit was never intended for the USA cars..so to fit them it also required the 2 USA JOTA cars to have their exhaust mainiflods switched out to the Euro style Headers, cat deletes straight pipe with built in baffle and pressure regulators. AND of course a LOT more HP. There are NO MORE JOTA kits at the factory, the LAST two, still in the crates were sold to us here in the USA, that have since been mounted on the two ONLY JOTA cars in the USA, along with the upgraded Euro exhaust system. I have been told that there is one or two kits still floating around with private hands abroad, but have never been able to track them down for sure.

For the USA cars, they all came delivered in leather interior rather then the Blue Alcantera option for the Euro market. They also came with the BS DOT restriction of the "self" strap you in electric seat belts with the floor mounted mouse carrier. The Euro cars had either a nice shoulder strap as in all other cars, or the 4 point Blue racing harness.

I am lucky to have not ONLY one of the JOTA'S..but also THREE sets of the Euro easy to attach and use seat belts and one full set of the Euro 4 point blue racing harness. No longer available from the factory as I bought the last sets they had a few years back.

As far as USA cars, yes 25 total built..however from my records, due to total out accidents as well as two left the country to Canada and three others I know of left the USA soil, my records show only 17 left in the USA, one of them having been re-fitted with standard roll down glass windows by the factory.

Colors, White , Black , Silver , Yellow, Purple 30 th anniversary, Red as well as one slightly differnt shade of the Purple.

Also intresting to note, the 94SE as well as the 2001 Diablo 6.0 cars, were the only Diablo's to recieve Titanium built material wheels. The 94SE as well as the 2000GT used a few body panels in light weight aluminum rather then CF product. The 94SE is also a car that left the factory with two differnt wheel size, 17" front and 18" rear..

As far as value..of course I have three currently and one more inbound, so of course I want to keep the value up and keep going up..but IMO they are a car that has YET to hit what they should be bringing..they are a limited production FAST AS HELL barley street legal car that will never be built again..their design is timeless and they are truly a rolling piece of art work.

 

simple, shallow opinion here but here goes. The TR looked cool, the 512TR was a Great update... the 512M looked horrible and should have never been made as a stop gap car. The Diablo SE30 is probably the most special of all the Diablos and looks Great.

 

The brakes on the SE 30, are not as good, as the later cars. I do not like power steering. The American SE 30 and most RoW cars, have power steering.


In the summer, you will almost always need to run the a.c., in the SE 30. You have to be careful, with the ground clearance, of the front fascia strip.


Most American cars are painted either red or purple. Some cars have been wrecked and are junk.

 

Agree, the stock brakes are not that great for such a refined fast car...I have upgraded the pads on all of mine and it made a major improvment. Lucky the A/C works quite well..I recently drove my #8 from Seattle to Las Vegas..in Vegas ran the A/C for two days straight with no issues. Purple was the most produced color, according to my records 9 cars..the Red only 3 cars. You do have to watch the front, but if you approac most driveways etc etc at an angle it is not an issue..and lucky they have the lower portion is a black rubber type material that is held in with small rivits, designed to break away if you strike something low and save the actual bumper..have had to do it a time or so, but quite easy to have it re-attached with the correct light weight rivets...it was designed this way.

 

How do you beat the looks of these fine machines...
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These are indeed great cars.

But much rarer than you suggest, because in fact just 150 were made (plus a couple of prototipos).

Also, for the USA, there was no silver, and the car that's been imaged in the USA in that color is a Canadian car.

I too love these and agree they have upside, but they are not easy to sell, as you know. I took delivery of number 27 as a new car being the first owner, but that car took well over a year to find home before selling to me. Eventually Jim Stock of Lamborghini USA called me up and asked if I wanted it and I said sure. It felt lighter & therefore faster (but not necessarily more powerful) than an early Diablo I drove.
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In the looks dept most think the 512M is the worst looking caricature of all the TRs, and most believe the SE30 is one of the best looking versions of all the Diablo variants. Performance wise, the 512M, althought he fastest variant, is slower than any Diablo veriant. The SE30, as one of the fastest of the Diablos, will not even break a sweat against the 512M in any performance contest. Having said all that, the 512M is a relatively rare Ferrari, and that by itself will always make it very valueable, and maybe easier for resale than a Lambo.

 

I learn something everyday, I did not know the Silver car was a Canadian vin car...I do know of a Black SE here in the states that is a Canadian vin car as well. I dis-agree on the power issue..having driven many of these variants, it is lighter, has differnt Magnisuim heads..

There has been many a talk about them having differnt cams and valve guides etc etc over the years from the standard Diablo motor..after much deabte and many differnt stories and thoughts..I will go with the expert builders of these cars here in the USA such as George Evans and the like..they have torm these motors down and placed them back together..ALL saying yes the internals ARE different...but no real matter to me..I drive them and enjoy the heck of of them with each mile the ODO cliks over..

 

Very interesting compare. I used to lust after the 512M years ago & don't know what's the value now but it seems to have gone quiet from the hype. Will need to run a check.

Both have cool looks. Hard to choose but I'm still partial towards Diablo while a 512TR will be very nice.

 

The 512M is the clumsiest attempt at a face lift Ferrari has ever made. You can just smell the committee meeting...

"We need to update the Testarossa one last time, the new 12 cylinder isn't ready!"

"Well, in accordance with the "355 Protocol" we have little choice but to slap the 355-look nose and rear bumper covers on it. I have a rendering to show how that would look."

"Hmmm... it's ummm..."

"The technical term is "ugly" sir..."

"Yeah... ugly as hell."

"But it's a new Ferrari and as the old man always said, build one less car than you believe there are suckers to buy it. I think we can sell a few."

"Gonna test that one boys... build it."

 

Dear Lamborghinisti,

Ya know...being a Testarossa guy, I'm sorry to say I can't help but totally agree with you. I still can't understand the high value associated with the 512M. I wouldn't touch one with a 10ft. pole.

If a tunner like Koenig did this design as a body kit for a Testarossa, there would be shaking heads in all of Ferrari-land. But if the factory designs it...it's OK...

I'll stick to my original Testarossa which is still the most over-the-top outrageous standard production Ferrari ever made.


Shamile

Freeze...Miami Vice !

 

No contest IMO - quicker lighter, faster & sexier to boot!
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I've owned both...512M is, was a nice car...a car I used to let anyone drive, as I would say to people...this thing is so easy, your Grandma can drive it. Easy clutch, easy steering, good visibility, etc. Diablo SE30...waaay different. Mean, downright exciting and with a twist of wild thrown in. You would never allow just anyone to take a SE30 for a spin, as I did with the 512. As far as looks, the 512M is cool for sure...but the SE30 will make the 512M disappear in it's presence!
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...plus the Diablo's Gandini design is really timeless......as today Diablo is perceived as no less striking and stops traffic no less than it did when introduced. This is much like many of his designs, like the Miura and others. All TRs, especially the 512M, haven't aged so gracefully and may age even more poorly over the next twenty years. imo, when 40 years old, the Diablo, and especially the SE30, will still drop jaws, and the 512M might be one of those WTF? kind of cars.

 

...and if you look at that pic of the M, it looks like a silly cartoon character! I has a silly 'face' with eyes and mouth, and even has lamb chop sideburns! Should be in the next 'CARS' Movie! See what I mean? This design has nothing on the Diablo, which has nothing cartoonish about it, Silly stuff that has no place on an exotic (especially a Ferrari..give me the F40 serious look!), but belongs on a cute old British car like a Sprite.

 

As a counterpoint, I think the 512 is potentially collectible car for the future. This meaning that it has been a while since Ferrari has produced a regular mid engine v-12 car. With the forecast of new models being front engined, that produces somewhat of a vacuum in terms of mid engine Ferrari 12s. With limited F mid engine 12 cars at pretty high prices, the 512 is probably a pretty good buy at this point. Given its limited availability here in the states and its final edition status, there should be potentially be some future upside to the car. That being said, the looks of the car do leave room for some interpretation in terms of beauty. However, that does not take away from its significance in Ferrari history. As to the diablo se30, it is fairly established that it is a collectible car given its limited numbers and no compromise raison d'etre. However, Lamborghini usually has been slower in being "discovered" to reach an ultra collectible status. Historically Ferraris reach collectible status faster than Lamborghinis due to the name recognition by potential future collectors. That being said, only time will tell how fast each car will appreciate over time. Of course, if given a chance based on strictly looks, diablo would be my choice...

 

512M should not even be compared with the SE imo ... Maybe F50 but 512M, seriously, no contest. The only thing that makes the cars similar is the price.

 

I totally agree. The Diablo 30th is in the same league as the F-50, Mclaren F1 and Bugatti EB110.

The 512M is just a final edition Testarossa. Better matched against the Viper GTS or even Lotus esprit.

 

My JOAT is all done at Evan's...loaded today and on the way home to Papa..YAHOOOOO
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Incredible. How much?

 

What does the Kit do and how much is it?

 

The kit boosts horsepower to well over 600!.....ith different cams, different intake system, different ECUs and other things, so in this form, it definitely is competition with F40, F50, or any supercar ever made for that matter.

 

If you are intrested in buying it, send me an offer..PM or e-mail

[email protected]

 

"kit" JOTA is a factoru OEM product. Sold for $60,000.00. There are none of these left at the factory, have all been sold out.