I just changed the battery in my Gallardo. For those who were mis informed by their dealers, it is a very simple (10 min) project. Getting to the battery requires 4 very simple steps. 1. Remove the weather stripping around the luggage compartment. It is not glued and pulls off very easy. 2. Remove the 4 allen screws on the bottom. 2. Pull out the compartment light and disconnect or run it back through the hole. 4. Pull out the luggage compartment. This took me only 5 minutes. The battery that can be used is a Interstate MTP 91 or any group size 91 battery. After you reinstall the new battery, just reverse the steps above. I finished this in less than 15 minutes. I was told by the dealership and another repair shop that this required over 2 hours of labor.

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Tobin Tracy
www.clearalternatives.com

Wow, thanks for the info - I just bought a Braille lightweight battery and was contemplating how I was going to tackle putting it together. Your post helps a lot (I'm glad you did it yourself too! - 2hours for this, ridiculous!)

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M. H.
Italian Car & Bike Enthusiast
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'05 Silver/Black Gallardo
MV Agusta F41000
MV Agusta Brutale 910R

Okay, folks, here's an update for my post above. I took the Braille battery to the San Francisco Lambo Dealer, and they said that installing this battery could possibly cause grounding & electrical issues with the car. Apparently the battery contacts are not very large on this lightweight Braille battery, and could cause grounding problems somehow, since the aluminum spaceframe in the Gallardo's are hard to ground to start with. Anyway, end result is that the battery was not installed, now I'm returning it. So be careful installing any battery that is not the right size for the car, it's probably not work electrical faults later!

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M. H.
Italian Car & Bike Enthusiast
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'05 Silver/Black Gallardo
MV Agusta F41000
MV Agusta Brutale 910R

Strange.. Grounding problems compared to normal batteries? Sounds like a joke.

As for the ridiculous "two hours" I'd say they saw you with a Lambo and thought "How can we wet our beaks?"

I looked at that battery, and I'm not sure what's wrong with it but something is. You just can't get what they claim with that light weight. They're compromising something. I did notice, "don't use with large displacement motors, in cold climates, or for storage".

The compromise is cranking power and they tend to lose their charge easier than traditional batteries. The little batteries are good for 4 cylinders and other small displacement cars where there is no tq = weight reduction is needed. Think Lotus Elise.

I'd probably buy an Optima yellow top for a Lambo.

yes, thats right...it was also the issue of "cold crank amps", meaning the battery was lower spec than lamborghini recommends for starting up in colder weather. It could not generate enough torque in the starter motor if the engine was below a certain temp.

Also, the grounding issue is real, as apparently the aluminum frame doesn't ground well to begin with. Anyway, its not worth the chance of an electrical fault down the road, which could cost more $.

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M. H.
Italian Car & Bike Enthusiast
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'05 Silver/Black Gallardo
MV Agusta F41000
MV Agusta Brutale 910R