Hi.
I am new to thsi forum. I am from Malta and I do not own a Gallardo but am a keem enthusiast. A friend of mine has just bought a brand new Gallardo and just after 2700km he is already experiencing slip from his clutch as well as unpleasant smell. Is this normal? The car was never raced just driven form Germany to Malta.

I assume that thsi is covered by teh warranty right?

Regards

is a new car? manual or e-gear?

It is a brand new car (April/May 2005) and it is manual. Any ideas what coudl have gone wrong?

Clutch wear is DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE DRIVER. No amount of BS'ing or whatevery anyone wants to say, clutches DO NOT wear out and start slipping on their own. If the clutch worked fine when the car was new and for several thousand miles, then your friend can look at his right foot and left foot for the problem. If I were Lamborghini, I would tell people with worn out clutches in a few thousand miles, to pay up. All Lamborghini has to start doing is examining the disk, plate and flywheel, to determine the problem. If they start doing that, lots of owners are going to have to start paying for new clutches. It is VERY easy to look at a clutch/flywheel under a magnifing glass and most of the time not even that, to see what caused the damage. I get really tired of reading about people with a worn out clutch and blaming Lamborghini, when the problem was caused by them showing off. If you want a race car or drive your car like a race car, then you will have to pay for new clutches.
Chadbourn Bolles
803 798 3044

well....chad....you've been direct, but i'm agree with you!
faulty clutches are like white flies.....

Thank you appeciate your help......

Chad, well said - in 5 years I put on 261,000 km on my last 5 series BMW (E46) and sold it with the original clutch. You can't expect to take off with a 1,700 Kg car side stepping the clutch if you floor the accelerator after the clutch has disengaged - you resolved 95% of your wear problems IMO. I have no issues with the Countach either - put 60,000 km on the urraco with a clutch - E 30 M3 100,000+ km - the list goes on....

If your friend did not buy his car from a local Dealer it is likely that the Clutch is not covered under Warranty because it is considered a wear item like Tires.

If your friend takes the car back to the original selling dealer, there is a chance they might cover the Cluth under warranty, as Lamborghini is aware of a Clutch problem (04's) and have since changed to a Upgraded Clutch set-up for the Gallardo Series of cars.

They can't all be bad /careless / reckless drivers.

If you search the threads here you will see some of the issues that relate to Lambo and clutch. Its a big weak point, and also the Gallardo has some proven clutch issues affecting early models.

I hope that you get it done under warranty, with so few KMS, you should not have any tyre tread left if you abused it that bad, your clutch should outlive or at least last as long as the other driveline components. If it were me, and I had the evidence, I would argue that it was not fit for the purpose that it was intended.

If you do have to replace it yourself, I suggest putting in something more long-lasting than the OEM "prawn sandwich" clutch.

I agree completely!!

While some of the problems might be mis-use or just lack of skill using a clutch, I just can't believe all the problems are driver related!!