I am fed up with reading articles on the countach so obviously written by non-owners, and would be dreamers alike. I am lucky enough to have owned a couple and would like to put the story straight. Firstly, always remember that no two of these cars were ever the same, so you have to compare with a 'correct' and well set up example of each one. Which looks best is simply in the eye of the beholder, and unless you have seen them up close don't bother even guessing. Which is the most competant as a car?- The Anniversary is the most modern and shares the qv powerplant with v.slight mods. The weight issues are very marginal between these two cars, despite the myths you may read. A well set up anniversary/qv will stick with an early Diablo, to give you an example.I was fortunate enough to have a great no expense spared example for a while, and my friends and I would compare performance and handling with their modern exotics, 993 tt's and 360's / 550's. The anniversary would hold its own against these cars, and was a hell of a lot more fun to drive- 500% more fun. You aint lived till you've tried it! I had a 90's 965 turbo with an approx. 420bhp on a fat single K29 turbo, beyond 130 the countach would leave it for dead, it's a truly fast car. Lastly, always remember that it is getting these cars running correctly that it most important. You can drive around in a 'bad' car and not even notice it isn't running correctly- it's the nature of the beast. Get your cars dynoed to find out. With uprated breathers (ie.Universal k&n's/piper's) full s/s free flow exhaust, revised modern ecu, and properly set up carbs the last cars can pull anything from 470 to 500hp (whereas 'bad' cars can pull as little as 375+hp). Uprate the brakes, ap or movit, you can shave 20/30kgs & improve the overall driving dramatically, the breathers do away with the huge airboxes, another 10-15kg's, s/s exhaust- WOW HUGE weight saving, the standard units take two people to carry whereas the replacements are actually quite petite and light. In total you should be able to shave a good 50-70 kilos without too much fuss- there will be expense however! Also, always remember that these old beasts just keep getting better with age- the more miles you stick on, the power you will get. A superbly well maintained 25th/qv with 65,000m on the clock will be a true cannonball! Also, all you guys claiming you 400's are capable of 190+ - DREAM ON !! And stop claiming they are the fastest models- they are way off the later cars in every repect. True classics, yes, without a doubt.

Have to agree with you......my 89 anniv has the new exhaust from Burtoni.....it keeps up with my 01 6.0 se for a while....and FUN to drive you do not know the half of it...the looks you get on this car are more than anyting else..and to drive history.......well you can't put a price on it...I see 25 anniv cars to be in the mid 150K with in two years a good one that is!!

__________________
If you want to just look at it, buy a poster, otherwise drive like they were built to be driven!

1-866-LAMBORGHINI

www.catsexotics.com

have you owned an LP400 to be in a position to make this judgement....

Its fairly obvious Craig, the first model was produced in 1971 and is far less advanced and considerably less powerful than the last model produced in 1990. Also, yes, go in both and you will understand.

5000 QV Fast Lane 1986 0-60/ 4.2 sec 0-100/ 10.0 sec 1/4 mile/ 12.5 sec top/ 190 mph


LP400 Road & Track 1976 0-60/ 6.8 sec 0-100/ 13.3 sec 1/4 mile/ 14.4 sec
top/ 165 mph

The euro LP400 made 288kmh = 180mph in 1976 on german roads.
Lamborghini claimed 315kmh top speed what was in the end the max. rpm multiplied with the gear ratios, but not a single LP400 made more than 290kmh!

__________________
RaymondQV
Countach QV Ex-Mimran #GLA12997, Urraco P300 #20530 sold in August 2008, Jalpa #FLA12203 sold in May 2006
www.countach.ch
www.jalpa.ch

When Frank Sinatra got his Miura S in 1970, he said: “If you wanna be someone, buy Ferrari - If you are someone, you own a Lamborghini”.

In 1986 I participated in a ILOC (International Lamborghini Owners' Club) at the Salzburg Ring track in Austria. Valentino was driving the then new QV. The times of the early 400S cars were quicker than the 2 valve 5000s. If I ever get hold of a scanner I'll have some great pics to post.

Alex

i have read a lot of lambo test in years:
i have seen an old road test of lp 400 showing an incredible 299Km/h....even if i
also think it is a 280-290 Km/h car(315 is far from reality, raymond is right)
anyway
average road test results for 0-100Km/h are 4.5-4.8 for QV, 5.5-5.8 for lp400
6.8 is an obvious mistake or a bad car : how can a lighter car with the same engine and better gear be a second slower to the miura S (5.5)?

25th and QV have the same performance, results are always the same

I agree the 6.8 time may be lax, but i also believe a regular under 6 is doubtfull. Here are the Muiras figures by the way:


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Lamborghini Miura S


ENGINE
Type Transverse 60° V12
Alloy block and heads
Wet sump, DOHC
Capacity 3,929cc
Bore/Stroke 82mm x 62mm
Valves 24, 2 per cylinder
Compression ratio 10.7:1
Fuel system 4 x Weber 40 IDL
Max power 370bhp @ 7,700rpm
Max torque 294 lbsft @ 5,500rpm

TRANSMISSION
Gearbox 5-speed
Diff ratio 4.9:1

SUSPENSION
Front/rear Double wishbones
Coils. Anti-roll bar

WEIGHT 1,150kg

PERFORMANCE
Top speed 171mph
0-60mph 6.5 sec
Fuel cons. Urban 15mpg

Also, in order to attempt the theoretical top end on the Muira you would need balls of lead, as the car had a tendency to take off at speeds over 150!

This is specifically why I wrote this thread. im sorry to go on but there really isn't ANY performance comparison between two well set up early and late Countach's- and nor should there be, they are twenty years apart. Sheer drag acceleration can usually be measured by torque and hp. Sure, weight also comes in to it to a degree- but think of it like this: in real terms a 2+ ton dodge SRT10 pickup will out accelerate most supercars, as will a 2 ton sl65 amg merc (Comfortably)- despite a 500 or 600kg weight disadvantage. That is what over 500hp and over 700lb's of torque will do.

An early countach or muira hold 370hp and 294 lb's of torque.
A later countach holds 450-480 and 370 lbs of torque.