2003 Lamborghini Murcielago from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing major has gone wrong with this car - but to be honest I am probably not going to drive a high enough mileage in it for anything major to develop.

The rear spoiler remained in the up position in the first week, but this was very quickly fixed by the dealer.

As they say here in the UK - it does what it says on the tin!

There is no question that the Murcielago is quick and that it handles superbly. However, I am slightly worried that the clutch is fragile as it feels too light for nearly 600bhp. Therefore it becomes easy to stall as you tend to creep forward on engine revs only letting the clutch out without using any gas in an effort to save the clutch!

It would take a complete fool to lose control of this car as it sticks to the road like a barnacle!

The major drawback of ownership in Europe is the width of the car, you have to seriously think about where exactly you are going to drive it as it would be very easy to get it stuck in some medieval town or country road. Certainly meeting traffic coming towards you on narrow roads is heart-stopping.

It is essentially like owning a piece of art - it looks absolutely stunning from any angle and drives with passion. Many high performance cars separate the driver from the engine and you don't really feel you're driving something special unless you check the speedo - the Lamborghini is an event to drive at any speed.

There are seven (7) reviews on Murcielago's already. The odds are that most if not ALL of these are fake. This review at least sounds semi plausible though it gives little detail which can confirm ownership.

How do we separate the wheat from the Chaff? At least if it sounds fake, you know that you can disregard it.

Please don't post fake reviews unless it is witty and obvious.

It's fake.. as are all the reviews I've seen so far. I know and have driven quite a few lams. I admit I don't personally own one.. but from my friends comments and my own experiences I can tell you these people are clueless. Lams are tough to drive and unless you are really used to driving these types of machines, you'll be stuck in low gears or just wreck it, stall it or look real stupid. will someone who actually owns one of these write a decent and honest review please?

I agree. My old Diablo was a pig to drive. you needed to be a contortionist to get in it, a weightlifter to push the clutch down and an arrogant driver to get anywhere in it without fear of stalling or hitting someones mirrors with the rear end. An absolute pig to own here in england, our roads are not really up to something like the diablo. If you want to do fast and stylish go get a 355 Ferrari.

However, I would own another just for the noise! (Ansa exhaust fitted)

If our reviews were 'witty and obvious' they wouldn't be posted.

I wouldn't say the Murcielago is hard to drive. I paid someone $200 to drive their's, and once I got used to the clutch it was pretty easy or at least easier than I expected. Although I only started from a stand still twice, so I would guess driving through traffic would prove to be tiresome, but how could anyone drive one of these in traffic regularly??

I think most old Lambos up to and including the Diablo could be difficult to drive, not least because of the crap vision to the rear. However, I never found the heavy controls in the Countach to be a problem and the anticipated problem with the width of the car when I first got it never materialised. Having said that, I think both the Gallardo and the Murci have been made much more user friendly and usable, with lighter controls and better vision all round. I have to admit that I have only sitten in the Gallardo and Murci and not driven them, but they both gave the impression that they would be easier to drive than both my old Countach and my current Diablo.

Of course the Murcielago & Gallardo are easier to drive than the older Lambos. 1 word...Volkswagen.

Don't you mean Audi!?

Um, guess who owns Audi?

'Don't you mean Audi!?'

Er no, I definitely mean Volkswagen... Audi are part of the Volkswagen group!

I work at a supercar club in London and regularly drive our Murcielago and Gallardo around London. My view is that they are not at all difficult to drive, but do have awkward seating positions, poor turning cirles and the Murci in particular is as mentioned, pretty wide. However, my experience is that other road users soon shift out of the way as they know how expensive a prang would be!

Lambos tend to be very tempramental, some days they will work like a dream and others they will just spit their dummy out. Rain tends to make the Murcielago's electrics throw a hissy fit and the Gallardo can have days when it just stalls all the time... and yes, I can use a clutch!

Clutches are generally OK, on a good day you'll get 10k miles out of one, on a bad day you'll get just 2k miles.

My (I am speaking personally and not on behalf of my employer) major gripe about the marque is the dealer network and factory. The factory seems to work on a constant go-slow and are 100% uncontactable by customers.

Even the dealers seem to have problems getting in touch to push warranty authorisation through.

To sum up... great cars that make you smile, but if I owned one (which I would never even contemplate when Ferrari make such rewarding and reliable cars) I would cry far more than I would smile.

I always wonder what is going through an actual lamborghini owner's mind as he/she is surrounded by 15 year old chev corsicas and F-150 trucks chugging away at a red light. Do they feel any embarrassment at the extreme show of wealth or do they believe everyone is thinking "good for you, someone made it to the top". sure, I'd love to drive one for the experience, but I will never be able to afford one. I don't really have any malace towards the owner, but it just seems so over the top to drive one to your job or the grocery store... know what I mean? Blasting down the highway on a summer afternoon, I'm totally with you. Making a slurpee run to the 7-11, too much.

I owned a 63 Vette Split obviously not this model and mine was mostly only ever taken out on Sunday getting a paper etc. As great as they are you cannot usually park them and leave them, go to malls, bad weather etc. and mine did not have a/c. I drove mine once or twice a month. Being 2 seaters with a young family mine was rarely used and yet you start realizing how valuable they have become...not who is looking at you driving. Mine was just a driver and yet still became quite valuable. I actually enjoyed at times just opening the garage and just looking at mine. A lot of cars have simply become entirely too valuable to really drive much now. I guess if you can afford an exotic,work hard and are successful you not feel regret.

I bought my Murcielago new in 2003 and traded a 1995 Diablo, which I almost never used. The clutch does feel too light and I do stall it occasionally at traffic lights. The electronic throttle control is an irritation as it still hunts at idle, even though the dealer has downloaded new software into the car. The only things to go wrong in 9000Kms are a power steering hydraulic line burst, and the top of the dashboard buckled on the passenger side. I can't say it's a pleasure to drive around town; visibility is terrible and the turning circle is huge. But on the open road, this car has no equal. To the submitter that suggested a F355 would be a better car, I can honestly say there is no comparison. I bought my 355 new in 1998, and frankly it feels like it is in reverse compared to the Murcielago. My only regret is that the Murci is too ostentatious; people point and ogle at it and for that reason I almost never drive it these days. I recently traded in the 355 for my first Porsche and if you want an amazing car that you can drive incognito every day, buy a Tiptronic 997 Porsche Turbo. It's quick and quiet, you can't help but love it.