6 Speed Manual vs. E-Gear

[pennyho]

good job, i just dont like the volkswagon thing as your avatar but thats my opinion

[Pringles]

E-gear will shift gears faster than probably any human being ever could on the manual transmission imo. I would however sacrifice this advantage and go for manual for the same reason people mentioned above ie more control, more involvement and ultimately more enjoyment. But this would only be the case if I knew how to properly downshift and incorporate heel & toe during hard driving and since I can't yet quite do it yet then in this case I choose E-gear. This is the other advantage of semi-automatic gearbox ie it matches engine speed to road speed on downshifts so you don't have to worry about this and concentrate on just driving the car. This would be a great advantage for someone who doesn't have the skill to do it manually such as myself. Don't laugh

[TimSalewsky]

Good grief, I am getting both.

[rpdbahc]

Originally Posted by Deakins

The Murcielago is the first production Lamborghini with a six speed gearbox.

Hopefully the 'E-gear' box is a sequential, dual clutch unit, similar to the one used in the Golf R32.

Actually, the sequential geerbox (e-gear) is supplied by Magetti Marrelli (spelling?) the same used by Ferrari, but tuned a little different. It is also similar to SMG by BMW. It is a manual tranny with an electronic/hydraulaic clutch instead of a pedal. The e-gear is the best for those of us in big cities, as in traffic, you can put in full auto mode, then on the open road, shift yourself.

[wings700]

Well heck might as well put a Power Glide in the thing!

Originally Posted by raven1822

I love the idea of the paddle shifters. It is very cool plus it makes you feel like a true F1 driver , but I cannot get past having clutch control. I feel the need to have full control over the gear box and transmission, a true sports car.

If the car were to have a clutch and still have the paddle shifters behind the wheel out of convenience then I would surely do the paddles. But to have them as replacement for having to use a clutch just does not work for me.

Doesn't the M3 SMG use a sequential gear box while retaining the clutch?? If so that is the way I would go.

[veebo]

Originally Posted by rpdbahc

Actually, the sequential geerbox (e-gear) is supplied by Magetti Marrelli (spelling?) the same used by Ferrari, but tuned a little different. It is also similar to SMG by BMW. It is a manual tranny with an electronic/hydraulaic clutch instead of a pedal. The e-gear is the best for those of us in big cities, as in traffic, you can put in full auto mode, then on the open road, shift yourself.

I am getting the 6-speed for my Gallardo. For three years and 10,000 miles I owned a Ferrari 360 Modena with the F1 xmission (basically an earlier generation of the Gallardo e-gear). My impressions:

1. Personally, I wouldn't use an F1/e-gear transmission inside cities or during a lot of stop-and-go traffic. It can burn through clutches at a rapid pace when used in daily commuter type traffic. Lots of 360 F1 owners have complained about this and placed warranty orders for new clutches. If you asked me, the problem probably lies more in how the driver interacts with the F1 than on the trannie itself, although I think Ferrari's "automatic" mode software was not well written. For example, on the Ferrari 360, unless you depress the throttle with some consistency (steady, even pressure - no pumping the gas) the transmission will constantly adjust the clutch pressure with your gyrating throttle movements. I guess some people just don't realize they are burning their clutch when they do this... but the truth is that it's just a manual transmission operated by a robot, who takes instructions from software. The software is supposed to behave like a professional driver... and these guys don't pump the gas! I never had clutch problems, but I never fu_ked around with my throttle, either. Get the manual for the city, and drive it like you would any other manual. Or take extreme care with your e-gear Gallardo when driving around town...

2. On long curvy high-speed stretches, I found the "manual mode" F1 superior. Especially 2nd-3rd gear corners. It's a blast to "blip" a couple of downshifts on the entry (exhaust crackling), then flick your way back screaming all the way to 140 mph with zero effort. You can even enjoy the scenery. Cool.

3. On a track, the F1 will cut seconds to a minute off your lap time. And reduce the sweat on your brow. If track time is the most important time for you, get the egear. No question.

Hope this helps,

Vbo

[MurcieGallardoTako]

eGear is great but I prefer 6 Speed.... That's my conclusion.

[veebo]

Hi all,

I just returned from my Gallardo 6-sped test drive. Placing my order in a couple of weeks for a late May delivery.

I drove the manual 6-speed and loved it, although the pure-H gate design results in slower shifting than I prefer. But nothing awful. In this car the clutch had to be pressed all the way to the floor to shift, but the dealer says you can adjust that easily. It will take a few days to get used to the slow-shift / sensitive accelerator combination, but I look forward to adjusting!

I have heard and read rumors from current owners that the e-gear has issues when launching the car from a stop. Trying to learn more about this, will let you know when I get more specifics. The last person who told me this just took delivery of his 6-speed 2 weeks ago. He didn't like the e-gear around town due to the launching problem.

That said, I have not driven the e-gear because I am just not interested.

Overall impression: I have to say that driving this car beats driving my 360 F1 by more than a measurable difference. The Gallardo is just stronger, more reliable in all conditions, not as twitchy. It feels and sounds much more powerful, and it's easier to run on the edge. Visibility is about the same. Seat comfort is probably slightly less than the 360, but absolutely nothing to complain about. Road noise is the same as a 360 Modena. The AWD makes the wheels feel like they are velcro-ed to the road. Real confidence-builder. And, contrary to what some journalists have been saying, I think the interior is absolutely beautiful, but in a modernist-minimalist sense. It matches the "all business" aesthetic of the car perfectly.

A little birdie told me that prices are going up in a couple of months due to the weak dollar vs. Euro. Probably something like $10,000. So if you can grab one now off a lot at anything around $190,000, you will have yourself a fair deal with no waiting! (note: I am not a dealer or a car professional of any kind).

Cheers,

Vbo

[1965PontiacGTO]

I agree with most people the paddles are cool, but I couldn't see myself using it unless there is an option some day with the stick and paddles i'll keep the clutch anyday.

[Coast Boy]

I drove my 360 to the Lambo dealer 50 minutes away on the freeway. The drive was awesome then I got to Lambo and drove 2 Gallardo’s, the first was the e-gear. The first thing I noticed, which Ferrari has sorted out in the Enzo and 360 Stradale, is that I found the paddles are too short. The longer paddles (in the Ferrari) allow for easier gear changing in cornering when the wheel is turning. Why hasn’t Lambo taken some of the new changes from Ferrari into the Gallardo, strange? The e-gear was very nice to drive, unlike Ferrari, ‘Sport’ mode in the Lambo is the only way to drive this gear change configuration, A for Auto is easy but I felt I really didn’t have control of the car in this mode. I think it defaulted to ‘A’ when I stopped and restarted. The power, handling and smoothness were awesome but then I drove the manual. What confused me was EVO magazine bashed the Manual in the Gallardo, I’m gobsmacked, I found it really nice. The box is gated like the Ferrari but quite forgiving which is what you want really (I do anyway) I found the clutch smooth and easy, quite light and usable. To be honest I didn’t get out of 3rd, this car has that much power and very long legs in first and second. If you are concerned about changing gears, forget it. If you are even in a position where you can use 6th then traffic is the least of your worries.

Maybe e-gear is the future of driving, I don’t know but I jumped into my manual 360 Ferrari minutes after getting out of the manual Gallardo and I thought, yeah this is driving. I’ll be buying the manual EVO ;-)

[HASNAZ]

Originally Posted by The_7th_Bull

Yes I voted for the "6-Gear" transmission cause I also would like full control over the vehicle.

Lamborghini always had a 6-Gear transmission, so why change it!!

I thought it was 5 gears dog-leg(and reverse) until the murcielago

[dougrogers]

If you look on this and other Lambo forums you will see many complaints about the e-gear system, especially if you have hills to climb to get home. Mine wouldn't make it up my driveway without almost catching on fire, I have returned the Gallardo and are now in a lawsuit with Lamborghini and the dealer Platinum Motors (Lamborghini Beverly Hills) under California's lemon law. I only mention this to stop others ending up in this situation.

[jesteraver]

I'd go for the E-Gear just to lazy to drive standard

[finally_retired]

I drove a Murci with E gear and i just didn't get on with it. I found that it just diluted the purity, and raw race bread preformance of the manual. I considered one, but I do loads of around town driving and wanted somthing a little more comfortable and user friendly, hence the SL65. Still love the Murci, and to a lesses extent, the Gallardo.

[Coast Boy]

Originally Posted by finally_retired

I drove a Murci with E gear and i just didn't get on with it. I found that it just diluted the purity, and raw race bread preformance of the manual. I considered one, but I do loads of around town driving and wanted somthing a little more comfortable and user friendly, hence the SL65. Still love the Murci, and to a lesses extent, the Gallardo.

I think it is interesting now when I read this string of posts from everyone, especially when I see what I posted in February about the manual V e-gear drive I had back then. I said “I’ll be getting the manual”. ACTUALLY I got the e-gear after doing some extensive reading about it and watching the forums with real owner/drivers, people who are using the car on a daily basis in different conditions. I’m a daily driver and I love the e-gear, I brought the Gallardo because I thought the Murci was too big for where I live and the way I drive, which is 75% around town and the rest on the freeway. I very rarely get out of 3rd gear, 75% of the time but I really like the e-gear because I have to concentrate just that little less on the actual driving and more on the other cars and traffic conditions. I drove my manual Ferrari 360 exactly the same for over a year, actually 25,000 Km (15,000 miles) and it was a mission in traffic, really taxing sometimes. I replaced the clutch about 5,000 Km ago. I think the trick in traffic with the e-gear is to put it back into neutral at the traffic lights or when the traffic is stopped, I don’t relay on the clutch or drag it out unnecessarily and it seems to be OK so far. The times I have launched the car there was a little 'clutch burn", you know that smell but mostly it has been really good.

My decision to buy the e-gear came to me when I remembered I was a guy driving around town most of the time and not some race car driver I think I am sometimes in my head. Believe me if you are like me, driving around town and a bit on the freeway, go for the e-gear. It’s true they don’t like going slow, especially up steep hills and driveways but after all it is a hand made Italian super car and steep driveways probably wasn’t up the top of the testing list.

I’m around 4,000 Km in my Gallardo e-gear and I am really happy I made that decision. Good luck with your decision but if I was considering buying a Murci for around town it would definitely be an e-gear. For the guys who think the e-gear detracts from the ‘pureness’ of sports car driving, you are probably right but as one Gallardo owner from South Australia reminded me when we spoke once “there is no quicker way to change gears when you are in Sport mode with the ASR ‘off’ driving hard around the mountains, it is toooooooo much fun”

Safe driving.