Thoughtful Gifts!
Let me start by stating that one of the greatest joys of life is when the perfect gift is exchanged. In fact “The acts of giving and receiving gifts activate core areas of the brain associated with reward and pleasure” according to associate professor Jessica Andrews-Hanna from the University of Arizona.
As a car lover, videographer, photographer, and sim racer it’s no surprise that my dream has always been driving a Lamborghini or Ferrari! So imagine how I felt when my amazing wife gave me this opportunity by gifting me an experience from Supr Drive in Finland for my 40th birthday. Did I say yet it was not in a road environment, but around a beautiful racetrack called Alastaro in Loimaa, about an hour away from Helsinki. So if you have a friend who loves to drive cars and talks about cars all the time, get them the perfect gift here at https://www.elamyslahjat.fi/ and see their smiles for days after the event.
The Experience
I think describing an experience like this is as useful as trying to explain the taste of strawberries to someone who has never had strawberries in their life. 4 Laps around a race track with supercars goes like a flash in front of you! And it’s pretty hard to grasp exactly what’s going on in those few minutes. There is so much joy, excitement, thrill, and even fear that adds to the tasks at hand. Consider this scenario: I knew the track a LITTLE BIT with a few laps in VR, a few stints in my Miata, but NOW things were different.
Everything happens so fast! In the few seconds, it takes to reach one corner your brain should process your throttle response, breaking amount, breaking point, steering angle, watching out for oversteer and understeer, and getting a nice corner exit before being ready for the next one, and the one after, and they keep on coming. And of course, you are distracted by the beautiful symphony of the engine and the mind-bending acceleration and breakings. But since words are limited in describing exactly how it feels, I luckily recorded the entire experience from 2 different angles. I hope you enjoy the videos.
The Cars
Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4
Photo credit: https://www.elamyslahjat.fi
Who can say they don’t love a Lamborghini? I mean, they are loud, insanely gorgeous, fast, angry, and force you to be aggressive. When the Gallardo was released in 2003 initially with a 5 Liter V10 and it was later facelifted to a few models with this one being one of those. This Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 however is the facelifted version with its 5.2L V10 engine felt exactly how it looked, wild, and mean, and kept screaming at me to push.
The “LP 560-4” denotes its 560 horsepower and the car’s all-wheel-drive system, made for an exceptional grippy ride but a bit understeery and this was the main thing that set it apart from Ferrari. The worst thing about the Lambo was the placement of the steering wheel shifters as they were tiny and placed awkwardly in relation to my fingers which made me trigger the wipers once by mistake. One thing I found quite pleasing but weird was the aggressive shifting of the gearbox and the mechanical feel to it shaking the entire car. Overall the iconic and aggressive design, coupled with the Lambo’s signature sound and figures, made it a dream car for many. As a kid growing up with a Lamborghini Countach poster on the wall, you can guess my love of this brand. In fact, I was pretty sure I would prefer the Gallardo to the F430 before this experience… Oh how wrong could I have been.
Ferrari F430
Photo credit: https://www.superdrive.fi/
The Ferrari F430 is just one of those cars that I instantly fell in love with when introduced in 2004. Even 20 years later it is relevant, in fact, it’s definitely a good “future investment”. 430 name comes from the 4.3L V8 engine that produces up to 490 horsepower, allowing it to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 3.6 seconds even though it sends it all to the rear wheels. While the Lambo had a hint of familiarity and it felt like a high-end Audi, the moment I got in the Ferrari I knew why it was so special. Everything was unique, and inviting, so much passion was put into the design.
The car was insanely fun to drive too, with traction on and in normal mode, the tail was still happy and kicking out a bit more easily than I wanted. The ride was wild and mind-bending but somehow I had a high degree of confidence in my driving ability and this felt so much more different than my first 2 laps with Gallado. The steering was just gorgeous, so much more responsive and sharper. I mean SHARP, millisecond movement translated into that on the track. Add to that the loud V8 singing behind your ear and just a cloth rooftop between you. This was the most exhilarating drive of my life it made me want to scream with every rev of the engine. I will one day own a F430, and I will scream A LOT for sure on my first drives. If I were given the chance to drive one of these again it would certainly be the Ferrari, and that is against my own perception I have held for many many years.
Pouya Lucky 