I rarely post over here anymore, but I have the DVD in question, and can offer some insight.
I own a '99 Targa, and I've spent some considerable time behind the wheel of a Gallardo lately. To me it really is a "second generation NSX" with AWD and a 500HP V10. When I got out of it, I felt as if the car could have a Honda badge on it, but with a large infusion of charachter that's hard to describe.
Fantastic torque throughout the rev range, a nice 8200rpm redline, wonderful exhaust note, even the e-Gear transmission was great. It's an excellent car, one of very few that the pure NSX-fan would find themselves right at home in.
Differances:
Visibility is GREAT for a Lambo, MEDIOCRE for an NSX. Not as bad as you'd think by looking at it, the mirrors are effective and the tank turret rear window is uncluttered. But it's not a greenhouse that's for sure. Got to pay for that sexy shape somehow, and visibility is part of the price.
Interior quality of materials isn't up to par for a $180k auto, most of the switchgear and HVAC controls are lifted from the Audi A4. That's not a problem in itself, I'm not some eliteist that bitches at the A4 gear, but the actual plastics that make up the controls aren't up to Honda levels. The interior color of the plastics is a dark grey, I prefer the matte black of our cars. That being said, everything works and the sound system is far superior to the NSX Bose unit.
The exhuast sound/tone is perfect. It's so good out of the box, hard to believe. Better than my car for sure, even though my NSX has a Comptech exhaust.
Steering feel, speed, turn-in, is almost identical. Funny enough, even though we're living in an era of 2.0 turns lock to lock in an S2000, or 2.6 turns lock to lock in a 360CS, the Gallardo comes with the same slow rack that our cars have, roughly 3.2 turns lock to lock. I would prefer it to be faster on both cars.
Acceleration isn't even close, the NSX gets blown into the weeds so fast that it's not even funny. When I get back into my car after driving the G, I literally have to tell myself that something isn't wrong with the NSX, the drop off in power is what you'd expect when losing 200HP. The Gallardo will hit 150MPH faster than a Viper SRT-10 to give you a practical example of how fast it really is. Here are some Car and Driver numbers, all performed with their optical measurement gear:
0-150MPH: CAR AND DRIVER RESULTS
21.4 - Gallardo
22.4 - Viper SRT-10
23.9 - 360 Challenge Stradale
26.3 - C6 Corvette
34.7 - 3.2L NSX Zanardi Coupe (July 1999)
45.1 - 3.0L NSX Coupe (May 1994)
I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here that even a one second differance at those speed equates to a ton of car-lengths. You can feel it everytime you press the pedal in the G, it's VERY much like the NSX power delivery, just a lot more.
Sidenote: Anyone that thinks about contesting or bitching about the NSX numbers above, please check Prime's FAQ before opening your mouth and inserting your foot. Save it for someone who cares, I'm not here to debate why "you" think the numbers are wrong. It's a bitter pill to swallow I know, remember I'm an owner.
To sum up, the Gallardo really feels a lot like a 3.2L NSX in my opinion, which means that it DOESN'T feel as direct or linked to the road as the non-power assisted steering 3.0L NSXs, but it DOES feel an absolute $hitload faster in any circumstance (turns, straightline, braking, whatever).
I urge everyone to get out and test drive one for yourselves, I suspect some of the carping on the site for Honda to deliver an all-new NSX would die down a bit after the ride. It did for me.
MAKO
PS - I thought of one more thing. The tires on the Gallardo are Pirelli P-Zero Rosso units, which are fine, but by no means equal some of the exotic Japanese rubber that's available. It's the only weakness in the car's OEM gear to me, and ironically the BestMotoring drivers commented with words to the same effect in the DVD mentioned above. It's clear that the custom Bridgestone units on the Enzo, and on the NSX-R, are part of the reason why those two cars can absolutely manhandle everything else in the twisties. The NSX-R in fact at Tskuba, which is like a glorified go-kart track due to its ultra-short length, demolishes the NSX-S Zero by such a large margin that I suspect that the custom "R" tires are part of the reason why. They're that good.
