Articles by Gordon Lomas

The mission statement for the newest member of the Lamborghini family is simple.The Gallardo LP560-4 is tasked with making the Italian exotic maker the most desirable super sports brand in the world, a big job, because Lamborghini has always struggled to be as credible or as fashionable as near-neighbour Ferrari.Lamborghini's LP560-4 – the name stands for for Longitudinal Position, 560-horsepower, four-wheel-drive – is a heavily revised remake of the original `Little Bull' that has been around since 2003 and has become the most successful Lambo model in history with 7100 sold.The plan is to give the substance to support its neck-snapping extreme designs and to lift sales 5 per cent on the 2046 result of last year.“We want to become the most desirable super sports car brand in the world – the most profitable and, for our employees, the best place to work,” Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann says.“A Lamborghini is not something you need to have, it is something you want to have.”The new Gallardo has gone ahead in all the right places and is lighter, faster, kinder on the environment and more pedestrian-friendly.There are significant gains for a coupe, which will cost $455,000 in Australia, where 15-20 cars from next year's production batch of 1000 will be sold.The V10 engine has been redesigned by Lamborghini and it has increased capacity – up from 5.0-litres to 5.2-litres – and a higher compression ratio for a rise in power from 382kW to 422kW and a flatter torque curve that improves driveability across all engine speeds.Against the clock the new baby Lambo arrows to 100km/h in 3.7sec (.4sec quicker than the previous model), has a maximum velocity of 325km/h (up 10km/h) and has shed 20kg to sit at a 1410kg kerb weight.Countering all of this testosterone-driven performance is the huge 18 per cent reduction in emissions, with C02 at 327g/km, a figure for the E-gear transmission fitted to 90 per cent of cars.A lot of work has been done on optimising the updated engine with the Audi-issue all-wheel-drive layout, where a mechanical differential at the rear allows 45 per cent limited slip with a front electronic diff lock.The suspension front and rear has been redesigned. It has fresh springs, dampers and anti-roll bars. And an added tie-rod at the rear is said to help provide the fastest set-up.Body changes include a reshaped front-end, larger side air intake scoops, and a crisp, clean rear with new striking tail lights above a black-mesh air outlet with four tailpipes harnessed in a tough-looking rear diffuser.The newest Lamborghini is a flawed genius.There are few other ways to describe this exotic, two-seat, mid-engined monster with its deeper-breathing V10 engine.The press preview drive in Las Vegas revealed cars that got hot too easily and with a nervous feel in the rear end – not good for a car of this price and position.The new Gallardo is an exercise in controlled evolution, since the original “Baby Bull” helped fire the unprecedented Lamborghini sales spurt since joining the bigger, badder Murcielago.It was unleashed at the Las Vegas Speedway, first on the Nascar oval, then the twisting infield course, before a run on desert roads leading to monstrous Lake Mead.At the track you would think the LP560-4 would stick like a slotcar, but there at times it was a little hesitant in the rear.This was repeated on the highway when cornering at a gentle 80km/h.Lamborghini says its new rear suspension is the best way to get the car to turn, but the compromise is this little rear-end moment.If you lift off the throttle or brake or shift gears the rear-end feels like it wants to walk around.There is never any suggestion it wants to swap ends but it is a flaw that has been dictated by the stopwatch rather than ironing out a stability glitch that should not be there.On the overheating front, it took only five laps behind a Lamborghini test driver for some of the Gallardos to drop maximum revs from 8000 to 6000.The company says the cars ran too close to those in front and were not getting enough air circulating through the enlarged side scoops.Still, the cars were set for serious track time. They had sports suspension, carbon-ceramic brakes and 19-inch Pirelli P-Zero rubber, with a double compound and 10 per cent less rolling resistance up to 80km/h.The good news about Gallardo II is that steering is communicative, brake pedal feel is superbly modulated and the E-gear transmission is well hooked up to the engine.But judging by a right-hand drive display car, the cabin is compromised. The US driving was in left-hand drive cars, but the display unit showed a squared-off wheel arch that intrudes into available foot space. Pedals are offset to the left but the steering wheel remains in the right place.So you will constantly brush your right foot against the wheel arch intrusion when applying the throttle.Inside, the partnership with Audi is showing tangible signs of taking Lamborghini to new levels of quality. A blend of Audi and Bentley touches show in the gear and instruments.The Lamborghini is a slick weapon, but it will not out-run a Porsche 911 GT3 on any point-to-point run. It is also debatable if it is worth $200,000 more than the Audi R8 two-seater.  

The first sports car company to build a giant four-wheel-drive has no plans to do it again.And Lamborghini also rules out joining Porsche and Aston Martin in building a four-door luxury sedan.The Italian company has closed the door on anything outside its sports car portfolio, and company president Stephane Winkelmann has passed some sharp judgments on the future of the luxury car business.“SUV's have had their day. They are finished,” he says of luxury four-wheel-drives.“It's important that we not shy away from our two models, which are helping us to improve awareness of the brand. We want to continue the message of uncompromising and extreme,” is his take on anything four-door that would dilute the Gallardo and Murcielago impact.Winkelmann says there is no chance Lamborghini will return to making a large off-road vehicle because it would be lambasted by environmentalists.Lamborghini produced the LM002 off-roader with a 5.2-litre V12 engine from 1986-1992 at a time when the company was part of the Chrysler empire.“We were the first to come out with an SUV, and people forget we were the first to come out with a real two-plus-two (the Lamborghini 400GT),” Winkelmann says.“To say ‘let's do an SUV' is not possible. There is no such thing as luxury SUVs. They are premium cars. I believe if we do an SUV it would have to be the biggest and strongest, but by its nature it would be very polluting and we would be crucified if we did it.”It would also complicate Lamborghini's plans to reduce emissions by as much as 40 per cent.So Winkelmann says Lamborghini will stick with today's two-model line-up, though there will be some undisclosed derivatives.He has plenty of reasons to be happy. Lamborghini has raised pre-tax profits from $567 million in 2006 to $765 million last year, mainly through better efficiency and drawing on partnerships – mostly in the VW Group, which owns Lamborghini – for such things as parts purchasing and back-room development.Lamborghini is on the move worldwide and, in Australia, its success is reflected in a new Brisbane dealership. Another will open in Perth before the end of the year.They are among 10 new dealerships worldwide that will boost Lamborghini's global network to 107, a number that has already risen from 65 in 2005.“Sydney and Melbourne make up 60 to 70 per cent of the market, but Queensland and Western Australia are both growing,” Winkelmann says.“We are not quite at 100 cars yet in Australia, but we are getting there. Australia is one market in the Asia-Pacific region that is growing.”Lamborghini sold 46 cars in Australia last year (up from 38 in 2006) compared with Ferrari, which sold 145 (up from 101 in 2006). 

Ever wondered what it would be like to be fired from a slingshot?

It was just as well we tasted the Elise S before having the chance to drive the Exige S.

Ford will find out within weeks whether its bold strategy to sell the FG Falcon sedan to a more female-slanted market will prove a success.

Osborne, who took over two months ago, confirms a diesel engine, almost certainly a reworked version of the PSA group's unit used by Peugeot, Jaguar and Land Rover, will be dropped into Falcons and Territorys in 2010. He says development of the FG Falcon is too far advanced to initiate any diesel program to be ready for the May 1 launch. “I think the team made the right decision to delay introduction (of diesel) so we can get our calibration process right,” he says. “Generally speaking, we like to have two full summers and winters to do calibration work and that allows us to launch a quality powertrain with excellent calibration. In the end if you rush stuff to market you risk quality.” Osborne, as with most in the industry, has concerns about the family-car segment — in free-fall and under pressure chiefly from small cars and SUVs. “In all honesty I'm not that worried about the product but I'm a little worried about the segment,” he says. “Our goal is to have the FG Falcon ready to revitalise the segment and then bring in more fuel-efficient powertrains.” Ford is hoping to find export markets for the Falcon but the new offering first needs to be a fashionable car again on home soil before those export plans are swung into action. However, Osborne believes the new car is good enough to take on the world. Serious discussions about the export potential of the Falcon have been simmering since Osborne took on his new role as Ford Australia president two months ago. With the Commodore now being sold in the US after its huge acceptance in the Middle Eastern markets from the late 1990s, among other regions such as South America, Osborne says the new Falcon is good enough to hold its own anywhere. “I strongly believe that it is a car for all markets,” says Osborne, who was formerly based in Canada. “I came to Australia without any preconceptions about Falcon whatsoever. The minute I drove the FG my first reaction was that we should be selling it around the world.” Ford's head of global product development visited Australia this week, with Osborne outlining specific details about Falcon's export potential. “We should be trying to promote this vehicle in China and I think it would be the perfect vehicle platform for making luxury brands in the US,” he says. “Those are the discussions that I am trying to engage in now.”  

Resale and battery issues aside, there has always been much conjecture about the virtues, environmental or otherwise about petrol/electric hybrids, particularly as there are some small diesel cars around these days that weaken the case for buying a hybrid for reasons of fuel economy.Prime case is Citroen's C3 HDi. There is now a nifty 1.6-litre diesel sitting pretty in the nose of the cute C3 — and it delivers quite a bit of punch once the revs rise beyond 2000rpm.It is armed with 66kW of power and a significant 215Nm of torque. Around town it is quite tractable, as more torque at lower revs means fewer gear changes in the cut-and-thrust of the peak-hour commute.On a 700km test run trudging to and from the Gold Coast into Brisbane's CBD, the little French hatch was sipping a little over 4.6 litres per 100km (factory claim is 4.4 litres per 100km on a combined run, so we weren't far off). It means you can stretch your travel a long, long way on one 47-litre tank.As with the petrol versions, the diesel has a long list of equipment starting with the full package of front airbags as well as lateral airbags for the front occupants.There are digital read-outs for the speedo and odometer and trip computer but in contrast there is an analogue strip-style rev counter. There is some degree of fuss with the trip controls. Typically the French like these incorporated into the steering wheel-mounted stalks and there remains a degree of guesswork in the location of volume controls for the stereo system, which are at the rear of the right-hand windscreen wiper stalk.Apart from fiddly ergonomics the interior is a fashionable place, and funky and light.There is good comfort from the front seats and a large glasshouse offering superb all-round vision. This is worth a look if you are interested in French flair mixed with some substance and a broad, user-friendly appeal as a city commuter. It also has a good options list that includes five-stack CD and leather.

Sydney could make a left-field bid for the Formula One grand prix, with the often criticised Eastern Creek racetrack targeted for a possible redevelopment. The latest twist in the continuing saga over the future of the Australian GP emerged this week when the first batch of engineers and planners from overseas started examining Eastern Creek, west of Parramatta. With persistent rumours that Melbourne will lose the race after staging it at Albert Park since 1996, Eastern Creek has emerged with a serious pitch to run the event at the government-owned track. The Australian Racing Drivers' Club (ARDC) has commissioned a $350,000 feasibility study to be undertaken by a British company that has been involved with major projects in the Middle East and with the inaugural Singapore grand prix, which will run in September. Part of the plan for redevelopment will see the complex run two circuits that can be used simultaneously. There will also be a bigger commitment to driver training for road users. Eastern Creek's biggest single activity is not motor racing but driver education. The ARDC can see F1 in Australia coming to an abrupt halt if F1 overlord Bernie Ecclestone makes good his promise of walking away if the race is not moved to a night-time slot to accommodate European TV audiences. “We would be very disappointed if Australia didn't host a round of the F1 grand prix, so we really believe there needs to be a viable alternative,” ARDC general manager Geoff Arnold said. Arnold agrees that if Australia drops off the F1 calendar it would be prohibitively expensive and possibly unlikely for it to return. Eastern Creek is the only FIA level two rated licence track in Australia. British company Apex Circuit Design Ltd, which has been involved in the redevelopment of the Silverstone circuit in England — home to the British GP — started assessing the facility on Tuesday. The findings will be presented to the NSW Government, the landholder, with a view to making a pitch for funding to undertake redevelopment of the site. Eastern Creek, which has hosted the international A1 grand prix of nations round over the last few years, has had a turbulent relationship with V8 Supercars. Arnold rejected suggestions that Eastern Creek was a white elephant when it came to attracting crowds for V8 rounds. Instead, he blamed inconsistent dates and not enough lead time for problems in generating local interest. Eastern Creek hosted round 2 of the V8 championship in early March and the ARDC lost money on the venture. “They (V8 Supercars) asked us if we could hold round 2. They confirmed that in the middle of October (2007) which is not enough time to market it properly,” Arnold said.   Standings FORMULA ONE (After 4 of 18 rounds) 1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fer) ...........29 2 Lewis Hamilton (McL) ........20 3 Robert Kubica (BMW) ..........19 4 Felipe Massa (Fer)................ 18 5 Nick Heidfeld (BMW) .............16 Previous round: Winner - Kimi Raikkonen, Barcelona, April 27. Next round: Monaco, May 11. TV times: Sat May 10 - qualifying 4.30am-5.30am. Sun - 10.40pm.   WORLD SUPERBIKES (After 4 of 15 rounds) 1 Troy Bayliss (Duc) ..........178 2 Carlos Checa (Hon)........ 108 3 Troy Corser (Yam) ..........89 4 Fonsi Nieto (Suz) ...........85 5 Ruben Xaus (Duc) ...........81 Previous round: Winner race 1 - Troy Bayliss, winner race 2 - Troy Bayliss, April 27, Assen. Next round: Monza, Italy, May 11.   WORLD RALLY (After 5 of 15 rounds) 1 Mikko Hirvonen (For) .......35 2 Sebastien Loeb (Cit) .......30 3 Chris Atkinson (Sub) .......28 4 Jari-Matti Latvala (For) ....18 5 Dani Sordo (Cit) ..............17 Previous round: Winner - Mikko Hirvonen - Jordan, April 27. Next round: Italy, May 16-18.   INDYCAR (After 4 of 16 rounds) 1 Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) ..........................144 2 Scott Dixon (Ganassi) .....138 3 Dan Wheldon (Ganassi)... 135 4 Tony Kanaan (Andretti-Green) ............................129 5 Danica Patrick (Andretti-Green) .............................110 Previous round: Winner - Dan Wheldon, Kansas, April 27. Next round: Indianapolis 500, May 25.   MOTOGP (After 3 of 18 rounds) 1eq Jorge Lorenzo (Yam) .....61 1eq Dani Pedrosa (Hon)....... 61 3 Valentino Rossi (Yam) .....47 4 Casey Stoner (Duc) ........40 5 James Toseland (Yam) ...29 Previous round: Winner Jorge Lorenzo, Estoril, Portugal, April 13. Next round: Shanghai, China, May 4. TV times: Sunday, May 4, Channel 10 10pm - 12.05am.  

The State Government says a revised estimate of capital costs has jumped because of inflation and the associated costs of materials and labour.It is estimated that the cost of establishing permanent facilities for a precinct to host a round of the V8 championship has risen by up to $3 million.Flooding and cyclones in the north have also contributed to the cost hikes.State Sport Minister Judy Spence confirmed last week there had been a rise in costs because of strains on the building market and that vital products needed for construction such as asphalt and cement were in short supply.“We're aware of it as we've been part of it,” Cochrane said.“It's not really a blow-out as the costings were finalised in May, 2006, and it's just inflation."“And the Government has already agreed to the extra funding.”The State and Federal Governments have each agreed to provide $10 million to set up the V8 race along with a few million from Townsville City Council.The only loose end is that organisers are awaiting changes to the Act of Parliament regarding noise abatements and what is said to be a small reduction in railway land.“It will give us a whole heap of carte blanche Acts and we expect it to go through in the next three to four weeks,” Cochrane said.Construction work on permanent facilities, which can be used year round for purposes outside motor racing, is scheduled to start in June.Townsville mayor Les Tyrell attended the first Hamilton street race in New Zealand last weekend and covered a range of logistical topics with that city's mayor, Bob Simcock.There is the possibility of opening up a direct airlink between Townsville and Hamilton, which Tyrell says could offer more economic scope for the region.A firm date for the Townsville race is expected to be announced by the end of next month, according to Cochrane, who says it is locked into running in July next year.Hamilton event partners praised the first event although there were concerns over fans at the back of the six-storey grandstand opposite pit straight who could not see the track.And there have been unsubstantiated claims that scores of fans illegally accessed the circuit at the commercial end of the precinct through local businesses.Race promoter Dean Calvert was unaware of fans getting in free and said he had spoken with fans angered by the positioning and angle of the grandstand and promised organisers will get it right next year.There was also heavy criticism from television viewers, saying the track lacked appeal and the racing was dull.Cochrane responded to some of the criticism by asking fans to be patient.“It's not the first track in the world to get the rake of the grandstand wrong,” he said.“I recall vividly Indy (Surfers Paradise) having it grossly wrong in every single grandstand one year.” 

 Geoff Polites Motoring executiveBorn: Melbourne, November 3, 1947Died: Melbourne, April 20, 2008.Geoffrey (Geoff) Polites rode the many peaks and troughs as the highest ranking executive of Ford Australia and as a dealer principal for the blue oval company.At the start of his tenure at the controls of Ford, after selling out of his City Ford dealership in Sydney in 1999, Mr Polites faced the challenge of turning the company around.At the time no one in the car world wanted to be in his shoes, except for Geoff himself, because he relished a challenge and was fixated on accomplishing a mission many of his contemporaries thought to be impossible.The ugly duckling AU Falcon was unwanted in the market and the future of Australia's longest running nameplate was in jeopardy.It took a stroke of genius by Mr Polites to smooth over the ills of the AU, which took a hammering in the showroom.When the BA Falcon emerged for the first drive and appraisals around the Grampians region in Victoria in 2003, he was roundly applauded for what was critically acclaimed as a damn good fix.The BA — code-named Barra — was the facelift that could not come quick enough as the droopy and sad rear of the AU was reflected in Ford's decline in market share. More importantly, it was not just any facelift, it was one which had to work otherwise Ford Australia's much loved nameplate was at risk of falling off the automotive chart.For Mr Polites, the success of the BA was a fair measure of his ability to fix problems and he was duly rewarded by FoMoCo bosses in Detroit.He became known as the “Mr Fixit” of the Ford world, something which would take him to Europe and Britain, where he weaved more magic, helping to lift Jaguar and Land Rover back to profitability.Sales of the BA were an endorsement of his Midas touch, with the Falcon beating the Commodore for the first time for six years in September 2003 in a monumental showroom turnaround.Mr Polites had pulled the company back from one of its darkest periods. But he wasn't finished there — he never was finished really, dedicated to the cause to the end.He reaffirmed Ford's commitment to the biggest motor racing series in the country — V8 Supercars — and was responsible for the birth of the Falcon-based Territory, which has done swift business for Ford among the SUV crowd.And that icon of all Falcon derivatives — the GT — made a comeback under his command.He was passionate and tireless about the car business, which did not diminish, even in his battle with bowel cancer which ultimately claimed his life after a two-year battle.After being handed the task of running Ford in Europe, based out of Cologne in Germany in 2004, he then became chief executive of Jaguar and Land Rover in the United Kingdom.He was living in England but had recently returned to Australia for the birth of his first grandchild, Zoe, who was born on April 16, but soon after arriving he became critically ill.It was his dedication to the profession of the car business and his love of cars which injected a good dose of passion back into Ford Australia, something which filtered down through a born-again product range.He once said of his Falcon GT company car, “I drive at 60km/h on cruise control and I still feel good.”Educated at Cheltenham High in Melbourne, he gained a first-class honours degree in economics at Monash University and, after completing an academic career, joined Ford Australia as a product planner in 1970.In 1975, after training in the US and Europe, he assumed the role of marketing plans and research manager. He was appointed general sales manager in 1985, holding the position until July 1988 when he headed the City Ford dealership, credited as Australia's largest and most successful Ford franchise.A lifelong supporter of the South Melbourne Football Club, which morphed into the Sydney Swans in the 1980s, Mr Polites had an unwavering love for the club of which he was once a selector.Family and footy were his great passions outside of cars.He is survived by Linda, his wife of 36 years, sons Chris and Brent and granddaughter Zoe.