– Words: Ryan Lewis. Photos: Matthew Everingham.
Paul is a man of discerning taste. Passionate about driving, he has owned all kinds of unique cars from an Alfa GTV to a Skyline GT-R, Brock Commodore to a 930 Porsche, even a Ferrari 360 Modena – but the one thing he always wanted was a Lamborghini. Two years ago that dream finally came true, and what was never meant to be a built car quickly got well out of hand.
Back when Paul had his Ferrari, a couple of his mates bought themselves Gallardos. Swapping keys, Paul thought that the AWD versions just weren’t lively enough compared to his 2WD Fezza. “Then I realised you could get a two-wheel-drive Gallardo, but they didn’t start making them until 2010 and they were too expensive at the time. Eventually a friend of mine who works at a car yard rang me up and told me to come and see something he had for sale,” says Paul.
Turns out what he had was a 2005 model that had been converted to RWD by removing the front diff and driveshafts. “It was just what I wanted,” said Paul. “I gave the Ferrari back and took the Lambo!”
If you asked Paul then, he had no intentions of doing anything crazy to the car. He says, “I never thought I’d go twin turbo. Never. When I bought the car the kits were not really heard of out here, but eventually I started seeing things about them.”
From factory the 5-litre V10 makes around 500hp at the flywheel, but there’s always room for a little more. “I’d had the car for about a year,” says Paul. “I was curious so I spoke to a few workshops about the turbo kits. No-one out here was confident in doing it. Underground Racing would but I had to send the whole car to them. I thought I’m not sending my car to the States.”
“So I went back to my friend at the yard and asked him if he knew anyone who did the twin turbo kits. He said to ring Bobby at JEM. He hadn’t done one but he was looking into the kit. Bobby showed me the Titan package and that was pretty much it.”
In just three weeks Bobby and the team at Just Engine Management took the Gallardo apart, replaced the ten standard pistons with forged units from CP, ported the heads, fitted the complete Titan turbo kit, rigged up a MoTeC computer and tuned the raging bull to 677hp at the rear wheels on 8psi of boost.
As a 2005 model Paul’s Gallardo should look a little different to this, but it has been updated with later style bumpers in carbon fibre front and rear, plus carbon side skirts to complete the ensemble.
These wheels are OEM from Lamborghini, originally fitted to a Superleggera. They measure 19×8″ up front, and a humungous 19×12″ under the rear arches. “The sound and the body are the best things about the car,” says Paul.
The rear hatch and spoiler have also been donated by a Superleggera and have a dramatic weight difference. Paul tells us that the standard metal lid with glass engine cover weighed a mammoth 68kg. The new carbon item with heat-treated perspex weighs just 3.8kg. Paul also reckons around 100kg has been saved with the removal of the front half of the drivetrain, “so even with the 40kg turbo kit we’re still well ahead,” he says.
Lamborghini’s gorgeous interior has been left unchanged, there’s really not a lot you can do to make it better. “I want to keep the car standard looking,” says Paul. “Although we are thinking about adding a MoTeC dash.”
One key reason to add that dash display is the treat Paul has on its way in a big crate from Titan. “I bought a Stage 2 motor ready to go. It’s fully built and can run up to 35psi for 1150hp, but we’ll run more like 15-20psi and make 850-900hp at the tyres,” he says.
“Special thanks to Bobby at JEM and the staff for the install of the Titan twin-turbo kit, and the special care taken on the car with the install.” It’s a remarkable machine, and one of just two boosted Gallardos in Australia, as far as Paul knows. Not a bad toy at all.
SPECIFICATIONS
VEHICLE:
– 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo
ENGINE:
– 5.0L V10 twin-turbo
HARDWARE:
– Titan twin-turbo kit
– CP pistons
– Ported head
– MoTeC engine management
DRIVELINE:
– 6-speed manual
– Tilton twin plate clutch
WHEELS & TYRES:
– Superleggera wheels F: 19×8″, R:19×12″
BODYWORK:
– Carbon fibre front and rear bumpers
– Carbon fibre side skirts
– Superleggera carbon hatch and spoiler
PERFORMANCE:
– 677rwhp, 8psi
JUST ENGINE MANAGEMENT
2/2 Noonan Road,
Ingelburn, NSW
(02) 9618 6001
sales@justenginemanagement.com
justenginemanagement.com
AWSOME work guys…