Note
:
* Car & Driver's acceleration test was made on a US version
Countach, while the top speed came from a European model.
** US version Countach had 420 hp instead of 455 hp.
^ Road & Track's 173 mph was recorded in an oval track, this
could lose a few mph.
As
you can see, the performance data deviates very much from magazine to magazine.
Just take the 5000QV as an example, someone measured 190 mph while someone did
only 166 mph ! someone could took a full second more to complete 0-60 or 2 mores
seconds to 100 mph ! From my experience, no other car could be more controversial.
How
to explain the performance deviations ?
Firstly,
as pointed out by Peter Dron in the book "Lamborghini Countach - The Complete
Story", Countach's engine particularly needed more mileage to run-in than normal
cars, otherwise the engine would be tight and unable to develop full potential.
Peter Dron himself made the test for Fast Lane, in a Countach that regularly
ran to top speed by owner Pierluigi Martini (the ex-F1 driver). No wonder the
data recorded was by far better than other magazines. On the contrary, Autocar's
tests were always the earliest in the English world, this could be one of its
advantages, but inevitably picked a relatively new Countach for test.
Secondly,
Lamborghini's production tolerance was also in questioned, at least in prior
to the Diablo era. According to Lamborghini's own statement, some 5000QV engines
produced 470 hp on test dynamometers, compared with the official figure 455
hp. If we apply that to a negative direction, we can say some engines might
produced only 440 hp.
Thirdly,
as mentioned before, the rear wing had decisive influence to top speed. With
the wing, Car & Driver measured 166 mph in an European spec. QV (unlike the
acceleration which was measured in a US version), very much lower than Autocar's
178 mph, let alone the controversial 190 mph that recorded by Fast Lane.
Finally,
the test method is also arguable. Motor and Car & Driver used to conduct the
acceleration test by racing-style launch, that is, winded the engine up to red
line, than released the clutch as sharply as possible. Not only for this car,
they did the same for every car they tested. Now you know why C&D always produced
far better result than R&T, while Motor did better than Autocar. We cannot determine
which one is RIGHT, but I can tell you most other mainstream magazines did the
same as Autocar and R&T, such as Auto, Motor und Sport (the largest car magazine
in Europe). We'd better to follow the majority's choice.
The
190 mph top speed recorded by Fast Lane was very unbelievable. For some reasons,
Peter Dron measured it by a controversial method - the Italy's Autostrada highway
has a "Kilometer Post" between every kilometer, he travelled at top speed in
the Countach's passenger seat, pressed the stop watch in his hand when the car
was passing a post, then press again at the next post, and the speed could be
calculated by dividing the distance travelled by the time took ! Measured again
in the opposite direction and he got the two-way top speed average of 190.1
mph !! Obviously, we cannot trust this human-dependable test method, especially
when his data was so much faster than others had ever recorded. Anyway, the
acceleration figure was recorded with the fifth wheel and calibrated electronic
recorder so that it is fully trustable. It seems that the acceleration result
alone could prove that his Countach must be in particularly good condition.
Which
one is the most believable ?
The most believable top speed figure came from Italian Ministry of Transportation.
It timed the QV 181.6 mph in the Nardo test track. As the Anniversary was unlikely
to be quicker than the QV, we can say the Countach ultimately did 181.6 mph.
That was among the fastest in the world, although quite no match with the originally
proposed 200 magic mph. The Porsche 959 took 2 more years to eclipse this record.
TOP
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