Letters.(Letter to the Editor)

Thrill ride follow-up

Eleven years ago, when I completed graduate school and started my first real job, I quit reading articles about Lamborghinis and Ferraris because I realized that, barring the purchase of a winning lottery ticket, I would never be able to buy one. I almost skipped the article about the Murcielago (Cover Story, June 17), but the opening paragraph caught my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, particularly the view of what it's like to drive this car in the real world.

You stated the Murcielago is ``a garage-able amusement park.'' Well, my 1995 Suzuki GSX-R 750 motorcycle will also do 0 to 60 in less than four seconds without needing to shift to second gear. It will do 120 mph in third gear and will also handily beat the Murcielago through the quarter-mile (just under 11 seconds). It won't do 205 mph (it redlines around 160 mph in sixth). Here's the best part: It only cost $8,500 brand-new (about $10,500 for a 2002 model).

Leif Irgens, Chickasaw, Ala.

I am the guy in the Audi A4 Avant who tailed your Murcielago. I'd like to help the readers get a sense of why the Lambo was so captivating. The first thing you notice, besides the electric mustard color, is the proportions. Your description of a UFO is apt. The Murcielago was much lower than my Audi and wider by half a car. Couple this with a rear view that reminds one of the Flintstone-mobile, with one tire all the way across.

The design combination of Italian exotic done by Bauhaus plays much better in person than on film. Perhaps the best thing contributed by Audi, other than a Ford/Jaguar-like tidying up of build quality, is cleaning up all of the lines. The Diablo had evolved into something that was a caricature of a car that was already a caricature.

I really did turn off the radio and roll down the windows. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the tight ``tearing-of-canvas'' exhaust of a high-compression Italian engine.