Lamborghini Gallardo Road Trip to Miami – Part 1

There are very few things that I enjoy more than a road trip in an exotic car. All cars are built to be driven and despite the countless low mileage examples we have, exotic cars perform better and are more reliable when they have some miles on them. I recently purchased a gorgeous 2004 Gallardo and wanted to find the first opportunity to take it out and really stretch its legs.

I try to make it down to south Florida 2-3 times a year to visit family there and to enjoy the weather. I absolutely loathe cold weather and would live in Palm Beach or Miami if it were entirely up to me. Regardless, the short stints are sufficient to keep me warm in spirit.

LamboMegan and I decided that we would make a long weekend of it and take a drive south in the Lambo. The plan was to leave as soon as she got off of work on Friday at around 3 PM. It would give us time to get through Atlanta before traffic got bad. I ended up being held up a bit finishing a deal on an International Harvester CXT pickup truck (not exactly my kind of vehicle but the owner couldn’t be any happier!) so we left at around 4:30.

We sat in traffic through Atlanta for about an hour and a half until we decided to stop for some early dinner and look for an alternate back road route. We found a better route and made our way towards Macon.

The Gallardo drove beautifully. It was comfortable, held our luggage for the short trip well, and didn’t give us any problems. We made the trip to Palm Beach in about 10 hours due to the traffic and stopping more often that usual for snacks and coffee. My personal best is 7:39 so it will have to stand for another few months at least. We both had an absolute blast driving the car though. It was awesome.

We got onto the Florida Turnpike in Orlando at around midnight. There were not many cars on it but there were at least 50 deer lining the side of the road over the first 20 miles or so which was very unnerving. I hit a deer in a Gallardo in 2007 and would prefer not to repeat that.

After we passed the deer, with the Gallardo unscathed, we were able to press on a really build some speed. We were pretty much holding 120-140 mph most of the time, slowing to about 90-100 when we were passing other cars. Highest speed was an indicated 185 mph which might have been a bit optimistic but it was amazing how stable the car was. Megan was asleep most of the time. Here are some pictures from the way down.