What would be the lifespan of a super car?

Voodoomelon

Spurred on by the latest Top Gear, how long are super cars likely to "last", compared to regular mass produced cars?

If you took an Aventador out as your daily driver, couple of hundred miles a week for years on end, serviced on time much like anything else, what kind of mileage do you reckon it would reach before the engine packs in?

Much like any other car, its about how much you're willing to spend to get it back on the road, but lets say any significant failure engine/transmission-wise that would put the car off the road for good.

Is there much life for these cars beyond 50k miles?

carchaeologist

Until you send it backwards into a hedge....

_AVALANCHE_

carchaeologist wrote: »

Until you send it backwards into a hedge....

^^^This.

You can buy a supercar from the 80s now if you wanted.

alanmc

Only Fools and Horses: "How long you had that brush now Trigger"? Twelve years Del but it`s had seven new handles and ten new heads....

I guess if you keep replacing bits, like any car, it'll last forever. I guess engine rebuilds will come up pretty fast though.

db330

I'd say it mainly depends on how you drive it, but if it is looked after and not flatout everywhere they could reach 100K without any big issues

Nissan doctor

Would depend on how you drive it I recon.

If you just commuted around in them like you would a normal car then their components would never be near their tolerance abilities, so no reason they wouldn't last as long as a normal car.


See here for a lambo with over 120k miles on it...

http://www.teamspeed.com/forums/aventador-murcielago-gallardo/32776-highest-mileage-supercar-ever-recorded.html

Voodoomelon

Remember this story of the chap that drove his Gallardo all over America: http://jalopnik.com/5559767/i-sold-everything-to-buy-a-lamborghini-and-drive-across-the-country

He reached 95k-odd miles and his timing chain failed, destroying all his valves. It doesn't go into much detail, but timing chain failures do occur with regular V8s and I6s too I suppose.

unkel

I'd say the vast majority of all supercars live forever. Take the Enzo as an example. Several have crashed, a few rebuilt. 99% are still driving 10 years after they were introduced.

Alanstrainor

unkel wrote: »

I'd say the vast majority of all supercars live forever. Take the Enzo as an example. Several have crashed, a few rebuilt. 99% are still driving 10 years after they were introduced.

Jaysis...can't believe they've been out ten years!

Notch000

Classic e30 M3 eVO 433,000 KMs


http://collectioncar.com/detailed.php?ad=14503&category_id=1&lang=en

still 20K tho

corktina

unkel wrote: »

I'd say the vast majority of all supercars live forever. Take the Enzo as an example. Several have crashed, a few rebuilt. 99% are still driving 10 years after they were introduced.

Yes but what mileage do they do? Look at that tosspot Chris Evans and his fleet of white Ferraris...they cant do more than 1000 miles a year and probably much less than that..they arent much more than eye-candy.

Marlow

My M5 has over 260000 km on the clock and I know of one in Germany with over 400000 km.

It's all down to servicing and obviously parts will have to be replaced etc.

Matter of fact, most supercars are better build than normal cars and often hand build. Treated/serviced right, they last longer.

/M

smash

Have a read: http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evolongtermtests/242623/lamborghini_murcielago.html

Since then he's had other supercars with higher mileage.

corktina

i don't see an M3 or an M5 as a Supercar...:eek:

alias no.9

Like any car, they'll last as long as the owner is prepared to maintain them. Strong residual values probably makes big bills more palatable. Poor residuals will see them in the hands of people who can't afford to run them and most likely see them broken for parts.

RobAMerc

the reality is supercars are actually much better for the environment than your run of the mill family car. the majority of damage to the environment done by a car is in its production. given that most supercars will have a lifespan far in excess of those of your avg eurobox - they are therefore far greener !
Supercars will always have a value until they are destroyed by a tree, wall or hedge and therefore will almost invariably last a very very long time, without being scrapped.

pajo1981

RobAMerc wrote: »

the reality is supercars are actually much better for the environment than your run of the mill family car. the majority of damage to the environment done by a car is in its production. given that most supercars will have a lifespan far in excess of those of your avg eurobox - they are therefore far greener !
Supercars will always have a value until they are destroyed by a tree, wall or hedge and therefore will almost invariably last a very very long time, without being scrapped.

Well considering their low average mileage, I'd say a supercar has a higher manufacture-pollution/km number than a eurobox.

BrianD3

Some major issues may crop up that wouldn't affect a more mundane car eg I have read that the fuel cell on the Jag XJ220 can leak and affect the glues holding the chassis/body together. Also, if a car with a carbon fibre monocoque is in small bang it can result in a huge repair bill even with little or no visible damage.

I'm not sure how long carbon fibre itself last, no rust obviously but I think it slowly degrades and doesn't last forever.

As an aside there was an article on buying and running a Murcielago in autocar recently. Eye watering costs, something like 5000 GBP for a set of brake pads and discs (not carbon) 1000-4000 for a service, 4000 for a clutch, don't think that included fitting.