RE: PH Heroes: Ferrari F355

RE: PH Heroes: Ferrari F355

Wednesday 9th July 2008

PH Heroes: Ferrari F355

In the nineties Ferrari created one of its greatest cars ever. Ollie Stallwood drives the F355...



The A33, 3.35pm on a Friday afternoon, somewhere just outside Basingstoke. Not normally a time and place that sticks in your mind but today is very different. It is at this moment that the traffic in front of me clears and I jam the Ferrari’s right pedal into the carpet and hold it there.

The revs rise to 8,000rpm and the small cabin is filled with the kind of engine note that belongs to a racing car not a road car. In front of me is the slightly oversized steering wheel belonging to one of the finest cars Maranello has ever produced. Or to put it another way one of the best cars the world has ever seen.

What makes this even more of an achievement is the fact that the Ferrari F355 was born out of the 348, a massive underachiever by Prancing Horse standards. It was deeply flawed and had been given a kicking by a new breed of supremely competent supercars like the Honda NSX.


If Ferrari was going to turn this car into a hero it needed nothing short of a miracle. Luckily this came in part in the form of the highest-revving supercar engine in production, a 40-valve, 3.5-litre version of the 348’s venerable V8.

The company had squeezed 109bhp per litre out of the unit (the McLaren F1’s mighty 6.1-litre V12 had 103bhp per litre) and it now revved to an ear drum-shattering 8,800rpm. Throw in a Formula 1-style undertray and a series of revisions to the 348’s suspension and Ferrari suddenly had a car that everyone wanted to drive.

But the engine and suspension are not the most astonishing aspects of the F355, and neither is the car’s gorgeous Pininfarina styling. It is fact that just 20 minutes before I had the car at full chat down the A33 I had never driven it before - and for a car like this to give you such confidence so quickly is an incredible achievement.


I had picked the F355 from the premises of new car club Driving Spirit (www.drivingspirit.co.uk), which specialises in offering a selection of iconic cars from the sixties to the present day. Company founder Steve Marshall tells me that this particular 20,000-mile P-plate took him a long time to find and is in excellent shape.

The car is smaller than I expected inside and although the pedals are offset slightly the driving position is very good. The six-speed manual has the classic Ferrari gate which looks daunting but takes only a few minutes to master. It has a satisfying click to each change that makes you wish all gearboxes looked and worked like this.

The car pulls away easily, the clutch is light by supercar standards, and the engine is tractable enough to make stop-start driving a doddle. I negotiate through heavy traffic, trying to ignore the small children pointing and smiling through the windows of MPVs, and head out onto the A33.


You could be forgiven at this point for thinking the F355 isn’t hardcore enough to be a supercar but this is the forerunner to the usable Ferrari we see today. By the time you reach a stretch of dual-carriageway you feel like you’ve been driving the car every day for the last five years, blipping the throttle as you change gear.

It is torquey low down but nail the loud pedal and prepare for one of the best driving experiences of your life. The F355 just revs and revs and revs, with a sound not unlike a Formula 1 car, and the speed piles on at a staggering rate. Suddenly everything is put into perspective - this is no ordinary car.

Other cars are great but when you flick through a series of bends you realise this is in a different stratosphere, it is almost uncomparable. There is so much feel, so much control, that you forget you are driving a car you borrowed off someone you’ve only just met.

There is perfect balance and even when the back end starts to let go it is no fuss to get things back on track before you throw the car into the next corner. You would expect a mid-engined Ferrari to be tricky at best but the F355 is forgiving. Body control is impeccable and it never feels unsettled mid-corner, meaning you want to push harder and harder.


It stays almost completely flat through bends but has a delicacy to the ride that you don’t expect. A few times I stopped to take pictures and found myself in a village or pub car park doing three-point turns but even this wasn’t too much of a problem.

The F355 has a split personality, but in a good way. One minute you are poodling around town and the next it is a (literally) jaw-dropping driving experience. You find yourself wide-eyed and tingling when you get to the next set of traffic lights - waiting for your next fix. Simply put every mile that you do is an event; I dare say even popping down the shops for some milk would bring a smile to your face. I don’t want to give it back to Steve but in the end I do, an hour later than I had arranged.

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There won't be a PH Hero in two weeks as we will be at the British Motor Show. Normal service will resume the following week...

Author
Discussion

GraemeP

Original Poster:

769 posts

228 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
That still has to be one of the most iconic cars of it's generation, and many subsequent.

And the example featured just ooozes so much appeal!

andymc

7,334 posts

206 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
yellow in spyder format for me

golders

141 posts

273 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
still a very pretty car. The nicest looking Ferrari for sometime (nicer than the F430)

Please don't post unrelated links - Mr Will


Edited by Mr Will on Wednesday 9th July 13:30

madrob6

3,594 posts

219 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
A favourite car of mine. You lucky b*****d to get to have a play in onewink

shadowninja

76,253 posts

281 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
GraemeP said:
That still has to be one of the most iconic cars of it's generation, and many subsequent.

And the example featured just ooozes so much appeal!
Yes. If I had the money, I'm plump for an F430 but would be sorely tempted by such an icon.

Oli S

214 posts

198 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
It was truly an amazing experience - one that I'll never forget! smile

daveco

4,122 posts

206 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
IMO-The best looking car Ferrari have ever built. I've always wanted one


fastgerman.com

1,911 posts

194 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Fantastic car! I saw a black GTS at Auto Italia hosted in Mercedes-Benz Brooklands grounds and decided I will have one!
I drove a lhd at Silverstone for a Ferrari Experience day but found the Lotus Exige more fun as I could get the right gear!
Because of the weight at the back in the 355 any slight braking/accelerating mid corner really does disrupt the handling and there were spins out on the track, however not by me obviously!
Bloody good day out and as mentioned in the PH article, the sound is the best part of the car, however I wouldn't say performance was breath-taking. Pretty similar to an E46 M3 in performance but immensely more involved and you feel like a god in the drivers seat!

http://www.fastgerman.com/Ferrari.htm


Edited by fastgerman.com on Wednesday 9th July 15:26

Baffled Spoon

5,250 posts

193 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
daveco said:
IMO-The best looking car Ferrari have ever built. I've always wanted one
yes Simply love this car in every respect.

geofflowe

1,678 posts

278 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Hopefully get a low mileage one once I've stopped enjoying my 328 GTS (another contender for prettiest car....)

Mike400

1,026 posts

230 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
One of my all time favourite cars. If I had the cash it would be on the drive without a doubt.

Only thing that ruins them IMO are all those MR2 based kit versions. Kinda cheapen the real product slightly??

Mr Whippy

28,943 posts

240 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Lurvely car!

360 and 430 look a bit pants in comparison. Only the 360 CS comes close for visual drama, and that mix of beauty and agression.

Dave

phib

4,464 posts

258 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Nice write up my fave modern car, would take one over a 360 any day ... infact I did

Edited by phib on Wednesday 9th July 13:24

Try5t

722 posts

207 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Second best car I have ever had the pleasure of owning .... its a shame they don`t build cars this stunning anymore .. the F430 is a bit of a dog in comparison.

adyfc

24 posts

194 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
I used to have one of these and it was perfect in every way ive got a 430 now but its not as pretty, if they still made them id buy a new one.

D4 VEY

1,219 posts

192 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
So nice- would have over a 430 or 360. Second best sounding car after Porsche CGT. cloud9


2fster

2,406 posts

225 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Baffled Spoon said:
daveco said:
IMO-The best looking car Ferrari have ever built. I've always wanted one
yes Simply love this car in every respect.
+ 1.

360 and 430 don't actually do it for me I'm afraid, 355 for me all day long.

Now, where'd I put that Lotto ticket?!

predding

455 posts

215 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Agree with all above - does anyone know of a quality specialist that you can source one from...ideally around Surrey

phib

4,464 posts

258 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Spent two years looking for mine lots and lots of dogs about, re specialists
Mike at Rardley Motors

Here is one : http://www.rardleymotors.com/cars/115724/115724.ht...


Good ones are hard to find and not cheap unfortunatly


Kieran XJR

5,983 posts

212 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Awesome, I'd love one of those. I agree that they look considerably better than the 360 and 430 (I think the 348 does too).