Discussion
Very similar cars. The 355 is more modern and a little easier to drive. It is about 8mph quicker top end but in real life not much in it. You do get an extra 1000 revs though!
The 348 is the more raw car and wonderfully satisfying to drive. I personally would never have the 355 over a 348 (I'm on my second) as I prefer the more aggressive look of the 348.
348s are fairly robust mechanically, with the 355 you need to watch out for the manifolds cracking and something else which eludes me for now.
Extra £5k, maybe... extra £10k... in my personal opinion, no.
The 348 is the more raw car and wonderfully satisfying to drive. I personally would never have the 355 over a 348 (I'm on my second) as I prefer the more aggressive look of the 348.
348s are fairly robust mechanically, with the 355 you need to watch out for the manifolds cracking and something else which eludes me for now.
Extra £5k, maybe... extra £10k... in my personal opinion, no.
Obviously I think that a 355 is worth £10k more than a 348 as I went down the 355 route! That said, I think they're both beautiful with the 355 just pipping the 348. What it came down to for me was a combination of performance, age and reliability (perceived or otherwise).
Performance - I was coming out of a 996 911 and didn't want my next car to feel substantially slower (you really have to wind up the V8s to get the best whereas in the 996 it's pretty much all the from 2.5k rpm onwards!!). That said, in real life, 348 and 355 are more than enough.
Age - for me the 348 is an odd car as in my head it's not "new" enough to be a "modern" Ferrari but not old enough to be proper old school like a 328 or something. I'm not saying it makes sense, it's just what I feel
Reliability - There are always people who own cars who have never had problems and others whose car hands them a 5 figure bill one month after they buy it it would seem. In the reliability stakes I bought the 355 as dealer/mechanics all said it was more reliable than the 348. People will no doubt cry foul, but there is a reason why at least 2 well known specialists I've come across stay away from selling them and others appear to want to strip them down to inspect them completely before taking one on!
Performance - I was coming out of a 996 911 and didn't want my next car to feel substantially slower (you really have to wind up the V8s to get the best whereas in the 996 it's pretty much all the from 2.5k rpm onwards!!). That said, in real life, 348 and 355 are more than enough.
Age - for me the 348 is an odd car as in my head it's not "new" enough to be a "modern" Ferrari but not old enough to be proper old school like a 328 or something. I'm not saying it makes sense, it's just what I feel
Reliability - There are always people who own cars who have never had problems and others whose car hands them a 5 figure bill one month after they buy it it would seem. In the reliability stakes I bought the 355 as dealer/mechanics all said it was more reliable than the 348. People will no doubt cry foul, but there is a reason why at least 2 well known specialists I've come across stay away from selling them and others appear to want to strip them down to inspect them completely before taking one on!
Had both. No regrets with either. 348 steering is heavy at low speeds, 355 steering too light and woolly. 355 is much more refined but still plenty edgy and with the right exhaust got to be in the top 5 best sounding production cars. 348 not far behind. Overall it depends on what you want.
I love the looks of both cars. One is more macho the other more feminine. 355 feels like it is better built as it is more cohesive and finished but in reality I think the build quality is similar and the 355 does have more potential to go wrong as it is a more complex car.
The 355 is universally loved which is a big help of course, there is a lot of (unwarranted IMO) dislike towards the 348 due to the original media reports of the car, journo's jumping on the wagon closely followed by enthusiasts who have not driven the cars. I personally found my GTC to be a more involving drive than my 355, built very sturdily, and handled better than my 355 (GTC has different suspension, lighter weight). I think the issue is that the 348 was introduced at a time when cars were becoming more modern and easier to live with and drive. The 348 arrived and it was still old school, the NSX turned up and all of a sudden the 348 felt very dated. The 355 addressed this but kept a lot of the 348's character.
The cars are different, try and drive both and make your decision, but both are fantastic cars and you will certainly love whatever you choose!
I love the looks of both cars. One is more macho the other more feminine. 355 feels like it is better built as it is more cohesive and finished but in reality I think the build quality is similar and the 355 does have more potential to go wrong as it is a more complex car.
The 355 is universally loved which is a big help of course, there is a lot of (unwarranted IMO) dislike towards the 348 due to the original media reports of the car, journo's jumping on the wagon closely followed by enthusiasts who have not driven the cars. I personally found my GTC to be a more involving drive than my 355, built very sturdily, and handled better than my 355 (GTC has different suspension, lighter weight). I think the issue is that the 348 was introduced at a time when cars were becoming more modern and easier to live with and drive. The 348 arrived and it was still old school, the NSX turned up and all of a sudden the 348 felt very dated. The 355 addressed this but kept a lot of the 348's character.
The cars are different, try and drive both and make your decision, but both are fantastic cars and you will certainly love whatever you choose!
If you are keeping the car long term, I'd suggest get a 348 and either keep the £10,000 in the bank in case something goes wrong or spend it on upgrading/modifying the car. Bigger brakes, bigger wheels, carbon seats etc. If you are really ambitious you could modify the engine and create a monster like Andyhls has done and keep up with Scuderias.
Ultimatly both are nice cars, but they are now getting old so will need things doing to them.
Here's my 348 running report over the last 5 years: http://www.fgear.tv/forum/showthread.php/3-Ferrari...
Ultimatly both are nice cars, but they are now getting old so will need things doing to them.
Here's my 348 running report over the last 5 years: http://www.fgear.tv/forum/showthread.php/3-Ferrari...
205jsy said:
Im looking at purchasing a new car in the next few months. Ideally i wanted to get an e39 m5 (10k) and a 25ishk sports car which got me looking at the Ferrari 348's. After a bit of thinking i dont really need a 4 door saloon just yet so i was considering spending the extra 10k on the sports car which puts me in 355 money. Looks wise i like them about the same as each other so i cant split them there. Is the 355 10k's worth more of a car? Before looking at Ferrari's i was considering the DB7 but i think that idea is no more. This will be a big purchase for me so i want to get it right.
I bought my 355 just over a year ago and I absolutely love it. The noise is just insane (with the right exhaust) and the handling is fantastic. The steering is too light if I'm honest but other than that I can't really fault it. In the year I've had it all that's gone wrong is that it has recently started getting very hot so at the moment I’m just waiting to send it down to my local garage. So reliability so far has been fine.To my knowledge both a 348 and 355 can be pretty reliable cars If you buy a good one and look after it. I've never been in or driven a 348 so I don't have any experience with one, but for me I just don't like the way it looks. I love the Testarossa, to me it is one of the best looking cars of all time, but the 348 just looks like a poor copy of one. This is all just my opinion though.
As for whether it's worth an extra £10k more? Well that's up to you. If I were you I would go test drive both and see how you feel. The whole point in these cars is how they make you feel, so find which one gives you "that feeling" and there's your answer.
Hope that helps
chris7676 said:
Isn't the performance difference quite significant - 0-100 seems to be over 14 sec and under 11 sec respectively ?
Ask my mates if the 0-100 is different. I did a 60 - 160 in my 348 against my mates 355 last saturday and there wasn't anything in it. And yes we both know what we are doing behind the wheel.I have never noticed any difference in perfomance in any gear and on any road against either of the 355s my mates have.
Maybe above 160, 170 is where you notice it ???
I haven't pitched my 348 against any others so can't comment on how they perform.
Edited by simonigrale on Friday 21st May 17:06
I have not come across a 348 that can hold its own against a 355 yet. Maybe yours will be the first 
Yea, i do alot of my runs with a group of mates of mine, we are all in 187club.com.
But i also go to meets with these guys here http://www.supercardriver.com/ They are quite close and local (sheffield), have a look mate.
But i also go to meets with these guys here http://www.supercardriver.com/ They are quite close and local (sheffield), have a look mate.
Edited by ferrari spider on Friday 21st May 18:21
simonigrale said:
chris7676 said:
Isn't the performance difference quite significant - 0-100 seems to be over 14 sec and under 11 sec respectively ?
Ask my mates if the 0-100 is different. I did a 60 - 160 in my 348 against my mates 355 last saturday and there wasn't anything in it. And yes we both know what we are doing behind the wheel.I have never noticed any difference in perfomance in any gear and on any road against either of the 355s my mates have.
Maybe above 160, 170 is where you notice it ???
I haven't pitched my 348 against any others so can't comment on how they perform.
Edited by simonigrale on Friday 21st May 17:06
From memory, the torque figures for 348/355 aren't vastly different, and the 348 develops max torque much earlier than the 355 (355 makes 265ish lbft at 6k rpm, 348 occurs much earlier at about 4.2k rpm), so if the gearing is the same length give or take, there's not a lot in the in-gear acceleration. Difference occurs where, if the gearing is the same, the 355 can hold gear for the extra thousand revs or so due to the higher redline giving the extra peformance and 25% horsepower
[/engineer]
Mario149 said:
simonigrale said:
chris7676 said:
Isn't the performance difference quite significant - 0-100 seems to be over 14 sec and under 11 sec respectively ?
Ask my mates if the 0-100 is different. I did a 60 - 160 in my 348 against my mates 355 last saturday and there wasn't anything in it. And yes we both know what we are doing behind the wheel.I have never noticed any difference in perfomance in any gear and on any road against either of the 355s my mates have.
Maybe above 160, 170 is where you notice it ???
I haven't pitched my 348 against any others so can't comment on how they perform.
Edited by simonigrale on Friday 21st May 17:06
From memory, the torque figures for 348/355 aren't vastly different, and the 348 develops max torque much earlier than the 355 (355 makes 265ish lbft at 6k rpm, 348 occurs much earlier at about 4.2k rpm), so if the gearing is the same length give or take, there's not a lot in the in-gear acceleration. Difference occurs where, if the gearing is the same, the 355 can hold gear for the extra thousand revs or so due to the higher redline giving the extra peformance and 25% horsepower
[/engineer]
So with that it is obvious that the 348 will have to have an earlier torque curve.
One can massage figure all they like. real world the 348s are slower than the 355s, and in turn the 360s are faster than the 355s.
waiting months for you to complete the pi55ing web site.....t
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