F355 any good
Author
Discussion

MAF1

Original Poster:

7 posts

212 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
After deliberating long and hard i've finally decided to trade in the 997 2S for a F355, should have opted for the 355 when i bought the 997. Anyway i have spotted a 99 plate F1 Red/cream/red at Nick Cartrights, only 12,000 miles and up at £46k. i have found out (according to some old car magazines that Cartrights have had this 355 for quite a number of months since at least last Sept.

Anyone know if this example, on paper it looks like the best Berlinetti on the market at the moment.

celcius

704 posts

285 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
might be worth going and have a look at it ?

TigerS6

521 posts

280 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
Nick's stock are always first class... (at a price).
so I don't think you'll have any issues with him, and IF you were to have any problems, he'd get them resolved.
Go for it wink

Cactussed

5,364 posts

243 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
Not that I want to tell you to suck eggs, but I assume you've driven a few different cars (spider, berlinetta, F1, Manual etc) so you can make some sort of informed judgement yourself?

ETA: for 46k, 360's also come into play as well...

Edited by Cactussed on Wednesday 11th February 10:28

willcrookz

11,557 posts

224 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
At least try a 360 before making the move!

magic torch

5,781 posts

252 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
willcrookz said:
At least try a 360 before making the move!
yes

Personally don't like the 355 at all. Try them both.

Wanta996Gotta

5,622 posts

237 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
magic torch said:
willcrookz said:
At least try a 360 before making the move!
yes

Personally don't like the 355 at all. Try them both.
355 for me is one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever penned! Dont think its worth £45k and think the F360 would be the better buy in terms of performance and maintenence/servicing costs "though" not as pretty.

South West has a TS at similar price - http://www.ferrari.co.uk/index.php?page=preowned

P.S. I think the F1 in the F355 was a bit of a dog BUT i am sure one of the more experienced guys can confirm.

Edited by Wanta996Gotta on Wednesday 11th February 12:37

neil-f

1,647 posts

237 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
F355 is a great car but IMHO the F1 on F355 is not very good the system is not worth going for until the CS software upgrade on the 360.
Go for a good manual car. I would buy a good F355 over an early 360.

anonymous-user

84 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
355 is a blast to drive & great sound (for a non-carb car). electronic throttle on the 360 is cumbersome and not progressive. 360 front end very vague near the limit on track, and you will need the aero kit to compensate.
355 doesn't look like a bar of soap either

craigster1

15 posts

228 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
Go for the 355, what it lacks in tech it makes up for hands down on looks in comparison to the 360. Buy a manual its a must! It's true you can buy an early 360 for the same money but that tells a story in its self don't you think? The 355 is and will always be an iconic car.

By the way I recently bought a rosso/crema late 99 v reg spider with 20k for the same money.
Brilliant car, good luck.

craigster1

15 posts

228 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
Have a look at the f355 video thread. Says everything!

MAF1

Original Poster:

7 posts

212 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
I'm getting the impression that i should stay well away from a 355 with a F1 gear box, as its a 10 year old and one of the first to have F1. Must admit i would prefer a manual but there arnt many low mileage ones out there at the minute.

Have thought about a 360 but they do seem to be coming down in price at an alarming rate.

MAF1

Original Poster:

7 posts

212 months

Thursday 12th February 2009
quotequote all
There arent to many manual rosso/cream or black manual F355 with low mileage out there at the moment. i have seen a couple of F1 but would prefer the manual, been tralling through the normal places, does anyone know anyone who's selling a top spec car..

Jonty355

4,423 posts

243 months

Thursday 12th February 2009
quotequote all
Definate manual for me, the F1 box was slow I thought.

I nearly made a change from the F355 to a 997 2S last year, but once I'd driven the 997, I knew I didn't want one. 997 is far superior car, but just lacks the passion, noise, feel...... You're making the right choice!

here

658 posts

222 months

Thursday 12th February 2009
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One would expect a 997 to be a more superior car than a 355. The 997s 10 years newer than a 355.

baptist

632 posts

286 months

Thursday 12th February 2009
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I had a 997, now got my 355 and a beemer as my daily driver.
The 997 is far better in alot of ways, you can use it every day, cheaper to run, better built, comfier. But on everything else, the 355 just hits where the porker cannot, occassion when you drive it, noise etc. I wouldnt go back to porsche now, great cars as they are, very inert. The 355 is the best car I've owned so far, great bit of kit.

Giles993

377 posts

243 months

Saturday 14th February 2009
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Out of interest, do all 355s have sh*t steering? Three friends have got them and they're all like buses compared to the 993 though I suppose that's partly to do with the massive laid back wheel.

Captain Cadillac

2,974 posts

217 months

Saturday 14th February 2009
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Two words:

Valve Guides

paul0843

2,006 posts

237 months

Saturday 14th February 2009
quotequote all
imo a 360 would be a much better buy over a 355...

andy355

1,347 posts

268 months

Saturday 14th February 2009
quotequote all
i had a 355 f1 spider for a couple of years. the f1 box is ok, takes some getting used to - only things that annoyed me was its tendancy to change down to first at a fixed speed which would correspond sometimes to turning at traffic lights meaning you would suddenly have the amount of throttle you were applying in 2nd now in 1st. changes at higher speeds were a plus point, fun to flick through the gears. im sure it has been improved on in later models - my maser is a 2003 cc and i dont see any behavioural changes just a bit of smoothing out. danger cost wise on an f1 is the actuator pumps which do go and cost a lot